If the idea of doing 15 pullups or more unbroken seems daunting to you, this is the video you need to watch. I’m going to show you the 6 biggest pull-up mistakes that people make that holds them back from reaching their true potential on this amazing back exercise.

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Doing more pullups is something that almost everyone wishes they could do. Not only is it an amazing bodyweight exercise that can be done with just a pull-up bar, but it is one that can produce muscle size and strength gains that are on par with almost any barbell back exercise.

The problem is, when you are making the common pullup mistakes that I cover here, there’s no way you can get as much out of the movement as is possible. So with that said, let’s start fixing the errors that people make on pullups.

First, you need to setup for the exercise properly.

Many people position themselves directly under the bar and simply pull straight up and down. This is not correct since it creates too much looseness in the upper body, particularly the scapula. In order to create the necessary rigidity in your upper body to transfer power and strength more effectively, you need to not just think about pulling down into the bar but pushing your body back and away a bit.

What this does is creates lat engagement in much the same way that doing a straight arm pushdown would. This will immediately put the forearms and biceps into a secondary role of driving the ascent and lets the lats, the more powerful of the muscles of the upper body, get front and center to do the job. Once you’ve done this right and felt what it is supposed to feel like, you’ll never do a pullup any other way.

Next, you have to focus on the position of your elbows during the exercise. They should never point directly out to your side if doing a lot of pull-ups is your goal. Instead, they should point forward at about a 45 degree angle. This is called the scapular plane. It is in this plane that the shoulders not only function more safely but your lats are more engaged in the exercise since they are placed in a slight stretch.

If you were to be viewed from the side, someone should be able to see your elbows peeking out in front of the squat rack or cage that you are performing the pull-ups in. If they cannot, it means that they are too much in the frontal plane and this will lower your total unbroken pullups count.

Next, you have to address any lack of tightness in your entire body if you want to do max pullup reps in a single set. This comes in the form of fixing what I call, energy leaks. Every bit of the force you generate down into the bar must be preserved with little loss if you want to increase your pullups as much as possible. This means that you have to straighten your knees by contracting your quads, point your toes by flexing your calves, tighten the abs and squeeze the glutes to limit swing and loss of total body tension.

When all of these things are done properly, your pullup form is perfect and your ability to fly up over the bar on every single rep will be greatly improved.

Next, you need to focus on your grip. Avoid a narrow grip since this will just place more of the load on the muscles of the forearms which are not capable of lifting your bodyweight as well as your lats. In addition, the direction of the force you are applying through your hands matters. Don’t just think of pulling down into the bar, but together as well.

Think about squeezing your hands in towards each other and down at the same time.

This will engage the muscles of the chest which are also adductors along with the lats and will help to assist you in lifting your body over the bar.

Next, avoid caving in your chest as you pull up to the top. This often happens when someone is struggling to perform a rep as they fatigue. Don’t allow this. Instead, target the bar with your sternum by reaching up with your chest as you ascend.

Finally, don’t forget to train with weights. Increasing your pullups should never be your sole focus on the exercise. If you want to do more unbroken pullups, or even 15 straight reps or more, then you need to train with weighted pullups as well.

If you’re looking for a complete program that will help you do this, head to athleanx.com via the link above to get our Pull Up or Shut Up program.

Remember to subscribe to our channel here on youtube for more videos on how to do more pullups and the proper pull-up form.

Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets. Jeff earned his Masters of Physical Therapy and Bachelor’s of Physioneurobiology from the College of Health Sciences University of Connecticut Storrs. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).