How to Fix Problem Pull-Ups
Diagnose and correct common pull-up mechanics including shoulder impingement, elbow flare, kipping, and weak scapular depression to build strict reps.
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🧰 Required Tools & Equipment
- ✓ Pull-up bar
- ✓ Loop resistance band (medium/heavy)
- ✓ Plyometric box or sturdy bench
- ✓ Foam roller
- ✓ PVC pipe
📦 Materials & Supplies
- ✓ Gymnastics chalk
- ✓ Exercise mat
⚠️ Safety Checkpoints & Warnings
- • Verify pull-up bar mount stability and weight rating before hanging.
- • Clear all loose equipment directly underneath the landing zone.
- • Do not drop abruptly into a passive dead hang to avoid shoulder labrum strain.
📋 Step-by-Step Guide (6 Steps)
Mobilize Latissimus Dorsi and Thoracic Spine
Place the foam roller beneath your mid-back and extend backward to restore thoracic mobility. Rotate slightly to roll out the lateral edge of the shoulder blade along the latissimus dorsi. Spend 60 seconds per side breaking up soft-tissue stiffness that restricts overhead elevation.
- • Spine arches smoothly over the roller without excessive lumbar hyperextension.
- • Arms reach overhead along the floor with elbows fully extended.
- • Rolling directly onto the lower spine rather than the mid-to-upper back.
- • Flaring the lower ribcage instead of extending through the upper back.
Establish the Hollow-Body Tension Grip
Grip the bar slightly wider than shoulder-width with palms facing away and thumbs wrapped fully around the bar. Engage your core by tucking your pelvis under, pulling your ribcage down, and positioning straight legs slightly in front of your vertical center line. Maintain pointed toes and squeezed glutes.
- • Body forms a slight, continuous concave crescent from hands to pointed toes.
- • Legs remain pressed together with feet 3 to 6 inches in front of the bar's vertical plane.
- • Crossing feet behind the body and arching the lower back into lumbar hyperextension.
- • Leaving thumbs over the bar, which weakens grip force.
Master Scapular Depression and Retraction
Hang fully extended in your hollow body position with elbows completely straight. Pull your shoulder blades down and back away from your ears, lifting your collarbones toward the ceiling by 2 to 4 inches without bending your elbows. Hold this active hang for 2 seconds, then return smoothly to passive hang.
- • Neck elongates as shoulders sink visibly away from the earlobes.
- • Torso rises vertically while arm angle stays locked straight.
- • Bending elbows to initiate the lift instead of relying on scapular musculature.
- • Shrugging shoulders up toward the ears as the body moves.
Drive Elbows Down and Break the Bar
Initiate the primary pull by applying outward torque on the bar as if trying to snap it in half. Drive your elbows down toward your back pockets rather than pulling back with your forearms. Keep your sternum elevated toward the bar while your hollow core prevents swinging.
- • Elbows track downward in line with the torso plane rather than flaring widely outward.
- • Chest leads the upward trajectory toward the bar.
- • Flaring elbows straight out to the sides, shifting load to the rotator cuff.
- • Kicking legs upward to generate momentum (kipping).
Lock Out Chest-to-Bar Without Shoulder Dump
Pull until your chin clears the bar completely and your clavicles approach bar level. Maintain an open, proud chest by keeping the scapulae depressed; do not let your shoulders roll forward at the peak. Hold the apex position for a full one-second pause.
- • Chin is horizontally clear over the bar without extending the neck.
- • Shoulder heads stay back and do not round forward toward the bar.
- • Craning the neck upward to hook the chin over the bar while chest collapses.
- • Allowing shoulders to roll forward (internal rotation dump) at top of the rep.
Control the Eccentric Descent to Full Lockout
Lower your body in a strictly controlled 3-to-4 second cadence while maintaining core stiffness. Resisting gravity actively with your lats until your arms reach 100% elbow extension. Transition cleanly into the active scapular hang before initiating the next repetition.
- • Body descends at a slow, uniform speed without acceleration.
- • Elbows achieve full extension at the exact bottom of the stroke.
- • Dropping straight down rapidly and jolting at dead hang.
- • Rebounding out of a half-rep without reaching full elbow extension.
Credit: inspired by an original tutorial by Squat University — watch the original on YouTube.
Don’t have everything?
- No Loop resistance band? Sturdy plyometric box for eccentric jump-up reps
- No Foam roller? Tennis ball or filled rigid water bottle
- No Gymnastics chalk? Liquid grip aid or textured bar wrap