Don't be in such a hurry to finish your pull-ups!

This is the biggest issue I've seen with people doing the pull-up exercise...there is little to no focus on tension, just a focus on getting that chin over the bar as fast as possible and doing the rep as fast as possible.

I'm all for developing power, but in the long run, this will seriously limit your back development and your pull-up STRENGTH development as well.

You're blowing through the best parts of the exercise by trying to perform it too fast.

This pull-up technique is going to fix that by inserting strategic pauses into the movement.

You're going to perform a regular pull-up, pausing three times during the exercise...once at the very bottom in a dead hang, once just below the sticking point, and once just above the sticking point. THEN you'll come all the way to the top, hold briefly, then lower yourself down in one movement.

Here's what it looks like...

 

Pause #1 - Dead Hang

We're pausing here because this is the point where there is the strongest tendency to "adjust" the exercise, i.e. shorten the range of motion and skip the bottom position altogether or to utilize elastic energy to rebound out of the bottom.

By pausing at the bottom like this in a dead hang, we eliminate both issues. Just remember to not fully relax the shoulder joints...you want to maintain SOME tension in the muscles so the lats are supporting the stretch, not the connective tissue of the shoulder joint.

Now begin the movement.

 

Pause #2 - Below the Sticking Point

The sticking point in this exercise is when the elbows and shoulders are about 90 degrees. This is when leverage is the weakest.

So that's where we're going to stop (just below that point), in order to prevent you from using momentum generated out of the bottom to power through the sticking point, as you normally would.

Pause for a second or two, then continue.

 

Pause #3 - Above the Sticking Point

The rationale for this is very similar to the previous pause. As you come to the top of the pull-up, there is a tendency to finish the movement fast. This can shortchange you on muscle contraction at the top.

You're going to come up to the point just above where the elbows and shoulders were 90 degrees, then pause for a second or two....just enough time to kill all your momentum.

Now continue the rest of the way to the top.

Hold briefly at the top to complete the movement. I opted not to do a longer pause, because I wanted to put the focus on the pauses along the way up instead, in order to develop strength along the path of the movement rather than at the top.

Holding at the top would fatigue the muscles and limit the number of reps I could do using this pause technique. So that being said, you CAN pause longer again at the very top, if you like. It's not wrong.

Lower yourself down slowly and under control, back down into the bottom, dead-hang position and repeat.

It's a VERY simple concept and incredibly effective.

It's going to take ALL the momentum out of the exercise and really force you to build strength all the way from the bottom top, embracing the tension of the exercise rather than trying to get it done and over with as fast as possible.

Watch the video of this exercise in action here...

Enjoy!

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Nick Nilsson
The Mad Scientist of Muscle

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https://youtu.be/LH6EBn6-Svo
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