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This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in May of 2024. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/xewBaDLnfBQ
Brad: That was me when I was 50 years old. I could not do one pull up. I could in high school, but ever since then, I got weaker, I understand, and my shoulders became achy when I did them.
Mike: But you can do them now because it didn't look like it.
Brad: Actually now I can do 10 of them. It's not a problem, it's my regular routine and I feel "strong like bull."
Mike: Oh, that's good. Strong.
Brad: All right, now seriously it is true. I could not do them at 50, now I can. And I'm going to show you the system that I use, it works very well.
Mike: So we're going to show you Brad's trick in order to do pull-ups easier now. And at the end, we're going to give you a bonus tip how you can help your back and shoulder pain with the pull-up bar.
Brad: That's right and I use that as well.
Mike: So there are three different styles of pull-ups you can do depending upon the pull-up bar system you have. You can do a wide grip. This is typically a little bit more challenging. You can do a neutral grip where you grab the bars that are coming straight out. Or for beginners or me, I personally like to do a chin up because your biceps are involved. Now pick which one feels best for you. It's going to depend upon your strength and your shoulder mobility. As well as what kind of pull-up system you have at home.
Brad: Exactly. When I had this problem, it was like I really wanted to do pull-ups because everyone else I knew was doing pull-ups. Bob's doing them, Mike was doing them, all my friends are doing them. And I was like, I'm a wimp. So I'm going to show you the two options that I've used. One of them is you can simply take a stool or a chair, put it behind you. I don't do it this way, but I could. My way I like better. But anyways, so I've got my feet on the stool and I'm going to push with my feet and it's amazing how much easier you can do a pull up with just a little assist.
Brad: So that is one option. My goal is always 10 repetitions. If I can get to 10 repetitions, by nine and 10, I'm working, I'm feeling the pain, the burn a little bit, that's my goal. And you can do 10 if you want to do one, two, three sets of 10. Start out with one obviously, and then see how you feel the next day. Take a break. I only do mine on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Now this is what I use. You do need to have loop bands. Again, the other option you don't. So let's just go through, there are two ways that you can hook these up. The first way to hook it up is to put the band over the bar, loop it through so it ties, and you do that right in the middle and put it on your knee. You can actually put it on your foot as well. I find it easier and better on my knee. I use shorts while I'm doing this, so the loop band sticks to your skin better than clothing. So that works very well. It will work on your clothing. Now simply pull up and down. And this is easy.
Brad: Now if you're starting out, the red one or this thickness may be more difficult. So what you're going to do, ah, there you go, go to a thicker band. And it is amazing when you go to one of these thicker bands how easy you can do these. Same thing, go down, and boy, you know this, I can probably do 30 or 40 of them. I'm not working very hard, my shoulders don't work or aren't hurting at all. And you can tell by my voice I'm not too stressed at all. So works very well.
Brad: Whichever band you find works the best. There are usually four or five bands in a set, all different intensities. Now this is how I do mine at home. I go around the bar with the band and I only use one and I go down. But you could come down with the second one. Whatever works for you. And I have a bar like this. I don't do mine with a palm like this. I always do them this way because that's the way I do them. Here we go. All right, Mike.
Mike: Do 100 more though.
Brad: Yeah, actually with the purple one, I probably could. Go ahead, get some input on yours. Mike is more of a veteran than I am at this.
Mike: A good thing to do, which Brad was doing, is when you are doing pull-ups, make sure to go all the way down and relax your shoulders to get better lat engagement. Oftentimes, you'll see people do partial range. They try to aim for your chin over the bar if possible, and then they'll stop partway down, and they'll just do partial reps. This isn't doing a whole lot. Try to go all the way down, all the way up. Again, the stronger you get, the more control you have going down, the more engagement you're going to get.
Mike: If you're really struggling, you're not really pulling straight down, you're essentially pulling it to your chest. This is going to engage different back muscles, making it a bit easier. So as you see when I do it, my chest goes to the bar and then I come back down. Obviously with a wall in the way, you can't rock as much to get as much angle, but it's just a way to make the pull-ups easier.
Brad: Excellent, yeah, the point about doing them slowly and full range of motion so you get a good quality pull-up is really important. Thanks, Mike.
Mike: Now, I'm sweating.
Brad: Now we're going to go into this seeing how you got a pull-up bar, how you can help your shoulder pain and your back pain. This is very simple and quick. All right, now you can use your pull-up bar for extra benefits for your shoulder as well as decompression of your thoracic and your low back. As far as your shoulder, Dr. John M. Kirsch, he's a shoulder surgeon, he wrote this book on hanging for shoulder benefits. It works very well. I never believed it until I read the book and actually started to do this. This is a part of my program and I simply grab my pull-up bar and you do have to be supported by your leg weight. If you jump up to it and you go to full weight bearing, that's not the correct way to do this technique. You simply gently go down and allow the body weight to hang and put traction decompressions through your shoulders for anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds depending on what's comfortable.
Brad: If you're starting out, maybe five to 10 seconds, after a couple of weeks, you will be able to hang longer. I don't go longer than 30 seconds. However, Dr. Kirsch's book, he talks about people hanging for over a minute and longer. So again, do what your body tells you. Now while you're doing this, you're actually decompressing or putting traction through your mid-back and your low back and just relax and allow that to feel good. Oh, do you ever do this, Mike?
Mike: I do, but don't do it before your pull-ups because you're going to be way more tired. I've done that before, it's a bad idea.
Brad: Now if you have stenosis, like I do in my back, I simply bring my feet out in front of me like this and then I round my back here and boy does that feel good. It helps open up those facet joints. Those are the ones that get compacted with stenosis, and it's a great way for stretching and maintenance on that as well.
Brad: All right. I'm feeling good, strong, and my shoulders are stretched, my back is decompressed, and you can do the same thing. It is really a good system with a pull-up bar that a lot of people aren't aware of.
Mike: Now if you're someone that struggles with pushups as well, you can check out the video "Perfect Push-ups Guaranteed, Do them Right & get Stronger," to find out more about how to improve that.
Brad: That's right, it's a wonderful video. Ha, yeah, yeah.
Mike: I think you're in it.
Brad: Yep.
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