CalisthenicsIn review

Negative Pull-Up

A pull-up step that starts at the top of the bar and trains the slow lowering phase.

This page is a working draft. A coach has not reviewed it, so read it as a starting point, not as checked instruction.

Pattern: Vertical pull
Modality: Calisthenics
Difficulty: Beginner
Mechanic: Unknown
Force: Unknown
Laterality: Bilateral
Impact: Low
Trains where: Gym, Home
At home: Yes

How to do it

Set up

Stand on a stable surface under the bar and take an overhand grip.
Step up until the chin is above the bar.

Do the rep

Lower the body slowly, for about 3 to 5 seconds, until the arms are straight.
Step back up to the top position for the next rep.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when the body lowers under control from chin above the bar to a straight-arm hang.

One rep starts with the chin above the bar, lowers under control to a straight-arm hang, and ends when the arms are straight.

Breathing

Breathe steadily during the slow descent; do not hold your breath.

Cues

Start with the chin above the bar.
Lower slowly.
Lower more slowly when the reps get easy.

Common mistakes

Dropping quickly
What you seeThe body falls through the middle of the descent.
FixShorten the set and lower more slowly.
The slow lowering builds the strength for the full pull-up.
Jumping into the top position
What you seeThe body bounces against the bar at the start.
FixStep up from a stable surface and settle before you lower.
A still start protects the shoulders and the grip.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain.
Stop if your grip slips or you cannot control the descent.
End the set when you cannot meet the stated range under control.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Latissimus dorsi · moderate confidence
Upper back · moderate confidence
Biceps · moderate confidence

Assisting

Forearms and grip · moderate confidence
Rear deltoids · moderate confidence
Deep core / trunk stabilizers · moderate confidence

Equipment

Pull up bar + Bodyweight

Optional: Box step

Use a fixed pull-up bar with enough clearance for a straight-arm hang.

In the app

You log this by hand. The camera coach does not watch this movement yet.

Tracking: Camera candidate

How this page was checked

Draft. A coach reviewer has not signed this off yet.

Draft text is original copy for Wave 2 batch 1, written from the blueprint CSV row and the Wave 2 rules page of 2026-10-12. No human review is complete.
Technique, cues, rep standard, breathing, stop cues, and error corrections need independent sources and the assigned review tier (blueprint two-source rule).
Programming roles, skill tier, failure cost, timed use, goal fit, and equipment follow the rules page; the switch-on PR must confirm them.
Anatomy uses the CSV planning hints; the assigned review tier must confirm it.
Legacy relations and engine edges stay empty until the progression ladder lane and S2-CAT-005.
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_pull_up, the closest Wave 1 record.
The CSV puts this row in Wave 3. The Wave 2 rules page (rule 6) moves it to batch 1.
Skill tier beginner: the negative is an easier step of the intermediate pull-up and is one tier lower, as an assisted variant (rule 3). The CSV says intermediate. Coach review must confirm that a new user can control the descent.
The CSV says reps or duration. The record allows bodyweight-reps only, because a negative has no hold position.
The step (box-step) is optional, not required, so the record stays a home record (rule 6). Coach review must confirm that any stable surface under the bar is enough to reach the top position.

All instruction and editorial text in this record is original draft copy written for Allena. Planning metadata comes from the internal Wave-3 blueprint CSV.

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