Yep, in my experience with helping people do their first pull-up, I
have to say the single most overlooked factor is not back or arm
strength...it's GRIP strength.

After all, you can't do a full pull-up if you can't support
your own full bodyweight hanging on the bar.

That's why the first thing I recommend for somebody who wants
to do their first pull-up is grip work. And the best way to do this
is very specific grip work...a simple dead hang on the pull-up bar
until your grip gives out (all fingers...hang until you drop).

Do this at the end of EVERY single workout you do and your
exercise-specific grip strength will increase rapidly, making it
much easier to get your first pull-up.

And yes, this also works even in those who can already do reps.
Grip strength can be a tremendous limiting factor in the pull-up.
Get rid of that as your weak link and your strength will take off.

Now, if you are at the "starting" stage with getting your first
pull-up, what I've also got for you today is a great video from
my friend Shawna Kaminski, giving you some great tips on how
to use a training band to assist and build up your strength in
preparation for doing full pull-ups on your own.

Check out that video here...(she's also included a great fat loss
tip called "Burst Training"...good info).

If you missed the email I sent out yesterday, Shawna is 49 years
old and can crank out 20 pull-ups like it's nothing.

She's developed a system for helping people achieve that first
pull-up, as well as improving your numbers if you can already
do pull-ups.

And yes, I did get some feedback that she uses a "kipping" style
in her video on her page showing her doing 20 reps. That's
very true, however, when you use this small "cheating"
movement to get more reps, I believe it does offer benefits in
terms of building exercise-specific strength. You get to spend
more time on the bar, which develops more grip strength and
endurance (which I mentioned above can be a key limiting factor)
and you're able to take advantage of the eccentric/negative
portion of a greater number of reps, which builds more strength
in the long run.

So are they 20 totally strict, no-body-movement pull-ups? Nope,
but I think there is tremendous value in learning how a
49 year-old woman can do more kipping pull-ups than
most MEN half her age can! :)

Check out her pull-up program here...

Nick Nilsson
The "Mad Scientist of Muscle"





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