I thought pull-ups were beyond me until I tried this exercise that also improved my grip and back strength
I stopped trying to pull myself up, and my pull-ups got better
There’s something seriously impressive about walking into the gym, jumping onto a bar and pulling your chin above it with ease. It’s one of those exercises that instantly screams athletic, strong and seriously capable. The problem? Pull-ups are hard. Really hard.
I can barely manage one rep, and if I do, it’s usually one of those swingy, messy attempts that look more like a kipping pull-up than an actual pull-up.
Despite regularly strength training and weighing under 55 kg (~121 lbs), I still struggled to do pull-ups, unable to hoist my body weight up to the bar. Assisted pull-up machines and bands helped to a point, but eventually I hit a plateau.
I wasn’t getting stronger and still relied far too much on the support. Then I spotted the Beckhams, Victoria, doing negative pull-ups on social media, and it completely changed how I viewed the exercise.
Instead of focusing on the pulling phase, negative pull-ups train the lowering phase, also known as the eccentric part of the movement. Essentially, you jump up to the top position with your chin over the bar, then lower yourself down as slowly and under control as possible. Genius!
It sounds simple, but the slow descent creates an unbelievable amount of tension through the lats, upper back, arms and core. The longer time under tension helps build the strength and control needed for full pull-ups - and your muscles start shaking almost immediately.
But after swapping assisted pull-ups for negatives for just a few weeks, my upper-body strength, grip strength, and ability to control my body weight on the bar improved far more quickly than I expected. For the first time, proper pull-ups actually started to feel achievable.
Why negative pull-ups work
If you’re working towards your first pull-up, negative pull-ups, where you slowly lower yourself from the top of the bar, are one of the smartest exercises you can add to your training plan.
Research consistently shows that eccentric training, where muscles lengthen under tension, can build serious strength because muscles are able to handle more load on the lowering phase than on the lifting phase.
In fact, studies suggest people are typically around 40% stronger during the eccentric (lowering) phase than the concentric (lifting) phase.
In simple terms, lowering yourself slowly feels easier than pulling yourself up, making negative pull-ups the perfect stepping stone towards full reps. But the move does far more than simply build upper-body strength.
Negative pull-ups also improve body control, grip strength and core strength, while teaching your body what a proper pull-up should actually feel like. Over time, they can help improve your confidence on the bar.
There is more of a load on each motor unit of the muscle, so more tension is applied to the muscle fibres, which helps you to increase your strength.
How to do negative pull-ups
To perform a negative pull-up, stand beneath a pull-up bar with a box or bench nearby to help you reach the starting position. Step up or jump so your chin is above the bar, then slowly lower yourself down in a controlled manner, keeping your legs together, core braced, and body tight throughout the movement.
Focus on resisting gravity for as long as possible and maintain control all the way down until your arms are fully extended. Once you reach the bottom, step back onto the box or bench and repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Top tip: Don’t just drop straight down. The slower and more controlled the lowering phase, the more strength you’ll build.
My experience with negative pull-ups
What surprised me most was how much negative pull-ups challenged not just my upper body but also my core and grip strength.
I managed just three reps on my first attempt before completely losing control during the descent and more or less flopping into a dead-hang position. I’m still not entirely sure what gave up first, my lats or my grip, but my money’s on grip strength.
That weakness had already been flagged during a recent LiveWell assessment with Pure Sports Medicine, where I performed a grip strength test using a hand dynamometer.
It's a device you squeeze as hard as possible to measure the force generated by the muscles in your hands and forearms. Let’s say my results were pretty average, and annoyingly, my negative pull-ups exposed that weakness even more.
The slow lowering phase demands constant tension through the forearms, shoulders, biceps, lats and core, and once fatigue kicks in, it's game over.
On every rep, I aimed to lower myself as slowly as possible, with the goal of eventually building up to a controlled 30-second descent, a benchmark many coaches use as a sign you’re close to achieving your first strict pull-up.
Within a couple of weeks of performing them to failure three times a week, I noticed better control of the bar, less torso swing, and a noticeably stronger grip. I’ve also started doing more farmer’s walks and heavy kettlebell swings alongside the pull-ups, and together they seem to be making a real difference.
