The best way to improve upper body strength is to perform pull-ups with the correct form. Pull-ups are one of the most challenging bodyweight exercises – being able to do a few pull-ups is considered above average (especially for women and young people). As long as they work hard, everyone can increase the number of pull-ups they can do, even if they start from scratch, so hurry up and start exercising your arm and back muscles, so that pull-ups are no longer a dream!

Method 1: Improve the Strength of Pull-Ups

• Accomplish more than you expected. If you can already do some pull-ups, the way to improve is simple: push yourself to do more reps than you can handle! Setting realistic and progressive goals can help you push harder and try more than you expect. Make your pull-ups something you’re proud of—consider it a small improvement with each pull-up you complete.
• Try doing pull-ups more often. Another way to improve relative strength is to increase the frequency of your weekly training sessions. The reason is simple. The more you practice, the stronger your strength will be and the more standardized your movements will be. The result is that you can complete more exercises. A reasonable concentrated training plan is to train 2-3 times a week (once every other day) and complete 3-4 sets of movements each time.
• Consider adding resistance. If completing 10-15 pull-ups is a no-brainer for you, consider adding resistance to your workout. Based on your weight, add sandbags, chains, and other heavy objects to increase the difficulty of training. Remember, the greater the difficulty, the more you will gain (on the premise of a reasonable diet and regular work and rest).
• Try a pull-up variation to increase upper body strength. The standard palm-to-face movement is not the only pull-up movement. In addition to the standard movement, there are a considerable number of variations and other related exercises that can help you engage every muscle in your arms and back.
• Eat a streamlined diet with balanced nutrition. People who have been able to complete pull-ups must know the importance of a balanced diet for muscle growth. If you want to obtain strong pull-up muscles, the key is to eat a diet rich in high-quality protein, carbohydrates, and beneficial fats. There are many ways to incorporate the above nutrients into your diet without taking away from the fun of eating, and you can find countless nutritious recipes with just a quick search online.
• Enough sleep. Without adequate rest, it is difficult or even impossible for the muscles involved to grow. Not getting enough sleep requires you to put in more effort and focus more on the exercise itself, making it harder to make progress in building muscle. The body needs time to rest after strength training, so when you are doing certain muscle training, be sure to do your best to get enough sleep every night. Although the specifics vary from person to person, in general, adults need 7-9 hours of sleep per day.

Method 2: Correct Posture

• Use the correct grip. Even the most basic pull-up movement with an up-and-down movement has many variations available to you. No matter which grip you use, the most important thing is to regulate your form to prevent injury and Maximize training results.
• Focus on using your lats and deltoid muscles. For people with limited methods, pull-ups can be said to be the best way to test arm muscles, but, compared to arm muscles, back muscles are even more important than pull-ups. To form a standard posture (because you can maximize the training results), you might as well mobilize the muscles behind the armpits and the muscles on both sides of the body instead of relying solely on the biceps and shoulder muscles.
• Don’t rock your body. Pull-ups are not easy, but the actual process is very simple: it is nothing more than hanging on the railing, lifting the body, and then lowering it. Any other action that makes this training simpler will compromise your training results. Remember, pull-ups are inherently difficult, otherwise, you won’t gain strength, so you should try to avoid rocking your body to try to make the training less difficult, although many people advocate “swing-style” pull-ups to reduce the difficulty.
• Cross your feet while doing pull-ups. One thing that pull-up masters often do is to cross their feet when lifting the body. This may seem like an insignificant action, but it is very helpful in maintaining the correct training posture: crossing the feet can effectively prevent people from swaying.
• Keep your head forward and your body upright. When you find pull-ups difficult, you may naturally curl your body together, push your head downward, arch your back, and hunch your shoulders, but you should avoid these actions during training because doing so puts extra pressure on your neck and back, potentially causing lasting soreness or even damage. The correct posture is to keep your body straight and your head facing forward so that the weight is placed on the muscles rather than your spine.

Method 3: Work Towards the First Pull-up

• Try using other sources of strength to perform pull-ups. If you can’t do a full pull-up yet, don’t worry—you’re not alone, and you can get there with some effort. You might as well use other strength to complete the pull-up first. This will allow you to complete the movements required for a normal pull-up, with just a little extra help because these movements are very similar to real pull-ups. So you can familiarize yourself with the correct posture before actually “practicing” it.
• Incorporate reverse pull-ups into your training program. Another way to help you complete the complete movement is to complete the reverse pull-up. The so-called reverse pull-up is the second half of the complete movement: start with the chin above the railing, and then lower as slowly as possible, repeat the movement if necessary, starting from the upward position each time (you may need a step stool or a partner to help you complete this).
• Perform back and arm strengthening exercises. Pull-ups are an exercise that requires the mobilization of multiple muscle groups in the upper body, so practicing these muscle groups alone is a good auxiliary exercise. Although these exercises have to spend more time targeting each of these muscle groups individually than pull-ups as a total exercise, you’ll still be able to make steady gains as you progress through the exercises.
• If you are overweight, consider losing fat first. Pull-ups are a bodyweight exercise, so the heavier you are, the more difficult they will naturally be. If your body weight contains a lot of fat, it will be almost impossible to complete pull-ups no matter how strong you are. In this case, the most effective training is not to gain muscle, but to lose fat, which can usually be accomplished through diet and exercise – count the calories you take in every day and make sure you burn more calories through exercise than you take in from food. Online calorie calculators can help you a lot.