How to Improve Your Pull‐Ups
Before you start improving your pull-ups, make sure you have the basic form down. Grip the bar with your palms facing out, make sure your shoulder blades are down, and keep your elbows in when you pull yourself up. Focus on making your pull-ups smooth and controlled as you go up and down. Then, improve your grip by practicing dead hangs. Try negatives to boost your back strength, and do assisted pull-ups to build your endurance when you're first starting out.
Grip the pull-up bar with your palms facing out. Your palms should be shoulder-width apart from each other. Make sure you have a good grip on the bar. Once you're comfortable doing a regular pull-up, try switching up your grip on the pull-up bar. Gripping the bar so your palms are facing in toward you will work your biceps more while giving your back muscles a break. Doing pull-ups with your hands closer together on the pull-up bar will help build your chest muscles. Roll your shoulder blades down and push up your chest to set your back. Setting your back before you do a pull-up will activate your back muscles so it's easier to pull yourself up over the bar. Each time you lower yourself from a rep, set your back again. Bend your knees so you're hanging from the pull-up bar. Your arms should be completely extended as you hang. You can also lift your legs up so they're sticking out in front of you. Pull yourself up so your chin goes over the pull-up bar. Don't rest your chin on the pull-up bar once you get up over it. Once your chin is over the bar, you can start to lower yourself back down. Lower yourself slowly into a hanging position. Your movement should be steady and controlled. Avoid dropping down quickly. Once you're back in the hanging position with your arms fully extended, do another rep or plant your feet on the ground and let go of the pull-up bar. Do pull-ups every other day to improve your strength and endurance. Avoid doing pull-ups every day or you won't be giving your muscles enough time to heal. Set a pull-up schedule for yourself so you're doing pull-ups 3-4 times a week. Avoid doing half reps. Half reps happen when you don't fully lower yourself in between pull-ups. After you pull yourself up over the bar, lower yourself down until you're in a full hanging position. Your arms should be completely extended. Doing full reps will help you build your strength and endurance. Keep your elbows straight under the bar as you're pulling yourself up. Your elbows shouldn't be angling out when you're doing pull-ups. Next time you do a pull-up, pay attention to your elbows. If they angle out, work on pulling them in so they're pointing straight down under the bar. Keeping your elbows straight will help you build more back muscle. Arch your back and lift your chest instead of keeping your body straight. When you're doing pull-ups, arch your back and raise your chest toward the bar. This will help develop your back muscles. If you're doing pull-ups and your body is perfectly straight, you're not arching your back and lifting your chest up enough. Set achievable goals. Choose a number of reps you want to get to by the end of the month. Consider your current strength and endurance so that your goals are realistic. For example, if you're a beginner, a goal of 5 pull-ups is more helpful than an unrealistic goal of 30 pull-ups. If you're more experienced, set a goal to do 10 more pull-ups than your current best. Improve your grip strength by practicing dead hangs. To do a dead hang, grip the pull-up bar like you would if you were going to do a pull-up. Then, raise your legs or bend your knees so you're hanging from the bar. Keep your arms extended and continue to hang until you can't anymore. Plant your feet back on the ground and repeat. Every training session, try to increase the amount of time you're able to dead hang from the pull-up bar. Do assisted pull-ups to build your strength. To do an assisted pull-up, find a pull-up bar that is 3–4 feet (0.91–1.22 m) high, or use a pair of parallel bars. Sit on the ground so the bar is parallel with your chest. Bend your knees out in front of you so your feet are flat on the ground. Grip the bar like you would for a regular pull-up and pull your body up so your chin is above the bar. Train with assistance bands. Assistance bands are elastic bands that attach to your pull-up bar and loop around your feet. They'll make it easier for you to pull yourself up over the bar while you're practicing. As you get better at pull-ups and increase the number of reps you can do, cut back on how frequently you use the assistance bands. Have a partner help you do more reps. When you start to feel like you can't do any more reps, have your partner step in and help lift you over the bar. They can lift you up by your torso so you're able to do 2-3 more reps. Over time, you won't need your partner to step in as frequently. Do bicep curls to build your biceps. Your biceps are one of the main muscles you use to do pull-ups, so building them with bicep curls will help you improve your pull-ups. To do a bicep curl, grab a dumbbell and hold it so your palm is facing outward. Then, raise the dumbbell up toward your shoulder by bending your elbow. Slowly lower the dumbbell back to the starting position and repeat. Practice doing negatives to build your back muscles. Negatives will also help you get better at lowering your body from the pull-up bar. To do a negative, grip the pull-up bar and pull yourself up so your chin is over the bar. Then, slowly lower yourself down into a hanging position, taking as long as possible to lower yourself. Once your arms are fully extended and you're hanging from the pull-up bar, bring yourself back up to the bar and repeat. If you're having a hard time pulling yourself up, use a chair or bench to get into the starting position. Do gorilla pull-ups. Grip the pull-up bar like you would for a normal pull-up. Then, pull your chin up above the bar, but instead of going straight up, pull yourself up to the left. Lower yourself into a full hang and then pull yourself up again, this time going to the right. Continue to alternate between left and right with each pull-up. Try alternating-grip pull-ups. Grip the bar so one of your palms is facing out, and the other one is facing in. Then, do a set of pull-ups like you normally would. After you complete the set, alternate your grip. Your palm that was facing out should now be facing in, and vice versa. Do around-the-world pull-ups. Grip the pull-up bar with both of your palms facing out. Then, pull yourself up toward your right hand. Once you're pulled up over your right hand, pull your body over to your left hand before lowering yourself into a full hang. Repeat until you've done all the reps in your set. 
Grip the pull-up bar with your palms facing out. Roll your shoulder blades down and push up your chest to set your back. Bend your knees so you're hanging from the pull-up bar. Pull yourself up so your chin goes over the pull-up bar. Lower yourself slowly into a hanging position. Do pull-ups every other day to improve your strength and endurance. Avoid doing half reps. Keep your elbows straight under the bar as you're pulling yourself up. Arch your back and lift your chest instead of keeping your body straight. Set achievable goals. Improve your grip strength by practicing dead hangs. Do assisted pull-ups to build your strength. Train with assistance bands. Have a partner help you do more reps. Do bicep curls to build your biceps. Practice doing negatives to build your back muscles. Do gorilla pull-ups. Try alternating-grip pull-ups. Do around-the-world pull-ups. 