If you’re like me, you can do a 1 or a few pull-ups, but I struggle at times to hold at the top or fully get my chin over the bar. I found that my problem was with the last few inches of the movement, where my back and arms weren’t strong enough to complete the rep or pause at the top. That’s when I decided to harness the power of a cable system and use it to practice my upper hold in tension.

I bought Cable Pulley System at Amazon, which is a set of cables, handles, straps, carabiners, lat bar, pulleys (pretty much everything you need) that can be used for a variety of exercises. I also bought some more cable and equipment at Home Depot. With this setup I can now start doing lat pull downs which mimics the pull up movement and build more strength and muscle.

For weight during the lat pull down i tried strapping my 2x25lb dumbbells but it was hard to attach. To get more weight I made a concrete weight plate and drilled a hole in the center. To make the concrete plate i followed this video. I then attached the cables to the plate and hung it from a pull-up bar. Now I can get approx 95lbs with this setup and this will allow me to practice the top of the pullup movement. There is a way also i can strap this to my foot for an assisted full pull-up.

This is going to be a great setup for me and I’m definitely going to get some improvement from this. If you’re struggling to reach the top of your pull-ups, I highly recommend giving cables a try.