After a year of injuries and setbacks kept me from doing the things I’d always loved — running, playing ultimate frisbee, — I decided to focus on something I had never been able to do:

A pull-up.

Since I couldn’t run, focusing on upper body strength felt like a smart way to stay active. Plus, the idea of doing a pull-up was alluring. Especially as a woman in her 50s, it seemed both impossible and a little badass.

So in December, I set a goal: before my 54th birthday in March, I would do one unassisted pull-up.

Why Pull-Ups Became the Perfect Goal

I’m not naturally great at goal-setting. Usually I have vague ambitions floating around in my head, but I struggle to stay focused on one concrete thing. A pull-up was specific. Measurable. And there was something energizing about being a beginner again.

I learned that pull-ups aren’t just about strength. There’s lots of skill and technique as well. At first, even after weeks of consistency, it still seemed impossible. But then one day, I noticed progress. And once you start seeing progress, you want to keep going.

So I did.

I joined the pull-up program by Angela Gargano and started training at home (and outdoors) three days a week.

I Focused on These Exercises:

Core Strength Exercises

Pull-ups are a full-body movement, and building core strength made everything feel more connected and controlled. I did dead bugs, hollow-holds, planks, and plank-rocks.

Grip Strength Work

I practiced dead hangs (hanging on the bar as long as I could), towel hangs (humbling!), and farmers carries.

Towel hangs force you to squeeze unstable fabric rather than a rigid bar so they require you to actively squeeze to prevent from slipping. They are hard!

Push-Ups and Balanced Strength

Even though push-ups use opposing muscle groups, they help build shoulder stability and balanced strength. So yes — I did a lot of push-ups too.

Inverted Rows(on My Kitchen Table!)

Rows helped me build back and lat strength – they are a little easier than pull-ups since you only need to support part of your body weight. But they are still very hard! You can do them likeI did on my kitchen table,or on parallel bars, or rings at the gym.

Learning the Mind-Body Connection

One of the biggest surprises was realizing how much pull-ups are about learning to engage the right muscles. I had to learn how to activate my lats instead of trying to muscle everything up with my arms.

One exercise that really helped with this is the hollow hold on the bar, which combines lat activation with core activation.

Other mind-body cues that helped me: Think about breaking the bar in half as you draw your elbows down toward your ribs.

I Rested

Ironically, I think my knee injury may have helped me succeed. Since I wasn’t constantly running myself ragged, I was able to focus on just a few key workouts a week, which meant I finally had enough recovery time to actually build strength.

I Took Videos

At first, filming myself was uncomfortable. All I could see were the things I criticized about my body.

But over time, something shifted.

I stopped focusing on how I looked and started noticing what my body was doing. I could see technique improving. I could see strength developing. I could see progress.

And once I saw that? It became exciting. And I wanted to video myself every time I saw a pull-up bar! 😂

Instead of picking myself apart, I started appreciating my body as this incredible machine capable of adaptation, strength, and growth.

Outdoor Strength Training for the Win

Although I initially did most of my pull-up training alone at home, there’s still nothing that beats outdoor workouts (at least for me!)

Earlier this spring, we ran a DIY pull-up challenge focused on foundational strength, technique, and consistency. The best part turned out to be the community. We had informal meetups for “hangouts” and strength workouts in Prospect Park. We met at the outdoor strength workout areas near the Prospect Park playgrounds, which are great (and free!) spaces to learn the foundations of strength training and using different types of exercise equipment. It can be intimidating to show up to a gym or outdoor fitness area, especially if you feel like an outsider, or feel like you are “too old,” “too weak,” or “too out of shape.” (You’re not! You just need a little guidance, and people around you to remind you that you belong there too.) Doing strength workouts outside in the fresh air made the process feel more playful and less intimidating than a traditional gym environment. And being near the playground reminded us that movement should be fun!

There’s an incredible sense of community that develops when people learn new skills together outside.

From Zero Pull-Ups to Three to ?

As I’m writing this, I’m 54¼ years old, and although there have been plateaus, setbacks, and frustrating weeks along the way, I can do three pull-ups in a row, and now when I see a pull-up bar, I feel excited instead of intimidated.

In a weird way, I miss the feeling when I could do zero pull-ups. There’s real magic in being a beginner. And there’s something even more powerful about working toward a goal that once felt impossible — and slowly realizing it might not be impossible after all.

If you’ve been curious about strength training, outdoor fitness, or learning your first pull-up, come join our latest pull-up challenge, or come to any of our outdoor workouts for women in Prospect Park (all year round!) You can see our full schedule HERE.

How I Got My First Pull-up at 53