I’ve spent most of my life looking up at pull-up bars, wishing I could ascend to their height. Sometimes I would train hard, and I would get one (1) pull-up. But then I’d slack off for a hot minute, and I’d be back down to zero. I’m a cis woman, not particularly gifted with upper-body muscle. But last year I decided I was going to focus on building the strength to do pull-ups, plural, and by god I did.

In training to be Captain Marvel, Brie Larson worked her way up from a normal-but-fit person to someone who can crank out pull-ups and do push-ups with chains and who pushes her trainer’s car up a hill. We talked to her trainer, Jason Walsh, to learn what goes into training to be a superhero.

Do you have a simple exercise that you’d love to do more of, but you’re always struggling? Doing mini workouts throughout the day can help you finally do more reps. Think five push-ups every hour, or a pull-up every time you walk through the door where you hung your pull-up bar.

The journey from zero pull-ups to one pull-up is long, difficult, and may at times seem insurmountable. And then once you get there, victory is fleeting: Every set you attempt contains one measly rep. Either way, you're going to need some ways to bring that lofty exercise down to earth.

Pull-ups and chin-ups are both great strength-building bodyweight exercises, but they're not the same exercise. People tend to use them interchangeably, but the differences are distinct enough that you should avoid lumping them together.

I've been doing that pull-up program we posted two weeks ago, and guess what? It works. At the beginning, I could do about half a pull-up, and now I can get my nose up to the bar. I also more than doubled the amount of time I can hang from the bar with my arms flexed. Here's how I did it.

Kipping pull-ups are popular among CrossFitters, who get a lot of flak for them because kipping pull-ups apparently aren't "real" pull-ups. But you may be surprised, they're a legit exercise.

If you can't do a push-up, the key may be forgetting for a moment about pushing yourself up. Instead, lower yourself down from a push-up position -- and reap even more benefits. The same trick works for pull-ups and other challenging exercises: That's the power of "negative" reps.