Bodyweight Mastery: Pull

How to complete Bodyweight Mastery: Pull

A strict pull-up means starting from a full dead hang, arms straight, and pulling your chin over the bar using only your back and arms with no kipping or leg swing. It is the cleanest single test of relative upper-body pulling strength and the gateway to every harder bar skill.

1. Build the hang first: dead-hang 30 seconds so grip and shoulders aren't the limiter.
2. Train negatives: jump to the top, then lower yourself as slowly as possible (aim 5+ seconds). Do these 2-3x/week.
3. Add band-assisted or banded pull-ups, dropping band thickness as you get stronger.
4. Drill scapular pulls (shrug shoulder blades down while hanging) to learn the initiation.
5. Test cold and fresh, not after a workout: dead hang, pause, pull chin fully over the bar.

Tips

• No swing, no leg kick, no half reps: chin clears the bar from straight arms or it doesn't count.
• Lose excess bodyweight if you're stalling; pull-ups are pure strength-to-weight.
• Don't grip too wide; shoulder-width or slightly outside is strongest for most people.

What counts as done

Chin rises fully above the bar from a motionless dead hang with no kipping, and you lower under control.