I have never been able to do pull-ups or to hang. I just looked at the monkey bars as a child and when Kris Kross wanted up to JUMP JUMP, I did not. I hate jumping. But, I'm gonna try.
I haven't even dared to try monkey bars. I doubt my shoulders are up to it after an earlier injury with a dog that pulled his leash in an unfortunate direction when I was unprepared. I'd have to take it very slow if I wanted to learn it.
Amazing. Do easier pull progression like reverse rows on the bar, some bicep curls and most importantly negative pull ups. You can do it. But be patient.
just keep at it, you will get there. last year I was 66 and on my birthday I did 69 pull ups. not all at once (obviously) but I did do 69 in total. The most I could do in one set was nine reps, not bad for my age tho.
I went from 80 pull-ups, rope climbing, hanging,and to nothing after an accident. Studied Thai chi for 8 years to get my knee and balance back to normal. So now I have to train the hanging and pull ups. Excellent video. Top notch.
I do pull ups just like you described, from a dead hang. I can do 10 reps, two to three sets during my 45 minute workout. The third set I usually can only do 8, take a quick walk and complete the last two. I am 69, and can’t get the hang from one arm yet, I can hang from both arms for 70 to 90 seconds, depending on the day.
At 64 years old, I'm happy to be able to hang for 15 seconds at a time. You've helped me get through many muscle weaknesses. Just getting up from a chair with just leg muscles is a big deal after my life choices tried to turn me into a statue. Now my mind is set at, ATM!
Many of us, as we get older, have similar life choices. Junk diets, sedentary, non-movement because of aches and pains. Mentally conditioned that as we all age we must become a park bench sitter and just a watcher of the rest of the world. That's mostly what you'll see with us "old" people. Nobody really wants to stop moving but sometimes we have pains that even doctors tell us is according to age. When you get to a certain age and you get tired of not being able to see your feet when you look down, let alone try to touch them you should know there is a problem. I saw all this and wanted to do something about it. I got rid of the junk foods that are attributed to all health problems and started working, from the feet up on weaknesses on my body that prevented me from doing what should be second nature. This young man brings simple easy to do exercises that showed me improvements on parts of me that I hadn't seen in a long time. He's like a modern day Jack Lalanne. When I say my mindset is, ATM (always think muscle), I literally am thinking, all the time, how can the muscles around that joint or weak spot fix my ache or inability. Being able to stand up and then bend over without sitting down to tie my shoes is awesome. When I can get dressed and undressed without sitting down or using any assistance makes a great mental impact. I know this was long-winded but I hope this will help the understanding.
Yes, I can do a pullup; sometimes three. I'm 78 years old (female), and have been working on this exercise for months. I'm quite pleased with my progress, and will keep working. Thanks for these great videos, which I'm sharing with my pickleball buddies.
wow, congrats. 54yo male, I can't do even one. HAHA. I will keep on trying dead hangs and scap pulls for a while till I get my weight under control. About 15kg to drop. 🙂
Did 8 proper pull-ups this morning (equalling my record) and I'm up to a few seconds for my one arm hang. I try both every morning. The monkey bars I do 3-4 times a week, whenever I drive past them. So much fun! I can do a U-turn now, going out onto the big, fat side bars, briefly... PS It's my 69th birthday this Easter.
You're a fantastic teacher! 🍎 Btw, I cannot do anything! However, I do have a pull-up bar that hangs in a doorway, and I stand on a stool, and am working up to a dead hang (while feet are still touching the stool). I was anemic for over a decade, but did not get diagnosed until it got so extreme that I was fainting frequently. Hence, I lost quite a lot of muscle 💪, and lost all my strength, and almost died. I've started using light weights while exercising, and thought that if I learned to dead hang, that would also help build muscle 💪 throughout my body. I don't know if this is a reasonable goal for me, or how long it will take, but I would love to be able to do it! As I mentioned, you really are a great teacher! I watch all of your videos, even those addressing problems that I don't have. You're doing a great service for mankind, and I wish for many blessings from heaven on you and your family 🙏.
I saw the title and thought "That ain't right. I tried monkey bars 5 years ago and I was struggling/hurting. Then I did a lot of pull ups, chin ups and neutral grip ones and years later I tried the monkey bars again and bingo, the kid in me had returned!, No pain at all!". Then I listened and you are saying "because many people don't do their pull ups properly". Well I do:)
I do take issue with this idea that one-arm hang is necessary. The man in the video appears to be both short and thin, so these sort of things are relatively easy for him. I'm 230 lbs and can do both pull ups and monkey bars. But I don't train one-arm hangs, and most likely could not do one
@@ce1474 Yeah I hear you, one handed hangs are definitely a big challenge, and I'm not even as big as you are (190 lbs as of today). I was able to do 4 sets of 8-10 decent, chest to bar pullups and could hang from a bar for 1:30 - 1:40 on average, but monkey bars (which implies transitioning from one arm to the other) were always scary or painful, I even got some cracking in my right shoulder while trying that, and the pain and discomfort lasted pretty much forever. I am slowly recovering from another issue on my shoulder, and after almost 2 years being unable to pullup, I will relearn how to hang and be super extra careful.
@@ZEBASS Yeah my policy is always to avoid injury. If monkey bars cause injury for you, then smart not to do them. Ive trained them for a few months now without injury. i would say that I felt some "discomfort" at first which went away as the shoulders got stronger.
the limit is more often than not, your grip strenght as pull up and its variants are mainly a back/arm exercise for any sort of motion in that range that requires endurance aswell working on grip strenght and stamina would do more
That is so true. I can do 10 clean pull-ups from passive hang up to the upper chest with core engaged, straight legs etc. and I can do a passive dead hang up to 1min30s, but monkey bars are a challenge I can hardly manage in my best (adult) days and not at all most of the time. So, thanks a lot for your tips! With proper training using your advice on this video and the others, I might be able to challenge my kids this summer 😁
I was there. One-arm training is the key. You are not far from it. For you, it’s more of a matter of getting over the shock of how heavy a one-arm hang feels. Most of your strength is already there. You just need to bridge the gap.
