The pull

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1Row

2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12Two dumbbells

Set up

Hinge forward from the hips with your back flat
The weights hanging straight down from your shoulders
Middle braced, back long and still
With a band instead, stand tall facing the anchor and step back until there's tension

The movement

Pull both weights up towards your ribs, leading with the elbows, and let the shoulder blades draw back and down as you go. Then lower them slowly all the way back down.

What to get right

Start the pull with the shoulder blades, not by heaving with the arms
Back flat and still throughout. No rocking up and down to help the weights
Slow on the way down. That half is the half people waste

Easier

One arm at a time, hand and knee on a bench so the back has nothing to do but stay still

Harder

More weight, grown by the rules
A cable row or a barbell row in a gym

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2Pulldown

2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12A wedged doorway pull-up bar

Set up

Kneeling or standing under the anchor
Arms up and out, band held in both hands, a little tension already on it

The movement

Pull down and in towards your chest, elbows driving down towards your ribs. Then let it back up slowly, all the way, until your arms are long again.

What to get right

Start with the shoulder blades, not the hands
Ribs down. Don't lean back to cheat the last few inches
All the way up at the top. A short pulldown builds a short pulldown

Easier

If you can't anchor anything overhead, don't force it. Lean harder on your rows for now, which cover much of the same ground, and make the vertical pull the first thing you claim when you get to a gym

Harder

If you can fit a doorway pull-up bar, work the real thing: hang and pull yourself up, with a band or a foot on a chair taking some of your weight until you need less of it
In a gym, an assisted pull-up working towards an unassisted one

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3Face pull

2 to 3 sets of 12 to 15A band anchored at about head height

Set up

Hold an end in each hand, arms out in front of you at shoulder height
Step back until there is tension on the band before you start

The movement

Pull the band towards your face, hands travelling wide and elbows staying high, until your hands are either side of your head. Then let it back out slowly under control.

What to get right

Elbows high, level with your hands. Let them drop and it becomes a row
Shoulders down. No shrugging up towards your ears
Slow on the way back out

Easier

Less tension on the band, or stand closer to the anchor

Harder

A little more tension. Not much more

Read yourself

Fix the roots

The six moves all fifteen

The programme

Easier

Harder

Easier

Harder

Easier

Harder

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