Why Women Struggle With Pullups

Hint: it’s not because they’re women

A few years back The New York Times ran an article titled ‘Why Women Can’t Do Pullups’, purporting to offer a definitive explanation about why men just seem naturally better at pullups than women.

In fact, the article even cites a study done by researchers from the University of Dayton that corroborates their belief that women are just woefully disadvantaged when it comes to building upper body strength.

Never mind the irony of a newspaper nicknamed “The Gray Lady” publishing such nonsense about what women can or can’t do, the author of the article never stopped to ask “what if egghead researchers aren’t the best people to teach people how to do pullups?” (I mean, how many pullups could the *researchers* do themselves?)

This is an especially salient observation when you realize that the researchers…

Never had the women even touch a pullup bar!

They stuck with generic weight training exercises to strengthen their lats and biceps (an excellent strategy IF it is combined with some specific practice, like flexed-arm hangs) and evidently had them use some sort of an incline machine to mimic the pullup groove rather than, you know, using tried-and-true bodyweight progressions that teach you how to move your body through free space!

The “result” was a confirmation that they don’t know sheeit about teaching — NOT that women “can’t do pullups.”

Meanwhile among my students and subscribers, men AND women galore are doing pullups all the live-long day.

Example:

• One of my first personal training clients, a high-powered executive gal nicknamed “Charlie” nailed the first chinup of her life at the tender age of 50 WITHOUT complex machines, complicated programming, and a bunch of voodoo, woo-woo crap exercises thrown at her.
• A 56 year-old woman I trained named Sara-Rivka managed to get HER first chin-ups (plural!) at 56 years young — despite years of doing things like lat pulldowns and other nonsensical exercises at the gym at the behest of previous trainers of hers (bet they were “researchers” too!)
• One of my favorite examples, my online student Frances Moylan — aka the Iron Lady of Oz — nailed a 36 kg (80 lb) pullup at a bodyweight of 56 kg (123 lbs) by following the programming of Yours Jewly (she was already a phenom when she came to me, knocking out pullups with 32 kg like nobody’s business, so I can’t take credit for getting her super strong — only getting her super STRONGER). Check out my interview with her here, btw => https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/salkin/FrancesMoylan.mp3

The list could go on and on, but you get the picture.

Whether you’re a lad or a lass, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to work your way up to at least one strong, powerful pullup (and probably many more). Age, biological sex, training history, amount of available training time, etc. — none of them tell you where you can go, only where you must start.

So if you’re stuck on your pullups, here are a few useful exercises to toss into your routine. Yes, you’ll want to be good at a few prerequisite exercises first, so those will receive top billing, but (as mentioned earlier) some specific practice will also be in order, all of which we’ll cover right…about…NOW

#1: Bodyweight Rows

Rows are one of the best upper body pulling exercises around, period. Even after you can do pullups you’d be well advised to keep these in your regular rotation of exercises for some extra volume that is easy on the shoulders and tough on weakness.

• Grab onto a pair of gymnastics rings and find an angle that is challenging for you. It doesn’t have to be as deep as the one above, but do make sure your feet are anchored in some way so they won’t slip.
• Lower yourself back until your arms are completely straight.
• Pause briefly, then pull your shoulder blades back and simultaneously bend your elbows
• Lower yourself slowly back to the start position and repeat

#2: Face pulls

Face pulls are one of the most underrated upper body exercises around, which is a real shame they’re one of the most potent when it comes to increasing your upper body pulling power. They help to strengthen the rotator cuff as well as the upper back muscles — particularly those responsible for pulling your shoulder blades down and back, a crucial element in ANY upper body strength exercise, but particularly the pullup.

• Grab a pair of rings and find a moderate-for-you angle to lean back
• In one smooth motion, pull your shoulder blades back and down (think about spreading the logo on your shirt) and pull your elbows up toward shoulder level while pulling the rings at around eye level (think “putting on a pair of sunglasses”). Pause briefly, then reverse the movement.

#3: Dead hangs

The dead hang is a fine exercise even all by itself, helping you to sooth your shoulders by putting them to use for one of the major things they were created for: hanging.

I could go on and on about how much I love hanging (and indeed how much my students have gotten from doing it regularly), but for now we’ll focus on the obvious fact that it is a great way to build up your competence and familiarity with the starting position of a pullup while preparing the shoulder girdle, strengthening the grip, and de-compressing the low back (a nice perk if ever there was one).

• Grab onto a pullup bar with an overhand grip (NOT underhand — at least not for now)
• Pull your shoulders into their sockets — think like you’re trying to get the sleeves on your shirt to move down toward your belt)
• Hang out!

#4: Flexed-arm hangs

Preparatory exercises are the bee’s knees, but ain’t no gettin’ around the SAID principle (Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands). Eventually you’re gonna wanna do some practice that is specific to pullups, and flexed-arm hangs are it.

To do these:

• Grab a pullup bar with the underhand grip (i.e. palms facing you) and, using an elevation under your feet, get your chin over the bar
• Slowly remove your feet from the elevation and squeeze the bar tightly while actively pulling it down (imagine you’re trying to pull your elbows down to your pockets)
• Squeeze your abs, butt, and everything else! When you’re ready to come down, put your feet back on the elevation and come down normally.

Toss these movements into your regular upper body training 2–3 times a week and give it a couple of weeks of hell.

On a day when you’re feeling good and strong, warm up well, and give the pullup a shot. Don’t be surprised if you’ve made some phenomenal progress — maybe even knocked out a few reps in a row!

And if you REALLY wanna take your lean, head-to-toe strength to the next level (and you’ve got at least a kettlebell or two and 9 minutes to spare) my 9 Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge will show you how to take 4 super simple, take-no-prisoners drills and ratchet up your strength, boost your physical vitality, ramp up your resilience, and unlock your natural human movability — quickly, easily, and effectively.

Best of all, you don’t have to put your current workouts to the side; you just tack the 9 Minute Challenge on to the beginning or end of your training and BAM — you’ll be unlocking new and exciting levels of strength you never even knew you had in you in no time flat.

(who knows, they might even accelerate your success in your pullup training)

Check it out here => www.alekssalkin.com

Have fun and happy training!

Aleks Salkin

Aleks “The Hebrew Hammer” Salkin is a level 2 StrongFirst certified kettlebell instructor (SFG II) and an Original Strength Instructor.

He grew up scrawny, unathletic, weak, and goofy until he was exposed to kettlebells and the teaching and methodology of Pavel in his early 20s, and took his training and movement skills to the next level upon discovering Original Strength in his mid-20s.

He is currently based out of Omaha, Nebraska where he spends his time teaching students online and in person, as well as spreading the word of strength, movement, and healthy living.

He is the author of the popular free ebook The 9-Minute Kettlebell and Bodyweight Challenge as well as numerous articles scattered around the farthest-flung reaches of the web.

Find him online at www.alekssalkin.com