If you can't do a pull up yet, follow these steps and you'll get there.
Step 1: Find the right assistance
Get a resistance band. Start with a thicker one — if that's not enough, combine multiple bands until you can complete one assisted pull up.
Step 2: Gradually reduce the assistance
Start with the thickest band and work your way to thinner ones. Each set, go until failure. You can do this once a day, or multiple times — depending on how you feel that day. But once is enough.
Step 3: Wait for your body to be ready
Along the way, you can add other strength training to speed things up, or rest when your body needs it. Just keep going. When your strength is ready, you won't need any assistance at all.
This is the simplest and most effective way to get your first pull up. It's exactly how I did it. Here's what I learned along the way.
My story
I installed a pull up bar on my door frame. I started with the thickest and medium resistance bands, then gradually reduced the assistance. Every time I walked past the door frame, I'd do a set to failure. Sometimes, on a whim, I'd do an extra set. I kept a notebook and recorded every session — how many reps in each set. Then my period came and I stopped for a week. Then I kept going. After two months, in the third month, I finally did my first pull up.
When I looked back at my records, I had added almost one more rep every single day. That feeling of constant progress was wonderful. And my period interruptions barely affected my strength at all — I didn't progress during those weeks, but I didn't lose anything either.
But because my only goal was to do one pull up, once I achieved it, I lost the motivation to continue. A year later, I tried again and couldn't do it at all — even with a thin resistance band, I couldn't manage one. Everything had to start over.
That experience inspired me to build Handle.
If you train hard for a month and then don't move for six months, almost everything you built is gone. But if you can maintain your training over the long term — even a very small amount each week — your body stays alive and healthy. Every single session counts.
That's why I built Handle — a free home workout app that starts with how you feel. If you'd like to try it, download it below. It's completely free.