One exercise that I love and also hate is the pull-up.
Seriously, is there anything more difficult? Or frustrating? Or … empowering?? ;)
I want to do pull-ups. A lot of them. And even though I am fairly
strong, pull-ups are still so tough for me. In fact, they are a curious exercise because our ability to knock them out depends on our strength-to-weight ratio. So for example, people who weigh less can afford to be not as strong and still might be able to do them. While those who weigh more will have to be THAT much stronger in order to pull themselves up. And weighing in at 155 lbs, it’s not always the easiest pull.
As a side note, funny story: I remember when
I was dieting down for my first competition and I actually lost 20 lbs during the process. And as I was getting closer to the show, pull-ups started getting easier (duh). But I remember thinking, “Oh, I’m getting so much stronger as I get closer to show time, this must be working, look how easy these pull-ups are!” Lol, because completely depleting carbs and doing 2 hours of cardio a day makes you stronger ;) *heavy sarcasm* Anyway. After a few moments, I remembered that the WEIGHT LOSS probably
had something to do with it. And what do you know? When I gained back all that weight within 2 weeks after the show, pull-ups were difficult again! Go figure.
ANYWAY. The good news is that there are several different variations of pull-ups, and so if you are like 99% of women who might not be able to do a single pull-up on your own, you can work up to it as you get stronger.
My friend Jen Sinkler, creator of ‘Lift Weights Faster’ put
together
this super quickie 2-min video featuring a couple quick pull-up variations (the jumping pull-up and the box pull-up) – check them out
here. I love these. So good.
The pull-up is one of my fav back movements, but it mainly focuses on the lats. And in order to build a more toned, muscle back that has some definition to it, you need two things:
- To hit the back from all angles
- Substantial weight
Yes, your back is made up of many large muscle groups,
many of which can lift heavier weight than you would think. I often see women doing single-arm bent-over bench rows with a 12-lb dumbbell. For 95% of women, they will be able to lift 15-20 lbs in this movement with safe form – they just don’t know it. It’s something I learned through personal training thousands of clients over 12 years in the trenches – we tend to go a little lighter than we can on back movements, which in reality, it’s a great opportunity to go
heavier.
So as a general rule, I have women pick the weight they’d like to use, and then add 5-10 lbs to it. Maintain slow, controlled movement, but I am fairly certain you’ll be just fine. And let’s face it, in order to “look like you fit” (I told you I’m punny!), aka look like you lift weights, you gotta recruit some challenging weight – it’s the only way your body starts looking like you are someone who lifts. A weight-training look is different than a cardio look,
and when it comes to building your back, load up!
Below is one of my favorite 25-minute back circuits, and some suggested weights listed to use. Obviously, you will need to adjust for you but if the weights listed are within 5-10 lbs of what you’d normally use, try them. Just try a few reps and see how it feels. Remember, you can always rest and then resume when you’re ready. Be safe, and stay controlled in your movements. You’ll need access to a gym to do this
workout.
I recommend doing this circuit workout once a week for 6-8 weeks:
