It takes time and effort to master the pull-up. The exercise has a tremendous amount to do with technique and confidence. Start here:

• Pull-up Mastery: 4 Tips from a Former Coach and Navy Seal
• How to Go from 0-30 Pull-ups
• How to Get Pull-ups in 28 Days
• How to do a Pull-up

Incorporating the move into your regular training is the next step. That is why we are going to look at how to build simple workouts around them.

This week, our goal is to make sure you feel comfortable mixing pull-ups into simple routines that are easy to incorporate into your day.

Pull-up Workouts

For each of these workouts, be sure to start with a dynamic warm-up and to finish with a good stretch. In these workouts, start the pull-ups easy and controlled.

Monday: Pull-ups for Time

Main set

• 1-minute pull-ups (or dead hang)
• 1 minute rest

Repeat for 10-20 minutes. Work on maintaining the ideal form. You want to get a maximum rep count during this workout, but you don't want to sacrifice technique. If you can't continue to do pull-ups, perform a dead hang.

Tuesday: Pull-up Fartlek

Main set

• 1 minute pull-ups
• Run 1 minute
• 1 minutes rest
• 1 minute pull-ups
• Run 2 minutes
• 1 minute rest
• 1 minute pull-ups
• Run 2 minutes

Repeat as needed. If you are unable to do pull-ups, perform a dead hang. This workout is most easily performed with a treadmill.

Wednesday: Ladder Pull-ups

Main Set: for 10 minutes

• 1 pull-up
• 2 pull-up
• 3 pull-up...

After maxing out, start back at 1. Rest as needed. If you are unable to do pull-ups, perform a dead hang, adding time each interval.

Thursday: Recovery

Friday:  Jump Rope/Dead Hang

Main Set: 

:30 jump Rope Sprint :10 Dead Hang :45 Jump Rope Sprint :20 Dead Hang 1:00 Jump Rope Sprint :30 Dead Hang 1:15 Jump Rope Sprint :40 Dead Hang 1:30 Jump Rope Sprint :50 Dead Hang 1:45 Jump Rope Sprint :60 Dead Hang 2:00 Jump Rope Sprint

Saturday: Pull-ups and Endurance

Main Set: 

1 hour run with 3-10-ups every 5 minutes

Sunday: Recovery