In the efforts to increase your pull up power, I have a sneaky pull up trick that you can do when doing pull up exercises.
While I’m a strong believer in training with strict form, the pull up exercise is one of those exercises that you can ‘cheat’ a little and still benefit.
Note that I said ‘a little’.
When I’m going for an all out max on the pull up, such as in the unglamorous and unedited video HERE, I may do more than ‘a little’ cheat, but when I train, I’ll just add a small does of ‘cheat’. This small cheat is like doing a ‘forced rep’ or it’s sort of like spotting myself. If I can get more reps up to the pull up bar, it means I can do more eccentric reps (lowering down from the pull up bar) and this will increase my strength dramatically.
What ‘cheat’ am I talking about?
I’m talking about adding a ‘controlled kip’ into your pull up.
Now most people wouldn’t believe that you could use power from the lower body to aid in the completion of a pull up, but they’re mistaken.
You can actually generate a bit of momentum and power by flexing at the hip and driving the knees upward ever so slightly, there by transferring momentum through the hips and on up to the upper body.
Another key point is to lift the chest to the bottom of the bar instead of trying to lift the chin over the bar.
Both this advantageous body position and adding the controlled kip will increase your pull up power instantly. You’ll be able to go from zero pull ups to a partial and if you’re already knocking out a few pull ups, you’ll add a few more.
For more tips and tricks and a kick a$$ done for you pull up program, check out my Challenge Workouts program and see if it’s right for you.