The Most Common Weak Points, Best Progression + Accessories That Actually Work

If you can’t do a pull-up yet, you’re not weak.

You’re just missing a few pieces.

Most people don’t fail at pull-ups because they “aren’t strong enough.”
They fail because they’re training the wrong things — in the wrong order.

Let’s fix that.

This is the exact progression that has helped thousands of women get their first strict pull-up — and it’s the same method I used myself.

We’ll cover:

1. The position most people get wrong
2. The #1 movement you need to prioritize
3. A simple progressive overload plan
4. Accessories (and which ones are overrated)
5. Grip strength (the sneaky limiter)

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Step 1: Stop Dead Hanging — Start Using a Hollow Body

Before we talk about strength, we need to talk about position.

Most beginners grab the bar and look like this:

Shoulders up by the ears.
Ribs flared.
Swinging around.

That’s a dead hang.

Instead, you want a hollow body hang.

Here’s what that means:

• Legs zipped together
• Slight posterior pelvic tilt
• Ribs pulled down
• Core on
• Shoulder blades pulled down (not shrugged)
• Head slightly behind the bar

You should look slightly like a banana.

This position:

• Creates full-body tension
• Engages your lats
• Protects your shoulders
• Makes the pull-up mechanically easier

If you can’t control your body in the hang, you won’t control it in the pull.

If you’re not doing pull-ups yet, practice hollow body hangs instead of dead hangs.

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Can’t Hang Yet? Start on the Floor.

Same cues:

• Low back pressed into the floor
• Ribs down
• Chin slightly tucked
• Arms overhead (or down by your sides if that’s too hard)

Start with:

• 3 sets of 5–10 seconds

If you can hold a true hollow body for 30 seconds?
You’re in a great place.

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Step 2: Learn the Scap Pull

Another common weak point: shoulder blade control.

When you hang, your delts shouldn’t be up by your ears.

Instead, think:

Pull your shoulder blades down.

That tiny movement?
That’s a scapular pull-up.

Practice it by:

• Hanging and pulling your shoulders down without bending your elbows
• Or rehearsing the motion with a PVC pipe

This teaches you how to initiate the pull correctly.

Because pull-ups don’t start with your arms.
They start with your back.

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Step 3: The #1 Exercise You Need — Negative Pull-Ups

If you take nothing else from this article, take this:

The negative pull-up is the most important exercise for getting your first pull-up.

Not bands.
Not lat pull-downs.
Not rows.

Negatives.

How to Do It:

1. Jump up so your chin is over the bar
2. Stop your swing
3. Slowly lower yourself down
4. Resist gravity the entire way
5. Stay in your hollow body position

Do NOT:

• Drop fast at the bottom
• Relax halfway down
• Skip the hardest range (mid-lower portion)

The eccentric builds the exact strength you need for the concentric.

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What If You Drop Immediately?

If you can’t control yourself for at least 1–2 seconds:

• Use a band for assistance only during the negative
• Or use a box so your feet lightly assist

But the goal is still control — not bouncing.

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Step 4: The Simplest Progressive Overload Plan Ever

Let’s say on your first test day, you can control your negative for 10 seconds.

Here’s your plan:

• Take your max (10 seconds)
• Multiply by 2 → 20 total seconds
• That’s your Session 1 goal

You can break it up however you want:

• 2 x 10 seconds
• 4 x 5 seconds
• 5 x 4 seconds

Just hit the total.

Next session?
Add 2 seconds.

20 → 22
22 → 24
24 → 26

Train this 3x per week for 3–4 weeks.

Then retest your max negative.

Most people who reach:

• 20–25 second controlled negatives
  …are very close to their first pull-up — if not already there.

This is progressive overload.
It works.

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Step 5: Accessories (Ranked Honestly)

There’s a lot of debate about “best pull-up exercises.”

Here’s my honest ranking.

Bread & Butter

• Negative pull-ups
• Hollow body holds

Very Helpful

• Inverted rows (easy to scale by changing body angle)
• Jumping pull-ups (good for confidence + volume)

Fine, But Overused

• Band-assisted pull-ups
• Lat pull-downs

Band pull-ups aren’t bad — they just make the hardest part easier, which means you’re not building strength where you need it most.

Lat pull-downs are great for general strength — but:

• You’re not hanging your bodyweight
• You’re not training grip properly
• You’re not training full-body tension

If your goal is your first strict pull-up, negatives beat both.

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Step 6: Don’t Ignore Grip Strength

One of the most common limiting factors?

Grip.

And no, squeezing a stress ball isn’t enough.

To build grip:

• Dead hangs
• Dumbbell RDLs
• Heavy carries
• Deadlifts
• Holding heavy things for time

If you can’t hold onto the bar long enough to lower yourself slowly, you won’t build the strength you need.

Grip matters.

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The Biggest Mistakes I See

• Skipping hollow body work
• Jumping straight to band pull-ups
• Avoiding negatives because they’re hard
• Not tracking total eccentric time
• Not progressively overloading

Pull-ups are a skill.

And like any skill — they respond to consistent, structured practice.

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How Long Will It Take?

That depends on:

• Your starting strength
• Your bodyweight
• Your training consistency

But most women who train negatives 3x per week see major progress within 3–6 weeks.

And yes — you absolutely can get your first pull-up.

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Want a Program That Builds This In?

If you don’t want to piece this together yourself, my program, Stronger By The Day, includes:

• Structured upper body progressions
• Pull-up development built into programming
• Progressive overload done for you
• Strength work that actually transfers

You don’t need random workouts.
You need progression.

And you’re stronger than you think.

This Substack is where I think out loud.

My email list is where I go deeper.

👉 Join here

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