@@jakemccoy Thanks a lot. Yes, the one-arm hang feels way too much for comfort and that is what is blocking me. 4 months to bridge the gap between me and the kids!
@@NycilSikiclasYes, I weigh 210 lbs and have small wrists. I used to think they were impossible for my body type. But with a little consistency, I eventually got it. Now, one-arm hangs are part of my daily workout.
So timely. In the past several months, I began training 'monkey bar style' on the pull up bars at the Cross Fit gym I work out at (I just do open gym, cross fit is NOT for me). I noticed that I can now do muscle ups with a fraction of the effort, despite NEVER training them. When I began hanging more, I became so much more solid feeling on the bar, and that has translated into STRONGER pull ups. I feel like most people walk before they run, and never learn to hang with confidence, yet try to jump into pull ups and then get confused when they get injured. They skipped a fundamental step!!
Just bought a pull-up / dip workout station… starting from zero, can’t wait to get started and see how things change. Liked and subscribed… will check the website too 👍🏼
It helps a lot if one is not overweight. That is something everyone overlooks as all calisthenics instructors are usually under 70kg and super fit. I couldnt even hold pull-up bar for 10 seconds but now after dropping 5kg, I can dead hang for 20 seconds. More I go closer to my "ideal" weight, easier it will get.
@@Neophema Probably lack of motivation. I mean there’s some motivation and the result is I eat healthy some of the time which doesn’t get much results. Could be worse I guess.
@brucejensen3081 Yep, I've been doing that, and I can do one unassisted pull up, but, as a 77yo female, it takes a while to build up the strength to do them.
I would work on going from dead (passive) hang to active hang. Flex your back to bring your shoulders up without bending your arms. Go back down to passive hang. Back up to active, repeat. Pullups just around the corner!
Doing pullups at all is a big deal for a 77yo female, but I'll tell you what I did to get back to doing pullups at 55yo after not doing them for over 30 years... Primarily wide-grip lat pulldown machine, progressively increasing weight until I was repping comfortably with 70% of my bodyweight. (Depending on build, I think pullups are lifting approx 75% of bodyweight. Lots of people say it's more like 90-95% , but they are missing that your back musculature is not dead weight - it's doing the lifting. Put it this way - not a chance I'm repping lat pulldowns with 95% of my bodyweight.) Some hanging, for around a minute a time. That was it. Over about 2 months. Before my first attempt at pullups I tried some negatives standing on a chair to start from the up position, then controlling the descent. That felt ok, so I went straight into regular pullups and managed 8. That was about 8 months ago, and I hit 17 the other day, so pretty happy with that. But as I said, that's a big ask for a 77yo woman.
@uprighthealth great content! Gotta ask - what shoes are you wearing? I’m a barefoot enthusiast and those look like barefoot shoes I’m unfamiliar with.
Great advice! I'm 64 and can do 10 full range pullups, but I always find monkey hangs at the playground challenging and sometimes rotator cuff injuring :-( So I'm definitely going to use these progressions😊 ps a video on rope climbing would be helpful/fun!
This is a blooming GREAT video and GREAT instruction. This is like what I used to do, just start by hanging, that in itself is a challenge but after a while of continuation I could hang for a full minute and then I would start to swing aswell and then continue and the duration would increase, I got to where I could hang for 2 minutes. I never thought that I could pull upwards from fully hanging like a dead weight but I made that break through then I just progressed from there until I could get my chin to the bar and then beyond so that I could do a full complete chin and neck above the bar pull up.
This is great info that I discovered the first time I tried monkey bars. I will highlight (for bigger guys) that dead hang is insufficient as well. You have to get to the level of one-arm hangs. It may feel impossible at first, but it is a fun challenge and good for your shoulders in the longterm.
Hi! I was wondering if you could tell me more about the bar you're hanging from in your garage? I don't have a pull up bar at home, but I do have a big beam in my garage just like yours. Which bar are you using and how is it installed? What is the estimated weight limit? I am around 190 lbs and don't want to damage a load bearing structure of my house... or myself!
How do you gain wrist and forearm strength without risking elbow tendonitis. I started throwing in some forearm stuff ( wrist curls and reverse wrist curls) , nothing crazy, not a lot of weight or sets, and ended up getting tennis elbow in both arms, now it won't go away, and I just ended up with weaker grip.
I like to do 3 second dead hangs every rep of my pull-ups, and also incorporate dead hanging in between sets 😊 but this has inspired me to add one arm hangs
I can't do even a messy unassisted pullup yet (need about 15% of bodyweight to be handled by a band/machine, down from over 50% 6 months ago), but I can comfortably do a length or two of the monkey bars because they're pretty easy to improve on with technique once you hit the basic hanging strength requirements.
I can do the monkey bars pretty well I think river strength most days and I used to be able to do several pull ups, although I was never great at them. As I’ve aged and have been through some health conditions, I can do maybe one pull up on a good day but I guess sound halfway up what muscles do I need to strengthen in order to get the top, half of a pull up? Any help would be greatly appreciated by the way I love your videos that great and very helpful.
another question,many say that to increase your speed,agility,athleticism etc.say that you should add weigth lifting like power clean or dead lifts,is that true?
Failure on one-arm hangs was embarrassing for me because I had been practicing calisthenics for years. It was assumed I could do monkey bars, but I couldn't do them. I can do them now, as well as rope climbing (another skill it was assumed I could do).
