Pull ups are the real deal. If I had to pick one exercise and one only, this might just be it. Back. Arms. Abdominals. With the right variation it can also work the legs. If you have read any of my other ramblings, you will know by now that two value points I have for most things are simplicity and effectiveness. The pull up fits perfectly. Let’s start from basics and its simplest form and work from there. There often times is some confusing vernacular regarding what is a pull up and what is a chin up. Don’t be confused. It doesn’t really matter what you call it, as long as you do it. What I refer to as a pull up is the one done with the overhand grip. The backs of the hands facing you. You can call it whatever you want to. Stand under the bar, grasp it with the above mentioned overhand grip, and pull up. That’s it folks.
Well, that’s not exactly it, but you get the idea. Simple.
But like many fine things, simple is not always easy. Now let’s look at the fine print. The overhand grip is pretty straightforward, but you can do it two ways; thumb wrapped under the bar, or thumb resting over the bar (assuming that you are using some form of standard pull up bar). I tend to mix it up for best training effect. The standard position will have you with arms shoulder width apart. But this too can be varied to a wide grip all the way down to a narrow grip with the hands touching each other.
Pull ups can also be very damaging physically, but there are several precautions that can help minimize (but not eliminate) issues. Shoulders are the first area of concern. The biggest proactive measure you can take is to fully engage your shoulders by pinching your shoulder blades down and together prior to performing the pull up and keeping them engaged throughout the entire exercise; never going into a dead hang. The next point to note regarding shoulders is to never do ‘behind the neck’ pull ups. I don’t think that any possible training benefit of this method is worth the risk. The shoulder architecture is not designed to work this way, and this is only good for a trip to surgery. After the shoulders, elbows are next on the list of problem areas. One thing you can do is to strengthen the areas that support the elbows. You can do this by performing reverse writs curls and wrist pronation to build up the muscles, tendons, and ligaments that surround the elbow. Varying the grip goes a very long way to keeping the elbows healthy also, but I find the biggest help is doing pull ups on gymnastic rings or even better rock rings. This allows the elbows to independently and automatically track in the most effective and ergonomic manner.
Whaaa…. I don’t have rock rings, or even a pull up bar. Quit yer whining. Rock rings are cheap, and cheaper yet is making something out of plywood or pvc pipe. Or if you want to go even more low tech just pull up on whatever you can find; it may not have the rotational benefits of rings, so make sure you vary your grip often, but don’t rule out anything that you can grab. Balconies, open stair treads, playground equipment, sturdy door sills, tree branches, etc. Just make real sure that the structure you use will adequately support your weight. When using ‘real world’ apparatus check the grip surface for sharp edges and objects. Regarding playground equipment; a lot of newer stuff is cheap and not designed for your hulking mass. So don’t ruin it for some kid. Also it’s probably a good idea to not be training on playground stuff when there are kids around. There are a lot of creeps out there and you don’t want some parent to confuse you for one. (don’t laugh, it has happened) And besides you don’t want to scare or intimidate some poor kid who is just trying to have fun.
But, but… I can’t even do one pull up; how am supposed to proceed? If you can’t figure that out you probably shouldn’t be reading this anyway, but I will give you the benefit of the doubt this time. There are some progressions that involve pulling yourself into various vertical structures like door jams, or horizontal structures like table tops (from laying underneath), but eventually you will want to transition into a proper pull up position anyway, so those types of drills should be short lived or abandoned for a more traditional pull up posture. It’s not rocket surgery; if you can’t do a pull-up it means you aren’t strong enough, period. Get over it. Or if you want to be more specific, you have a low strength to weight ratio. So until you build the strength you need to subtract weight. There are bunches of ways of doing just that. The easiest way is setting a chair in front of you and resting your feet on that and doing your pull-ups that way. You can get heavy duty sports bungee cords or straps and stand or kneel in them. Or you can build a trick little rig with two pulleys a short bit of rope, a climbing harness, and some weights. You should be able to figure out how to construct this. It’s dead easy as long as you have adequate support for the pulleys overhead. You can attach as much weight as you need to counter your weight. As you progress and get stronger you simply remove weights. I used just such an apparatus with great results when recovering from shoulder reconstruction surgery.
A note on form. When I do regular pull-ups I try to use strict form. By that I mean a controlled pull and going until my chin is over the bar. Hence the name…chin-up! Also I do a controlled descent to the lower position (remembering not to dead hang). For the most part my motion is reasonably slow. And I keep my lower body still. No kipping! And ponder this… a pull up is a total body exercise. If you just try to pull up using your arms you will not be very successful in your pull up goals. You need to tense and engage your whole body.
