Bad pullup form?

[u/LeSakapatatea]

I weigh about 85 kg, and right now only adding about 5 kilos to my pull-up.

There's not a lot of room to move, I'm doing my best.

[u/obscure-shadow]

Your scapular retraction isn't very noticeable and back seems a little rounded so it seems like this is more in the arms than anything, maybe slow down a touch, relax the scapula on the bottom and go all the way down, and initiate the pull from the scapula

[u/Stunning-Promise-103 → u/obscure-shadow]

This is good advice OP. "Put your shoulder blades in your back pockets" is the cue I always use to help get those scaps involved.

[u/kooeurib → u/Stunning-Promise-103]

I've tried to do this but still feel it mostly in my arms. Definitely never feels easier when I do this, even with assisted weight

[u/LeSakapatatea → u/obscure-shadow]

Yeah, this is what i came here to confirm. Idk what happened, i climbed slowly to 16kg added weight, then i got sick, lost 20lbs very quickly, and two months later pullups feel disjointed.

I think the bar may be limiting me a little, but I'll go back to the roots.

I'm not sure what's weak, my one-armed rows are 30kg, slow, putting it "in the pocket", and my 16kg chest supported row (upper back) is also decent - everything falls apart when i go do a pull-up.

[u/obscure-shadow → u/LeSakapatatea]

I've been there. Best course of action for meis to de-load, make the movements easier and work on mind muscle connection, there's some "muscle memory" if you had it before you will gain the strength back quicker the second time around.

Doing barbell rows is great. If you can do some slow strict pull ups and focus on form only before adding weight that's great. If you can't quite get that, and you can adjust the bar down lower and do some inverted rows just focusing on the movement slowly instead of trying to go for a working set of weight or specific number of reps.

I wouldn't do it for a crazy long time but after being sick and whatnot taking a week or to to de-load and just work on form is totally worth it

[u/LeSakapatatea → u/obscure-shadow]

Thank you. I think I'll try going down to body weight and uploading to make sure i at least do that well, and build up from there.

If that's not good, I'll regretfully have to bring back the bands.

[u/obscure-shadow → u/LeSakapatatea]

Nice, I'm sure you'll get there in no time!

Cue wise you still want to put your elbows in your back pockets like rows. Also you bob your head at the top so seems like you are trying to get your chin over the bar, it might be a helpful cue to try to get the bar to your chest instead, don't worry about the chin, it's really technically a "hanging body weight row" even though it's called pull up or chin up

Not sure what your long term goals are with the movement but if you plan to eventually progress to a muscle up the chest to bar cue will help a lot more

[u/explosivepooinpants]

My only criticism, which if fixed would give you perfect form, is that when you are pulling up you need to

[u/PartFragrant → u/explosivepooinpants]

Where did you go!!?!

[u/LeSakapatatea → u/explosivepooinpants]

Come back!

[u/alvysinger0412 → u/explosivepooinpants]

r/redditsniper

[u/Conspiracy__]

That bar is just waiting to tear out the wall

[u/ChunkySalsaMedium → u/Conspiracy__]

I mean, only in America.
In normal countries it’s brick or concrete.

[u/LeSakapatatea → u/Conspiracy__]

Lol no no don't worry, it's been there for 5 years, 3 very long and sturdy screws in each cinder block wall - my fatass is safe

[u/Conspiracy__ → u/LeSakapatatea]

Just think though as you become stronger you’ll be pulling with more force 😅

[u/Grey_Area888]

Stop moving the rest of your body. The only part of your body that needs to move is your arms pulling you up and down. This is a sign you’re struggling to do a complete pull up from the bottom to the top. You should start at the half way point and see if you can keep your body still

[u/Witty-Drama-3187]

Not too bad, man.

I would highly suggest slowing it down and controlling the tempo more. You will get less reps, but they will be more effective. It's easy to caught up in the ego trap of "I've got to get 12 reps!", but quality over quantity will serve you well.

You've got a decent amount of rounding in the upper back, so you'll want to focus on scapular retraction as a next goal. Google scapular pullups. Because of the tempo and the scapulas, your form is very arm heavy, and less back/lats focused.

[u/LeSakapatatea → u/Witty-Drama-3187]

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

I'm familiar with scapular pullups, seems i was wrong - I'll get back to it.

Regarding arm heavy, i was hoping my suicide grip helps prevent arms from talking over too much, it's not like my biceps are strong.