The pull-up is one of the top exercises you can do to develop your upper body.They are indicative of your level of fitness – anybody that can do a pull up is in pretty good shape…anybody who can do 10 or more is clearly in great shape.

And the great thing about it is that you don’t even need any equipment to practice it, except for a bar or a grip to hang from. This means you can do them at home, in the park or in your back yard. The chin-up is the best exercise to develop an athletic, V-shaped back and muscular arms. It directly strengthens the outer back muscles, the latissimusdorsi, the posterior part of the shoulders and the elbow flexors, particularly, the biceps, brachialis and brachioradialis. The core muscles, especially the rectus abdominus and the obliques are also involved in the movement to stabilise the trunk. In the pull-up we generally differentiate between pull-ups, which are done with an overhand grip, and chin-ups, where the hands grab the bar from underneath.

Getting started

If you have never done chip-ups before, you will likely be lacking strength to perform full pull-ups right from the beginning. In that case you have some preparation work to do to build basic strength for this movement. Below is a progressive plan you can follow.

1. Inverted rows

If you are working out in a gym you can use thesmith machine, squat rack or power rack for this. A TRX suspension trainer also works great.Place yourself under the horizontal bar, which should be positioned at the height of your tummy. In a facing-up position, grab the bar with a shoulder-wide grip and elbows straight. Bend your knees 90 degrees with your feet flat on the floor. Your body, from your shoulders to your knees should now be in a horizontal position. Now pull yourself up bringing your chest as close to the bar as possible, and keeping your body in a straight line. Avoid over-arching your back. Lower yourself until your arms are straight and repeat.

The next progression would be to straighten your knees out, and pivot your body from your heels resting on the floor. Once you are able to achieve 10-12 good repetitions you can progress to placing your feet on an elevated surface like a step or box. This will further increase the load on your upper body.

2. Vertical pull-ups

Once you become proficient in performing the inverted row you can progress to the pull-up. The muscle action changes slightly, as the body is now in a vertical rather than horizontal position, with greater emphasis on the lats.

To prepare for doing full pull-ups, the following steps can be taken:

2A. Negative pull-ups

with a jump

Stand under a pull-up bar, which should be placed high enough above your head for you to be able to reach it in a standing position. Jump up onto the bar the get your chin over the level of the bar, and try to hold that position for 3-5 seconds. Then slowly lower your body until your arms are completely locked out before touching down to the ground with your feet. This ‘negative’ movement will strengthen all the pulling muscles involved in the actual pull-up movement.

2B. Assisted pull-ups

You can reduce the weight you are pulling by applying external ‘load reducers’ to reduce your body weight against gravity. The Gravitron is a machine that lets you select the amount of weight you would like to have ‘push’ your body upwards. Therefore, if you weigh 70kg and you select a counter weight of 30kg on the Gravitron, you will actually only be pulling 40kg. If you are working at home, you can use a cheaper alternative, such as a power band.

This is a rubber band that comes in different tensions. You could therefore select a rubber band with a tension of 30kg, giving you the same effect as the Gravitron. As you get stronger, you will aim to reduce the assisting weight from the machine or rubber band until you can perform at least 3-5 full repetitions without any external help. From the onwards you can focus on doing full pull-ups without an external help.

2C. Full pull-ups

Once you’re able to do 3 sets of 10 pull ups or chin ups, you have a few options:

• Continue to get better at doing more reps – 3 sets of 12, 3 sets of 15, 3 sets of 20, etc

• Start doing other types of pull ups - like wide grip pull ups (grab the bar WAY out with both hands), side to side pull ups, uneven pull ups, etc

• Add weight and do weighted pull ups or weighted chin ups

Richard Geres is an ACE-certified

Personal Trainer

www.richardgeres.com