Stage 3 of 7 · the pull-up ladder

Scapular Pulls: The Smallest Pull-Up You'll Ever Do

Every strict pull-up starts with a movement most people never train: the shoulder blades pulling down while the arms stay straight. Scapular pulls isolate exactly that. The range is a few centimeters. The payoff is the entire bottom half of your future pull-up.

The standard

8 controlled reps, each with a pause at the top, no swinging or kipping. You should arrive here owning a20-second active hang — this stage turns that position into motion.

How to do one

Start in a dead hang. Without bending your elbows, drive your shoulder blades down and back — your body rises a few centimeters and your chest tilts toward the bar. Pause two full seconds at the top, then lower back to the dead hang with the same control. That's one.

Cue: imagine pinching a pencil between your shoulder blades at the top of each rep. If your elbows bend, it became a (terrible) pull-up; straight arms keep the work where it belongs.

How to train it

Twice a week: 3–4 sets of 4–8 slow reps, full rest. Film a set on your phone once a week — the camera is ruthless about pauses you didn't actually pause. Keep logging hang time on your off sets; grip keeps mattering all the way up the ladder.

Common mistakes

Speed. Fast reps hide the exact weakness this stage exists to fix. Swinging — if your feet drift forward and back, brace your midline like someone's about to poke your stomach.Skipping the pause — the pause is the rep.

When you pass

Eight paused reps means your back knows how to start a pull. Time to borrow strength from gravity:negatives.