At a tiny 4 feet, 10 inches, Misty Posey couldn’t rely on her height to clear a Marine Corps obstacle course as a potential young recruit. Instead, she learned to pull her whole body on it, eventually creating the pull-up program now used throughout the service.
Posey, now 49 and the commanding officer of a Marine unit in California, didn’t grow up to lift weights and avoided strength training until her 30s for fear of lifting weights. It was a concern, she told Business Insider, that was misplaced at the time.
Pull-ups are a key strength training tool that builds full upper body strength, grip, and core stability while improving posture and functional fitness. This is a highly effective, scalable exercise that supports joint health and bone density, both of which are important for longevity.
But for many, the thought of lifting is difficult and, in some cases, seems impossible.
It’s actually not as hard as most people think to learn to pull up, Posey said Max around 20 reps. “You have to work. But there are some tricks of the trade.”
Her own journey began in the 1990s as an undergraduate at the University of San Diego in her Reserve Officer Training Corps group, after which she decided to pursue a career in the Marine Corps.
Her small stature meant she lacked the height needed to easily clear an obstacle course, a tough physical test with hidden pull-up bars, a jump to climb parallel logs, and a high wall to climb, among other challenges. So he has to learn to pull his body off the walls and bars.
She tried machines and band-assisted work and made slow progress before a marine instructor finally switched her to a real pull-up bar.
“I picked up my first call in three days after I was given proper training advice,” Posey said. Remembering the mixture of excitement and disbelief when she first showed herself all the way.
According to Posey’s program, partner assistance, partial pull-ups, jumping pull-ups, and negatives are four key ways to master the movement. Lance Cpl. Cody Fitzgerald / US Marine Corps
Then she did it again.
“And that’s when it clicked,” she said.
Posey, now a lieutenant colonel, first began gaining attention in more than a decade after another Marine mentioned her unofficial program efforts to the top general of the Corps.
At the time, the service was in the process of changing its physical fitness standards. While men test their upper-body strength with pull-ups, women have been doing push-ups for a long time. But in 2014, this changed – women were given a new task to do pull-ups as well.
With most Marines suddenly focused on pull-ups, the general reached out to Posey for promotion She said, her program is extensive. This gave a great boost to the corps.
Today, her program, which Posey said is a combination of others, is used by prospective recruits who have never done a pull-up and veteran Marines looking to boost their numbers. He also leads small training sessions for anyone, service members or civilians, based on taking their reps to the next level.
“Anyone in good shape can learn to lift their own body weight,” Posey said. “If I can do it, anyone can.”
How he teaches the Marines to do pull-ups
Not sure where to start? Posey recommends testing your current strength first: From a deadlift on a pull-up bar with your arms out in front, pull yourself up as high as you can. Work through every range of motion you have, then lower, rest, and repeat—focusing on engaging your core and back before each repetition.
If you can’t do pull-ups, try doing chin-ups with your hands facing your body instead of away. She said that this method can be easy.
Be sure to rest between efforts, anywhere from two to five minutes.
Posey has led pull-up workshops for over a decade. Sergeant Dylan Boyer / US Marine Corps
Another option for people just starting out is to enlist a friend to help. “If you have a friend who wants to do your first pull-up, it’s very helpful,” Posey said. “Buddy pull-ups are the number one way to get your first pull-up.”
A partner can help you finish the reps by gently supporting your lower back, providing a little help with slow descent and control to build strength.
These slow descents are called “negatives” and are another great method for building reps, Posey said, though she cautions against overdoing them, as they can take a toll on the body, straining or damaging muscles.
Another thing to avoid, she said, is relying on bandages or assistive devices.
“The most stress on the band is at the bottom of the pull-up, where the pull-up begins,” Posey said, adding that too many aids can make it harder to generate force. “This is the hardest part of lifting for most people.”
For any pull-up, proper technique is important, she said, and so is the height of the bar. If the bar is too high to reach comfortably, use a sturdy box to step on. Proper alignment and technique are just as important as strength.
Alternating partial reps with jumping repetitions, where you use a small jump to reach the top and then lower yourself under control, to practice a full range of motion, helps build strength, Posey said.
For any repetition, including range of motion, jumping pull-ups, or dips, the key is knowing when to stop. It’s not something you do to fail, she said. Caution against excessive sets.
She says it’s important to strike the right balance between challenging your body but not overdoing it.
Of the many Marines who reach Posey, many either don’t do enough pull-ups — relying too much on additional exercises like push-ups or bench presses, or don’t train enough pull-ups — or they do too much, which can burn out the central nervous system and lead to injury, she said.
“By doing a small submaximal, a person can generally accumulate more repetitions, more volume, and that’s where you succeed,” she said.