Sets and Reps and such.
My thing is all about functionality, and as such sets and reps are thought of in those terms. Functionality factors for pull ups are basically strength, power, and endurance. For the type of functionality I require, strength and endurance are my focal points. Typically as with most progressive resistance exercises we find that low repetitions with heavy resistance builds strength, while high repetitions with light resistance builds endurance. However as the great climber Tony Yaniro was purported to say…”if you can’t pull a single hard move, then you have nothing to endure” So with that in mind I typically further refine my focus to strength over endurance. Low reps certainly mean nothing more than five, and could be as low as one. With such low reps, as you can expect, you need to be working at close to maximal effort. In the game of pull-ups this means either adding weight or changing leverage. It doesn’t matter how you do it as long as you do. If you are really trying for real strength then you don’t need a lot of sets either. You should always do some warm up sets of course with no or lighter weights, or even with weight removed. Once you are ready to start working then three work sets may be enough. Three sets of three reps each may not seem like a lot, but if you have warmed up properly and are using significant weight or leverage for the work sets, then the effort will be sufficient.
If however you do feel the need to do endurance pull-ups someday, try this: Set your timer for three minutes and start doing pull-ups until you can’t do any more. You probably will stop well before the three minutes is up. After you have done however many you can do just wait for the time to run out; this is your rest period. Start again. Keep repeating until you can’t do a single rep. Write down the total reps and total minutes. This is your benchmark.
Advanced Pull-ups.
You can let your imagination run wild here. Once you are adept at doing regular pull-ups, reasonably strong, and totally injury free you may want to experiment with some variations; either to get even stronger or to recruit other muscle groups into the fun. The sky is the limit but here are a few examples to get you started.
Pinch pull-ups- Pinch a set of ceiling rafters and pull like mad. Good luck.
Ice tool pull-ups – Mount a set of dowels or just hook your ice tools over the bar. Make sure you have iron wrists before trying this one.
Fingertip pull-ups – Use your hang-board or a STURDY door frame; crimp or better yet open-hand the edge and start cranking.
L-hang pull-ups – Perform a hanging leg raise and a pull-up at the same time. Double your fun. Triple your fun and do it from pinch gripping rafters.
Static pull-ups – This one is kind of weird. Hook your feet to something solid under your pull-up apparatus, then grasp the bar and pull with your hands and feet simultaneously.
Weighted Negatives – Pack some weight on your scrawny frame and start in the top position of a pull-up, with your feet supported on something. Let go with your feet and slowly, very slowly lower to the ground. Repeat.
Frenchies – This one is great. Do a pull-up but stop at the top position and hold it for a full five seconds, then lower to the bottom position. Without a rest repeat a full pull-up but lower until your lower arms and upper arms form a ninety degree angle, hold here please… five seconds. Lower to the bottom position and do a third full pull-up, this time lowering until your upper arms are at a forty five degree angle and hold for another five before lowering. This cycle should be considered as one rep. Do some more.
Typewriters – Another fun one that may help with your climbing. Using a wide grip pull up to the top position of a pull-up. Stay there and shift your body all the way over to your right hand, then all the way over to your left hand.
Uneven pull-ups – One can engineer a lot of options on this. The simplest using a standard pull-up bar is this. Wrap a strap or towel over the bar. Grasp the strap or towel with one hand and the bar with the other. You can vary where you grip the towel. The closer to the bar the easier it will be. The lower your grip the more difficult it will be. I shouldn’t have to say, but be sure to work both sides.
Jump and Heave – This one is for all you total body conditioning nuts out there. You need to find a bar that requires you to jump a bit before you can grab the bar. The trick is to ensure your shoulders are engaged before you make contact. Once you have a grip on the bar use the upward momentum generated from your jump to pull yourself up. But don’t stop at the standard stopping point. Lever yourself up above the bar in a pushing motion until you have the bar at your waist. This is also called a ‘muscle-up’. These are really tough and can exact a real toll. Be careful
Ballistic pull-ups- This is simply a ‘gentler’ version of the Jump and Heave. Basically it’s just a regular pull-up done really fast. Kipping is usually allowed here.
One arm pull-ups – This is the holy grail of pull-ups. Hard as hell to do. But if you really want to be able to do them you can. You just need to have unbending intent. Focus on weighted pull-ups, uneven pull-ups, weighted negatives, and typewriters, and keep an eye on your bodyweight and you can get there.
Grab something and pull…