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Pull ups


A proper pull up

Who wasn't inspired watching Sylvester Stallone performing uneven pull ups from that climbing frame in Rocky II training scene. Or in my other favorite movie - Terminator 2, Linda Hamilton cranking out pull ups from the legs of her upturned metal bunk.

Pull ups along with Push ups and Squat are three fundamental exercises of Calisthenics.
A pull-up is a compound upper body exercise and can done in 2 simple (but not easy) steps as the pictures.

First step, you hang yourself from a bar, or a door, a wall, a stair, a tree, whatever you can. Hang all the way down ("Dead hang position") .
Then, you started to pull yourself up until your chin over the bar. (Top position). Remember, do not swing or use any momentum.

Muscle targeted

Pull up target all the pulling - muscle on the upper back (lats) also with your biceps. Your forearm muscle used to hang yourself against the gravity while your core keep your body balance with no swing.
This is a total upper body exercise .

Pull up primary muscle targeted

Pull ups variations

  • Base on the direction of your palm:

  • A PULL UP is when your hands are facing away from you (overhand pull up).
  • A CHIN UP is when your hands are facing towards you (underhand pull up). It has more emphasis on your biceps

  • Base on the width of the grip:

  • WIDE-GRIP PULL-UPS: used for emphasizing to your lats, instead of working primarily your biceps. Grasp a sturdy bar with a firm over hand grip and your hands separated by a distance roughly twice the width of your shoulders the pull yourself up.
  • CLOSE-GRIP PULL-UPS: another great variation of pull-ups which emphasizes your lower lats. You can perform Close-Grip Pull-ups by grasping a sturdy bar with a firm overhand grip and your hands separated by about 6-8 inches. The narrow separation between your hands ensures that you emphasize your lower lats during the exercises.
For other pull ups variations from easiest to hardest, you can see my article Pull up progression

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