I also think grip/forearm strength is important to consider with being able to do the monkey bars. I'm right hand dominate and can hang on my right arm much longer than my left. It's almost scary hanging from my left arm because I feel it will slip at any moment 😅
Late summers I can usually do 3-4 pull-ups. Right now, probably not. I only practice when passing by one of the neighborhood outdoor gyms, but not in winter. (58 years)
Try chin ups (supine grip), its a bit easier as the bicep can become involved more. If not try just doing the negative part of the rep, i.e lower yourself from the top position as slowly as possible.
do 5 sets of rows, 5-10 reps close or to failure, 3,5 minutes rest, wide grip, after that, hold the last part of the chin up, chin above the bar, till isometric failure then lower slowly, if you feel that cheated and could hold more, or get down slower, get to the top again and repeat, you will go down a lot faster, count one set, do 5 sets, 5 minutes rest or even more, 2 times a week, with time you will be holding longer and longer before failure and before you know, wil be able to do your first complete chin up an pull up (not the one chest to bar). it worked for me, I'm 1,76, 1,79cm, 1,85cm reach, my chin barely pass the bar cause of the length of my arms, and 71, 73kg, if you are close to my proportions sure will work like a charm, just have patience and endurance to discomfort.
This man is right. I can do 13 pull ups with decent form (From active hang until nose to bar). Yesterday when I took my daughter to the park I wanted to show her how to move on monkey bars. It was embarrassing how bad i struggled to reach the end. It took me at least thrice as longer than the other kids to reach the end. I wrongly assumed I could do it as easily I could 25 years ago since I am reasonably fit. This is a real wake up call....and that's what brought me to this video. Thank you Upright Health.
years of neglect and being overweight I CANNOT do a pullup, but I am working on it. Thanks for the video, working on my shoulder strength and mobility first to ensure I am not damaging my body while getting back into shape
The message is spot on. I’m a 63 year old man, routinely did 50 pull ups daily for 40 years. Was my go to strength move. I started doing static hangs, both 2 arm and 1 arm a few years ago and have been astounded at my strength gains. I have moved 100% to monkey bars now and can do back levers easily. My grip is like a vice. Quit pull ups now, swing and hang, it’s awesome
This got my attention. I can do 10 seconds on a one arm hang and will be incorporating it for sure. I just bought a pull up bar and youtube must have used that from my search history to give me thus video, lol.
I learn to do it the way you struggle for a pull up and then keep on pushing until I finally can do it. now I see many youtube videos on how to do it and I wish I had seen these before to make it easier.
when i was learning to rope climb i was taught that passive hanging from a single arm is dangerous and can cause a bone fracture even if your muscles are conditioned. it should always be an active hang with some tension in the muscles to protect the skeleton. is this not so?
I can do about 12 dead hang pull-ups on a bar and about 9 on rings. I do however still struggle with one arm hangs, I’m only able to go for about 10s. Would this be a grip issue?
I noticed that I can do around 6 pull ups consistently at home (full range of motion) but if I try to do pull ups outside at a park I can only do maybe 2. is there a reason for that?
Pull ups with heavy weights in proper form if I focus, max out at 25kg 1RM, max num is anywhere between 8-15 depends on my moods. I can do one arm hangs, as well as Typewriters but I realize yeah I can't do any kind of swings, mostly because of my weight at 93kgs, my tendons generally don't like it when I do that. As long as the movement is strict I can sometimes do tucked lever holds, but I get my fear of falling triggered by that hold.
Those are actually just bathroom grab bars 🤣. I'm light, so they're fine for me. But this is most definitely not the approved mounting method for grab bars...
I can do monkey bars, full pull-ups and straight leg toe up to the bar, but really struggle with straight arm straddle up inverts--any progression tips?
I'm at 15-ish pullups and can do around 30s of hanging on my right arm (20 on my left one). It depends a lot on the bar's thickness and surface though.
I am more of a runner (when I’m not injured) but got sucked into doing this obstacle course The Tough Mudder at age 41. I hadn’t done monkey bars since I can remember. It was one big fail. I had a good laugh at myself. My coworkers who were also a bit younger than me did them just fine. It was humbling. I may give this a try but I’m not able to drag a box to the gym so we’ll see what they have on hand there.
Do both hanging and proper pull-ups. Part of my morning routine is various yoga and hanging. In the beginning all you have to do is hang 10 or 15 seconds, then gradually increase the duration a little at a time. Currently I hang for 65 seconds and then 80 seconds with some stretches in between. The 80 seconds one is a beast on my forearms, but eventually that will get longer. Also thumbs wrapped around or thumbs over makes a big difference. Thumbs over is a bit more like rock climbing.
55 yo here. I was 215 lbs last year, down to 170-175 now. A couple of months ago I could only do maybe one pullup, but no I'm up to 5-6 and I can do around a minute dead hang.
Can't do pullups, or maybe just one. This was last year, I've stopped training for almost 5 months, general weight lifting/resistance training at home. Plus, I've stupidly done a one-hand-hang and my right forearm has never fully recovered (5-ish months ago); the pain is basically gone, but if I start lifting something with my right hand I start to feel too uncomfortable which leads to initial pain. Before I could do passive hang with both hands for over a minute, but now it's more challenging, and kinda depressing, with my non-fully cured forearm.
I can now do the monkey bars as an adult, and can now do an entire straight arm pull up with no feet on the ground... Granted it's only one at this stage but I've worked up from none! I thought that I'd been doing monkey bars wrong cos I can only do them in the passive style, so glad to know that there's nothing wrong with that way! It's so satisfying playing on the monkey bars as an adult😁
I can do maybe 12 proper pullups, but ever since I lost one of my fingers on my left hand I've found it incredibly hard to one arm hang for more than a couple of seconds at a time. Hopefully more assisted hangs will help!
I can do both. It's important to be able to do both. You would never think looking at me that I can, so it obviously has nothing to do with lots of muscles. I'm 48, who had a total hysterectomy, has osteoporosis, has Sjogren's and Spondylolisthesis/severe stenosis.
