Gym machine to simulate a pull-up?

dpdw

Disclaimer:  I am overweight and just started going to the gym again.  I know this sounds stupid, but I'm trying to figure out which gym machine I can use to work up to being able to do pull-ups on my own.  I don't want to embarrass myself using a real pull-up bar in the gym. Not yet. 

mehgank

I have a membership to LA Fitness, and my gym has two assisted pull-up machines, similar to this:

There is a set of weighted plates inside the machine, and you choose how much assistance you need (I think the level I started on was 16), you step on the t-bar while holding the pull-up bar on top. You can do dips on this as well, by using the side bars in the middle of the machine. 

 

shorty20

My gym has something similar to the above.

ChiTownBelle

if you belong to a gym, they have an assist machine.  def use it   the higher the weight you choose, the more it assists you (easier it is). 

captainleela

Yep, your gym will most likely have a machine similar to what was posted above. As an aside, if you've just joined a gym they should have a staff member there who can show you how to use all of the machines safely. I would ask if you can make an appointment with someone.

PunkinButter

You can also use the regular pull up bar, loop resistance bands around them, and put one knee in the bands (shown here  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYdmO2PSJMU). Its very fiddly and people will look at you like a crazy person. My gym didn't have the assisted machine when I was doing Female Body Breakthrough (great program). Luckily, people already thought I was crazy because of the crab walks in Jillian Michael's Making the Cut

dpdw

I wish my gym had an assisted pull-up machine!   It's a pretty basic gym which doesn't have all the machines I've seen elsewhere, but I've had enough "intro training" sessions over the years that I know how to properly use nearly all of the machines they have -- I just wasn't sure which one would be the right one to get me back to being able to do a pull-up on my own.  Plus I live in a country where most of the gym staff don't speak enough English to understand my questions (and I don't speak the local language at all) - you should have seen me trying to ask about a machine for glutes.