---
title: 'The Fastest Way to Get GREAT at Pullups (GUARANTEED!)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=7DBfO_hzDVc'
video_id: '7DBfO_hzDVc'
date: 2026-06-28
duration_sec: 0
---

# The Fastest Way to Get GREAT at Pullups (GUARANTEED!)

> Source: [The Fastest Way to Get GREAT at Pullups (GUARANTEED!)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=7DBfO_hzDVc)

## Summary

This video presents a 28-day protocol to significantly increase pull-up count, targeting individuals who can do between one and ten pull-ups. The method uses four specific isometric holds performed at different angles, focusing on the eccentric (lowering) phase and scapular stability. The routine is short (5-8 minutes), requires only a pull-up bar and chair, and promises guaranteed gains when done four times a week.

### Key Points

- **First Isometric Hold** [00:30] — Hold chin above bar as long as possible, then lower slowly.
- **Second Isometric Hold** [01:57] — Hold with forehead against bar to train a different angle.
- **Third Isometric Hold** [02:40] — Hold with arms at 90 degrees (most challenging part for many).
- **Fourth Isometric Hold (Scapular Pull)** [03:50] — Dead hang with scapular pull to improve shoulder stability.
- **Alternating Session Order** [04:43] — Alternate order each session: one day start from top, next from bottom.
- **Frequency and Duration** [04:38] — Perform four times a week for 28 days.
- **Volume Approach Option** [06:00] — Link to volume progression for those aiming for 15-25 pull-ups.

## Transcript

So, how many pull-ups can you do right
now? If the answer is between five and
10, then you're going to love this video
because I'm going to give you a
step-by-step protocol that's going to
guarantee that you do three, four, maybe
even five or six more pull-ups at the
end of just 28 days. Now, you might be
doing fewer than that, maybe one to
five. Then, this is going to be the
exact protocol that helps you break
through to doing either your first or
your first few. What you need is a chair
and this pull-up bar. That's it. Okay.
Okay. So, what we do is no matter what
level you're at right now, your first
step, there's four parts to this
progression here, is you're going to get
up on this chair and you're going to put
yourself with your chin above the bar,
right? Get as close as you can to the
bar. Ready? Get up here and hold for as
long as you can. Okay? One isometric
hold with the chin up above this bar.
What happens is obviously this becomes
more of a challenge and you start to
drop, right? And you'll notice that a
properly performed pull-up requires, I
say, your feet out in front of you,
quads contracted, legs straight, knees
straight. It creates more rigidity
through your core. But you let yourself
slowly drop down, fighting this really
important part of the pull-up, which is
the eentric part of it. Fighting it all
the way down. Trying not to let yourself
just drop. When you get all the way to
the bottom there, that's one repetition.
Okay, you wait another minute and we get
into position number two. This is all
being done in one short five to eight
minute routine. Now, quick note on that.
Let's say you're in this position. You
got up here, but because you don't have
a lot of pull-up strength, as soon as
you got here, you just kind of dropped.
You didn't hold the isometric for long
enough. There's a way for you to. All
you got to do is take a band, put it
over the pull-up bar, and then tighten
it, and you're just going to step into
that band. So, from here, I step in.
Now, I have an assisted pull-up that
takes away some of my body weight and
allows me to get that full hold on the
isometric. Okay? But if you're able to
do that five seconds at least, you don't
need to do that. Position number two,
get to the edge of the chair, put your
head up against that bar. Okay, that's
going to be your position that you want
to hold from. So again, feet go out in
front of you, go right here. You can see
the angle is different and that's what's
important here. Isometrics need to be
done across different angles or portions
of the range of motion so that you
broaden the strength gains that you get
from them. And remember that you're
always going to be stronger in this
eccentric and isometric portion of a
lift rather than you are in that
concentric where you actually have to
try to pull up against your body weight
and gravity. So one more repetition
there with that slow elongated eccentric
is step two. You rest another minute,
you come back up again. Third position
is going to be with the arms right about
here. You want some bend in the elbow,
but a position basically between 90
degrees and fully extended. So, what
that looks like is down like this. Now,
right there, now we're getting to that
part of the pull-up though that happens
to be the most difficult for people,
right? This is the hard part. You can't
really get yourself through the first
portion of it because you have to go
from a usually a dead stop and generate
a lot of strength and force and
stability through your shoulder blades
in a position where you're weakest.
Again, allow yourself to drop
eccentrically until you can't hold
anymore and come down. That's position
number three. Position number four, I
just said how important the last one
was. This is even more important because
this is the part that people never have
when they struggle with polish and that
is the stability of the scapula to
provide a stable platform for your
glenoumeral joint to work from. In other
words, having a stable base in this case
the scapula is a stable base that you
can move your arm from and produce force
up and down without it dissipating or
losing it through we call energy leaks.
So now what we do is we get down this
dead hang position and then pull your
shoulders away from your ears and pull
back just a little bit. This is a
scapular pull. All right. And from this
position here, I'm just trying to keep
my shoulder blades together. Lean back a
little bit and hold that isometric. And
I promise you for anyone that struggles
with pull-ups right now, this is the
position that's probably causing you the
most problems. and you don't even know
it because you can't even get in this
stable position. And once again, you
allow the eccentric lowering to occur
where the shoulder blades start to get
pulled apart because of gravity pushing
you down. Now, that's your four-step
progression. One minute rest in between,
a little longer if need be, but you do
that in one day. Now, the ideal
frequency here is to come back and do
this four times a week. The second time
you come back, you don't want to start
up here again all the way from the top.
Instead, you want to start in the
reverse. So, we start when we're most
fresh in this lengthen position in this
scap pull because it's here where we see
the most functional carryover. In other
words, the most concentric capabilities
that benefit from being stable so that I
can start to actually do full pull-ups
much easier. Right? So, we're going to
want to strengthen this when we're most
fresh. So this time we do that first,
then that elongated range, then the bar
up against the forehead, and then the
chin up over the bar. That would be
session two. Session three, you come
back starting high on the bar and trying
to get longer and longer. So every hold
is an opportunity to hold longer over
the bar, longer up here, so on and so
forth, or to elongate the eentric
lowering all the way down. And then the
fourth session, you come back and again
start from the bottom and try to
lengthen those times. If you do this for
the 28 days, I promise you, you're going
to see guaranteed it works every single
time, you're going to see more pull-ups
to failure in a single set. Now, if
you're looking to use a volume approach
where you do where you you can do
pull-ups already, but you're trying to
do more and more of them to the tune of
15, 20, 25, then you're going to want to
make sure that you head to
athletus.com/more pull-ups where I give
you a 22-day progression to follow step
by step to increase your volume of
pull-ups, almost to the point of doing
double your max pull-up set right now.
If you know anybody that struggles with
pull-ups, make sure you share it with
them and uh see how you do. Make sure
you leave your comments below. All
right, guys. I hope you like the coach
video here. Just me helping you to see
what you need to do to get better. All
right, guys. See you soon.