@ 61 years old, took my 7 yr old son to the playground, decided to play with him on the bars. That was eye opening experience. As a former US Marine I thought I could do at least some pull-ups monkey bars and pushups but failed on all accounts! 😥
Firstly, thanks for your service, second if you started working out you'd probably gain all your muscle back. People who were in shape it's easier for them to get back In shape so keep trying.
2 weeks doing the hang variations on and off and it's still hard, getting longer though. Up to about 30 seconds alternating. Can do passive for a minute on its own and tense version the same. Yeah I can do a bunch of pull-ups. Different set of muscles though.
@@Uprighthealth Matt do you reckon this would help at all with throwing long distances (50 metres)? I'd guess it'd be good for your paddling shoulders when surfing?
Recently I've been cutting feet with each move on the climbing wall (easy climbs) to get in lots of hanging in prep for dynamic moves. Monkey-dom or bust! Cheers, D
when i was a kid all the local parks had monkey bars and other great kinds of play equipment, then local councils wanted to wash their hands of any liability for people who injured themselves on the equipment etc, and in a short time it seems most little parks across my city just completely removed all forms of play equipment, now we wonder why so many kids are overweight etc
lol. Taking preorders now. Platinum edition will ship first. $7300 gets you top tier foams, organic full grain leather outer, and fully autonomous positioning (with OTA updates for 8 years).
I'm 65 and I do a 2min hang before each workout and a 1min hang at the end of each workout. I can't lie, my grip and forearms are screaming at/around the 1:45min mark, WHEW! And yes, I'm looking to add monkey bars to my workouts.
the main missconception with htis is that more often than not, its not your back or arms that fail you in this, its your grip. you should absolutewly build up the Strenght toward a proper pull up(with good form) but if the goal is the monkey bars working towards grip strenght and endurnace serves one better.
At 76, I think the hang bar is the best ( and cheapest ) workout tool - hands down 🤓🤓. I believe that everyone should use it for at least a few minutes, every day. The hang bar can also do wonders for shoulder problems if you take it slow and easy - start with very little pressure and support yourself with feet on the "ground" and slowly increase your stretch over several weeks - I recommended it to all my fellow pickleball friends 🏓. It's natural movement and strength building at the same time.
Just in case someone is interested, I'm doing 10 pullups at best (proper ones, chin over bar from dead hang each rep) on a good day yet I can't do a single monkey bar switch. And yes, I could lose some weight, 15kg to be at optimum. Hanging from one arm just is too much for my fingers. And have I used them really? 15 years of heavy manual labor where my hands and especially fingers are separating plywood boards in hundreds and sometimes up to few thousand per day. And yet, hanging by one arm is too much. Now a few years ago I could do 3-5 seconds and definitely going to get back there. Big thumbs up to anyone being able to do monkey bars. I WILL be joining the gang hopefully by the end of this upcoming summer.
Can you do pull-ups? What about the monkey bars? Drop me a comment!
👉Rebuild Your Shoulders at Home: www.uprighthealth.com/shoulder-fix
Wondering do you do online appointments
I have never been able to do pull-ups or to hang. I just looked at the monkey bars as a child and when Kris Kross wanted up to JUMP JUMP, I did not. I hate jumping. But, I'm gonna try.
I think working on bridges whilst working on one arm hangs, helps each other. You should do some stuff on bridges
I haven't even dared to try monkey bars. I doubt my shoulders are up to it after an earlier injury with a dog that pulled his leash in an unfortunate direction when I was unprepared. I'd have to take it very slow if I wanted to learn it.
@@brucejensen3081 Agree!
I can do passive and active hangs for 30 sec. Cannot come close to a pull up but wrists are getting stronger.
70 yo female here.
Way to go!
Impressive keep going
Different muscles to pull up. It’s back, also it’s more an arcing up motion, not this linear thing beginners try to do.
Amazing. Do easier pull progression like reverse rows on the bar, some bicep curls and most importantly negative pull ups. You can do it. But be patient.
just keep at it, you will get there. last year I was 66 and on my birthday I did 69 pull ups. not all at once (obviously) but I did do 69 in total. The most I could do in one set was nine reps, not bad for my age tho.
That's amazing!
I went from 80 pull-ups, rope climbing, hanging,and to nothing after an accident. Studied Thai chi for 8 years to get my knee and balance back to normal. So now I have to train the hanging and pull ups. Excellent video. Top notch.
so sorry to hear that. i hope you have a quick recovery and return to your prior level
I do pull ups just like you described, from a dead hang. I can do 10 reps, two to three sets during my 45 minute workout. The third set I usually can only do 8, take a quick walk and complete the last two. I am 69, and can’t get the hang from one arm yet, I can hang from both arms for 70 to 90 seconds, depending on the day.
80 full hang pull-ups?!
@@brandonyoung4910 right I’m like naw man he means like 10 sets of 8
@@TheGmanway exactly haha.
At 64 years old, I'm happy to be able to hang for 15 seconds at a time. You've helped me get through many muscle weaknesses. Just getting up from a chair with just leg muscles is a big deal after my life choices tried to turn me into a statue.
Now my mind is set at, ATM!
I dig it. His work is golden. It's changed the way I think about mobility.
That’s huge!!! Good for you!! 👏 😁 I bet it helps a lot.
Keep it up!!
Can you be specific about your life choices? You have a lot of wisdom you can pass on.
Many of us, as we get older, have similar life choices. Junk diets, sedentary, non-movement because of aches and pains. Mentally conditioned that as we all age we must become a park bench sitter and just a watcher of the rest of the world. That's mostly what you'll see with us "old" people. Nobody really wants to stop moving but sometimes we have pains that even doctors tell us is according to age. When you get to a certain age and you get tired of not being able to see your feet when you look down, let alone try to touch them you should know there is a problem. I saw all this and wanted to do something about it. I got rid of the junk foods that are attributed to all health problems and started working, from the feet up on weaknesses on my body that prevented me from doing what should be second nature. This young man brings simple easy to do exercises that showed me improvements on parts of me that I hadn't seen in a long time. He's like a modern day Jack Lalanne. When I say my mindset is, ATM (always think muscle), I literally am thinking, all the time, how can the muscles around that joint or weak spot fix my ache or inability. Being able to stand up and then bend over without sitting down to tie my shoes is awesome. When I can get dressed and undressed without sitting down or using any assistance makes a great mental impact. I know this was long-winded but I hope this will help the understanding.
Yes, I can do a pullup; sometimes three. I'm 78 years old (female), and have been working on this exercise for months. I'm quite pleased with my progress, and will keep working. Thanks for these great videos, which I'm sharing with my pickleball buddies.
wow, congrats. 54yo male, I can't do even one. HAHA. I will keep on trying dead hangs and scap pulls for a while till I get my weight under control. About 15kg to drop. 🙂
loved you. great video and thanks for the tips!
❤ I can not yet do a pull-up. I am working on it. Thank you for your videos!
You’re a legend Matt!!
this is amazing value advices for be better in pull ups, muscle ups and everything like this. Man i start doing this from now
Did 8 proper pull-ups this morning (equalling my record) and I'm up to a few seconds for my one arm hang. I try both every morning. The monkey bars I do 3-4 times a week, whenever I drive past them. So much fun! I can do a U-turn now, going out onto the big, fat side bars, briefly...
PS It's my 69th birthday this Easter.
Nice job!!!
Thats awesome I also have the same pull up record of 8. and I am 14 years old.
Love your humour! :D And of course, the information!
You're a fantastic teacher! 🍎
Btw, I cannot do anything! However, I do have a pull-up bar that hangs in a doorway, and I stand on a stool, and am working up to a dead hang (while feet are still touching the stool). I was anemic for over a decade, but did not get diagnosed until it got so extreme that I was fainting frequently. Hence, I lost quite a lot of muscle 💪, and lost all my strength, and almost died. I've started using light weights while exercising, and thought that if I learned to dead hang, that would also help build muscle 💪 throughout my body. I don't know if this is a reasonable goal for me, or how long it will take, but I would love to be able to do it!
As I mentioned, you really are a great teacher! I watch all of your videos, even those addressing problems that I don't have. You're doing a great service for mankind, and I wish for many blessings from heaven on you and your family 🙏.
K Boges is another great You Tuber resource in reference to pull up strategies.
Great video! Thank you!
I saw the title and thought "That ain't right. I tried monkey bars 5 years ago and I was struggling/hurting. Then I did a lot of pull ups, chin ups and neutral grip ones and years later I tried the monkey bars again and bingo, the kid in me had returned!, No pain at all!". Then I listened and you are saying "because many people don't do their pull ups properly". Well I do:)
I do take issue with this idea that one-arm hang is necessary. The man in the video appears to be both short and thin, so these sort of things are relatively easy for him. I'm 230 lbs and can do both pull ups and monkey bars. But I don't train one-arm hangs, and most likely could not do one
@@ce1474 Yeah I hear you, one handed hangs are definitely a big challenge, and I'm not even as big as you are (190 lbs as of today). I was able to do 4 sets of 8-10 decent, chest to bar pullups and could hang from a bar for 1:30 - 1:40 on average, but monkey bars (which implies transitioning from one arm to the other) were always scary or painful, I even got some cracking in my right shoulder while trying that, and the pain and discomfort lasted pretty much forever. I am slowly recovering from another issue on my shoulder, and after almost 2 years being unable to pullup, I will relearn how to hang and be super extra careful.
@@ZEBASS Yeah my policy is always to avoid injury. If monkey bars cause injury for you, then smart not to do them. Ive trained them for a few months now without injury. i would say that I felt some "discomfort" at first which went away as the shoulders got stronger.
the limit is more often than not, your grip strenght as pull up and its variants are mainly a back/arm exercise
for any sort of motion in that range that requires endurance aswell working on grip strenght and stamina would do more
Brilliant, thanks!
That is so true. I can do 10 clean pull-ups from passive hang up to the upper chest with core engaged, straight legs etc. and I can do a passive dead hang up to 1min30s, but monkey bars are a challenge I can hardly manage in my best (adult) days and not at all most of the time. So, thanks a lot for your tips! With proper training using your advice on this video and the others, I might be able to challenge my kids this summer 😁
I was there. One-arm training is the key. You are not far from it. For you, it’s more of a matter of getting over the shock of how heavy a one-arm hang feels. Most of your strength is already there. You just need to bridge the gap.
@@jakemccoy Thanks a lot. Yes, the one-arm hang feels way too much for comfort and that is what is blocking me. 4 months to bridge the gap between me and the kids!
@@NycilSikiclasYes, I weigh 210 lbs and have small wrists. I used to think they were impossible for my body type. But with a little consistency, I eventually got it. Now, one-arm hangs are part of my daily workout.
So timely. In the past several months, I began training 'monkey bar style' on the pull up bars at the Cross Fit gym I work out at (I just do open gym, cross fit is NOT for me). I noticed that I can now do muscle ups with a fraction of the effort, despite NEVER training them. When I began hanging more, I became so much more solid feeling on the bar, and that has translated into STRONGER pull ups. I feel like most people walk before they run, and never learn to hang with confidence, yet try to jump into pull ups and then get confused when they get injured. They skipped a fundamental step!!
Just bought a pull-up / dip workout station… starting from zero, can’t wait to get started and see how things change. Liked and subscribed… will check the website too 👍🏼
It helps a lot if one is not overweight. That is something everyone overlooks as all calisthenics instructors are usually under 70kg and super fit. I couldnt even hold pull-up bar for 10 seconds but now after dropping 5kg, I can dead hang for 20 seconds. More I go closer to my "ideal" weight, easier it will get.
Yeah being overweight makes everything harder. If I could only eat healthier 😂
@@paulwalther5237 Why can't you?
@@Neophema Probably lack of motivation. I mean there’s some motivation and the result is I eat healthy some of the time which doesn’t get much results. Could be worse I guess.
Agree, after drop 4 KG from 88 to 84, i found that can do the pull ups and dead hang much better. Monkey bar still very tough for me tho.
Like your sense of humor a lot.
Thanks for the advice. Still working on pull-ups, but I can dead hang for more than a minute, so there's hope.
You can start with a few bands going from the bar to under your feet, to give a bit of a slingshot up, for a bit
@brucejensen3081 Yep, I've been doing that, and I can do one unassisted pull up, but, as a 77yo female, it takes a while to build up the strength to do them.
I would work on going from dead (passive) hang to active hang. Flex your back to bring your shoulders up without bending your arms. Go back down to passive hang. Back up to active, repeat. Pullups just around the corner!
Doing pullups at all is a big deal for a 77yo female,
but I'll tell you what I did to get back to doing pullups at 55yo after not doing them for over 30 years...
Primarily wide-grip lat pulldown machine, progressively increasing weight
until I was repping comfortably with 70% of my bodyweight.
(Depending on build, I think pullups are lifting approx 75% of bodyweight.
Lots of people say it's more like 90-95% , but they are missing that your back musculature is not dead weight - it's doing the lifting.
Put it this way - not a chance I'm repping lat pulldowns with 95% of my bodyweight.)
Some hanging, for around a minute a time.
That was it.
Over about 2 months.
Before my first attempt at pullups I tried some negatives standing on a chair to start from the up position, then controlling the descent.
That felt ok, so I went straight into regular pullups and managed 8.
That was about 8 months ago, and I hit 17 the other day, so pretty happy with that.
But as I said, that's a big ask for a 77yo woman.
@uprighthealth great content! Gotta ask - what shoes are you wearing? I’m a barefoot enthusiast and those look like barefoot shoes I’m unfamiliar with.
Thank you!
Great advice! I'm 64 and can do 10 full range pullups, but I always find monkey hangs at the playground challenging and sometimes rotator cuff injuring :-( So I'm definitely going to use these progressions😊 ps a video on rope climbing would be helpful/fun!
Thank you ❤
I do My pull-ups from dead hang always. By doing so I noticed o lot more benefits from the exercise.
I can hang for about 20 seconds, can't do any pull-ups but will use your advice to get stronger 😊
This is a blooming GREAT video and GREAT instruction. This is like what I used to do, just start by hanging, that in itself is a challenge but after a while of continuation I could hang for a full minute and then I would start to swing aswell and then continue and the duration would increase, I got to where I could hang for 2 minutes. I never thought that I could pull upwards from fully hanging like a dead weight but I made that break through then I just progressed from there until I could get my chin to the bar and then beyond so that I could do a full complete chin and neck above the bar pull up.
This is great info that I discovered the first time I tried monkey bars. I will highlight (for bigger guys) that dead hang is insufficient as well. You have to get to the level of one-arm hangs. It may feel impossible at first, but it is a fun challenge and good for your shoulders in the longterm.
Hi! I was wondering if you could tell me more about the bar you're hanging from in your garage? I don't have a pull up bar at home, but I do have a big beam in my garage just like yours.
Which bar are you using and how is it installed? What is the estimated weight limit? I am around 190 lbs and don't want to damage a load bearing structure of my house... or myself!
Do you have any experience with gada/macebell training? Does it have restorative effects upon the body, like with hanging?
How do you gain wrist and forearm strength without risking elbow tendonitis. I started throwing in some forearm stuff ( wrist curls and reverse wrist curls) , nothing crazy, not a lot of weight or sets, and ended up getting tennis elbow in both arms, now it won't go away, and I just ended up with weaker grip.
I always thinking about this but not sure what is it, your video justified my suspicion
I like to do 3 second dead hangs every rep of my pull-ups, and also incorporate dead hanging in between sets 😊 but this has inspired me to add one arm hangs
I can't do even a messy unassisted pullup yet (need about 15% of bodyweight to be handled by a band/machine, down from over 50% 6 months ago), but I can comfortably do a length or two of the monkey bars because they're pretty easy to improve on with technique once you hit the basic hanging strength requirements.
I can do the monkey bars pretty well I think river strength most days and I used to be able to do several pull ups, although I was never great at them. As I’ve aged and have been through some health conditions, I can do maybe one pull up on a good day but I guess sound halfway up what muscles do I need to strengthen in order to get the top, half of a pull up? Any help would be greatly appreciated by the way I love your videos that great and very helpful.
Hey just subscribed. I can do the moneky bars. I trained the hangs the way you described
I’m gonna use a box for pronated pull-ups! Thanks for the help!!!
another question,many say that to increase your speed,agility,athleticism etc.say that you should add weigth lifting like power clean or dead lifts,is that true?
Failure on one-arm hangs was embarrassing for me because I had been practicing calisthenics for years. It was assumed I could do monkey bars, but I couldn't do them. I can do them now, as well as rope climbing (another skill it was assumed I could do).
This whole video is my spirit animal. Rock on, sir. 🙏
Nice video! I can do one pull up on a good day, and around 2-3 chin-ups. Monkey bars are easy compared to pull ups for me personally.
I also think grip/forearm strength is important to consider with being able to do the monkey bars. I'm right hand dominate and can hang on my right arm much longer than my left. It's almost scary hanging from my left arm because I feel it will slip at any moment 😅
Late summers I can usually do 3-4 pull-ups. Right now, probably not. I only practice when passing by one of the neighborhood outdoor gyms, but not in winter. (58 years)
can you do a video on exercises to increase your speed and agility.can do a video on those exercises.👍
I have arthritis in my hands and wrists. Any suggestions? I loved the monkey bars. I can do assisted pull ups but....no cigar 😊
Use a pair of good quality gripper gloves, keep the hands warm.
are those bars on the roof proprietary health bars or just like door handles or something?
I can't, been trying for forever, made some gains but nope can't do a pull-up still. Gonna work more on hanging. Thanks
Try chin ups (supine grip), its a bit easier as the bicep can become involved more. If not try just doing the negative part of the rep, i.e lower yourself from the top position as slowly as possible.
Did you try easier progressions? See e.g. hybrid calisthenics.
@@Jacksparrow4986 yes actually I do follow Hampton at Hybrid and have the app.
chin ups to get biceps help, hanging to build forearm strength. i hang for minutes and minutes and get a crazy pump
do 5 sets of rows, 5-10 reps close or to failure, 3,5 minutes rest, wide grip, after that, hold the last part of the chin up, chin above the bar, till isometric failure then lower slowly, if you feel that cheated and could hold more, or get down slower, get to the top again and repeat, you will go down a lot faster, count one set, do 5 sets, 5 minutes rest or even more, 2 times a week, with time you will be holding longer and longer before failure and before you know, wil be able to do your first complete chin up an pull up (not the one chest to bar). it worked for me, I'm 1,76, 1,79cm, 1,85cm reach, my chin barely pass the bar cause of the length of my arms, and 71, 73kg, if you are close to my proportions sure will work like a charm, just have patience and endurance to discomfort.
I’m working on 1 arm hangs. I start swinging and rotating instantly when I lift my feet up. Working on hand placement at the start.
This man is right. I can do 13 pull ups with decent form (From active hang until nose to bar). Yesterday when I took my daughter to the park I wanted to show her how to move on monkey bars. It was embarrassing how bad i struggled to reach the end. It took me at least thrice as longer than the other kids to reach the end.
I wrongly assumed I could do it as easily I could 25 years ago since I am reasonably fit. This is a real wake up call....and that's what brought me to this video. Thank you Upright Health.
At least you got to the end 😂
years of neglect and being overweight I CANNOT do a pullup, but I am working on it. Thanks for the video, working on my shoulder strength and mobility first to ensure I am not damaging my body while getting back into shape
bro really took a swing at my love life in the middle of the video 👏
The message is spot on. I’m a 63 year old man, routinely did 50 pull ups daily for 40 years. Was my go to strength move. I started doing static hangs, both 2 arm and 1 arm a few years ago and have been astounded at my strength gains. I have moved 100% to monkey bars now and can do back levers easily. My grip is like a vice. Quit pull ups now, swing and hang, it’s awesome
This got my attention. I can do 10 seconds on a one arm hang and will be incorporating it for sure. I just bought a pull up bar and youtube must have used that from my search history to give me thus video, lol.
Not only you are fit and strong but also funny and attractive personality 😂❤
From India
I learn to do it the way you struggle for a pull up and then keep on pushing until I finally can do it. now I see many youtube videos on how to do it and I wish I had seen these before to make it easier.
Just over a year ago I did get injured doing hang from bar without assistance
when i was learning to rope climb i was taught that passive hanging from a single arm is dangerous and can cause a bone fracture even if your muscles are conditioned. it should always be an active hang with some tension in the muscles to protect the skeleton. is this not so?
I can do about 12 dead hang pull-ups on a bar and about 9 on rings. I do however still struggle with one arm hangs, I’m only able to go for about 10s. Would this be a grip issue?
th-cam.com/video/zeqn4WGSM2Q/w-d-xo.html
I noticed that I can do around 6 pull ups consistently at home (full range of motion) but if I try to do pull ups outside at a park I can only do maybe 2. is there a reason for that?
Pull ups with heavy weights in proper form if I focus, max out at 25kg 1RM, max num is anywhere between 8-15 depends on my moods.
I can do one arm hangs, as well as Typewriters but I realize yeah I can't do any kind of swings, mostly because of my weight at 93kgs, my tendons generally don't like it when I do that. As long as the movement is strict I can sometimes do tucked lever holds, but I get my fear of falling triggered by that hold.
May I know where you got the bars hanging from the ceiling? Those would be perfect to hang gymnastic rings!!
Those are actually just bathroom grab bars 🤣. I'm light, so they're fine for me. But this is most definitely not the approved mounting method for grab bars...
I’m going to try this. Do you have exercises for your glutes you have posted? I need to help my knees. I have osteoarthritis.
I also have knee issues I need a plan to work on my glutes without putting too much stress on the knees
th-cam.com/video/JMEqPeiUyfQ/w-d-xo.html
Currently sitting around 15 clean full hang pull-ups when I’m fresh. 6’3 240lbs
I can do monkey bars, full pull-ups and straight leg toe up to the bar, but really struggle with straight arm straddle up inverts--any progression tips?
I'm at 15-ish pullups and can do around 30s of hanging on my right arm (20 on my left one). It depends a lot on the bar's thickness and surface though.
What bars are you using?
I am more of a runner (when I’m not injured) but got sucked into doing this obstacle course The Tough Mudder at age 41. I hadn’t done monkey bars since I can remember. It was one big fail. I had a good laugh at myself. My coworkers who were also a bit younger than me did them just fine. It was humbling. I may give this a try but I’m not able to drag a box to the gym so we’ll see what they have on hand there.
Do both hanging and proper pull-ups. Part of my morning routine is various yoga and hanging. In the beginning all you have to do is hang 10 or 15 seconds, then gradually increase the duration a little at a time. Currently I hang for 65 seconds and then 80 seconds with some stretches in between. The 80 seconds one is a beast on my forearms, but eventually that will get longer. Also thumbs wrapped around or thumbs over makes a big difference. Thumbs over is a bit more like rock climbing.
55 yo here. I was 215 lbs last year, down to 170-175 now. A couple of months ago I could only do maybe one pullup, but no I'm up to 5-6 and I can do around a minute dead hang.
61. Can do 15 pullups. Was working on my one arm hang but stopped a while ago. I'm gonna get back at it!
Can't do pullups, or maybe just one. This was last year, I've stopped training for almost 5 months, general weight lifting/resistance training at home.
Plus, I've stupidly done a one-hand-hang and my right forearm has never fully recovered (5-ish months ago); the pain is basically gone, but if I start lifting something with my right hand I start to feel too uncomfortable which leads to initial pain.
Before I could do passive hang with both hands for over a minute, but now it's more challenging, and kinda depressing, with my non-fully cured forearm.
How do you know if it's fully passive or not quite?
I can now do the monkey bars as an adult, and can now do an entire straight arm pull up with no feet on the ground... Granted it's only one at this stage but I've worked up from none! I thought that I'd been doing monkey bars wrong cos I can only do them in the passive style, so glad to know that there's nothing wrong with that way!
It's so satisfying playing on the monkey bars as an adult😁
Can do 10 pull ups (8 good +2 struggling), can't do one arm hang (very painful in the shoulders).
I can do maybe 12 proper pullups, but ever since I lost one of my fingers on my left hand I've found it incredibly hard to one arm hang for more than a couple of seconds at a time. Hopefully more assisted hangs will help!
5:53 I want to know where to buy your 👟
5:58 Where I live, Paypal is the most expensive regarding fees… I found that Wise was cheaper 🤷🏻♀️
Chins, & 1 arm hang, but pronated pull-ups give pain brachioradialis bad, months of rest, no better, neutral full range no problem. Help
I can do both. It's important to be able to do both. You would never think looking at me that I can, so it obviously has nothing to do with lots of muscles. I'm 48, who had a total hysterectomy, has osteoporosis, has Sjogren's and Spondylolisthesis/severe stenosis.
Facts.
Where are those pants from. I want a pair
@ 61 years old, took my 7 yr old son to the playground, decided to play with him on the bars. That was eye opening experience. As a former US Marine I thought I could do at least some pull-ups monkey bars and pushups but failed on all accounts! 😥
Firstly, thanks for your service, second if you started working out you'd probably gain all your muscle back. People who were in shape it's easier for them to get back In shape so keep trying.
Can I do it everyday or should have a recovery day in between?
Depends on you and how intense you exercise. As long as your body can recover from your workout, sure.
General rule is to just listen to you body.
2 weeks doing the hang variations on and off and it's still hard, getting longer though. Up to about 30 seconds alternating. Can do passive for a minute on its own and tense version the same. Yeah I can do a bunch of pull-ups. Different set of muscles though.
🔥
@@Uprighthealth Matt do you reckon this would help at all with throwing long distances (50 metres)? I'd guess it'd be good for your paddling shoulders when surfing?
Recently I've been cutting feet with each move on the climbing wall (easy climbs) to get in lots of hanging in prep for dynamic moves. Monkey-dom or bust! Cheers, D
when i was a kid all the local parks had monkey bars and other great kinds of play equipment, then local councils wanted to wash their hands of any liability for people who injured themselves on the equipment etc, and in a short time it seems most little parks across my city just completely removed all forms of play equipment, now we wonder why so many kids are overweight etc
It's ok, they can do it 'virtually' using technology.
🙄
I can bust out 10 pull ups but I feel like I’m using more arms than back. Not really sure how to isolate or engage my lats or anything.
I do pull ups from outstretched arms right to the top. But you can do the monkey bars with bent arms.
Not able to either..
When are those boxes available?
lol. Taking preorders now. Platinum edition will ship first. $7300 gets you top tier foams, organic full grain leather outer, and fully autonomous positioning (with OTA updates for 8 years).
I'm 65 and I do a 2min hang before each workout and a 1min hang at the end of each workout. I can't lie, my grip and forearms are screaming at/around the 1:45min mark, WHEW! And yes, I'm looking to add monkey bars to my workouts.
Yes I can.
Man... I never thought about using a box 🤦♂️
Loose hangs can be hard if you have shoulder impingements, which is more likely in older age.
the main missconception with htis is that more often than not, its not your back or arms that fail you in this, its your grip.
you should absolutewly build up the Strenght toward a proper pull up(with good form) but if the goal is the monkey bars working towards grip strenght and endurnace serves one better.
Softstar shoes ❤
I’ve been working on my dead hang almost daily to decompress. Right now , I can consistently do two minutes and hoping to get to three minutes.
At 76, I think the hang bar is the best ( and cheapest ) workout tool - hands down 🤓🤓. I believe that everyone should use it for at least a few minutes, every day. The hang bar can also do wonders for shoulder problems if you take it slow and easy - start with very little pressure and support yourself with feet on the "ground" and slowly increase your stretch over several weeks - I recommended it to all my fellow pickleball friends 🏓. It's natural movement and strength building at the same time.
Just in case someone is interested, I'm doing 10 pullups at best (proper ones, chin over bar from dead hang each rep) on a good day yet I can't do a single monkey bar switch. And yes, I could lose some weight, 15kg to be at optimum.
Hanging from one arm just is too much for my fingers. And have I used them really? 15 years of heavy manual labor where my hands and especially fingers are separating plywood boards in hundreds and sometimes up to few thousand per day.
And yet, hanging by one arm is too much. Now a few years ago I could do 3-5 seconds and definitely going to get back there.
Big thumbs up to anyone being able to do monkey bars. I WILL be joining the gang hopefully by the end of this upcoming summer.