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

Comments

Push up Progression

Choose one of the following variations as a starting point and perform 3 sets of between 4 and 8 repetitions with periods of between 1 and 2 min of rest between each set. When you can do 3 sets of 8, move on to the next exercise in the progression. All the necessary information about pull up can be find in my previous article here . One arm Push up progression 1. Wall Push up Performed against a wall. To find the starting position, stand away from the wall and extend your arms in front of you till the tips of your fingers come in contact with the wall. If you find the exercise too hard, come a little closer to the wall. Wall Push up 2. Knee Push up Kneel on the floor with your feet together, and your palms flat on the ground in front of you. The arms should be straight, shoulder width apart, and in line with your chest. Using the knees as a pivot, bend at the shoulders and elbows until your chest is approximately touch the floor. Pause and press back to th

Squats

Maybe I don't have to talk much here. Everyone should know about the Squats and the two basics steps to do them. Sit down and Stand ups. That is it ! Bodyweight Squat Squat muscle targeted Muscle targeted Squats will work your entire lower body. They primarily target the muscles in your butt (gluteus maximus), the front of your legs (quadriceps) and the back of your legs (hamstrings). But they also engage some stabilizing muscles: your lower back (erector spinae), the outside of your thighs and bum (abductors), your inner thighs (adductors) and your calves (gastrocnemius and soleus). Tips for a proper squats Different depths of motion in squatting develop different muscles. A full range of motion develops all the muscles equally. For this reason, you should aim to master full squats. Some of the steps are half-movements, but they eXist only as stages in the process towards full squats. Half-movements must always be performed in conjunction with full movements.

Grease the Groove (GTG training method): The best way to do more Pull ups, Push ups and increase strength.

What is GTG? Pavel Tsatsouline Greasing the groove is a strength training method popularized by Russian fitness author and coach,Pavel Tsatsouline, one of the world’s premier strength and conditioning coaches and former trainer of the Russian special forces. (For more information on Pavel and some of his unconventional training check out his books, The Naked Warrior or Power to the People). Contrary to the belief of most Western bodybuilders, who believe strength comes purely from larger muscles, the Russian philosophy is that in addition to strength being somewhat correlated to muscle size, strength is also a skill. Like with any other skill, the ‘skill of strength’ should be practiced, because as we all know, practice makes perfect. The principle of this training technique revolves around the simple equation Pavel came up with to explain the technique: Specificity + frequent practice = success To become a defter football player you have to practice football. To be

Calisthenics Training and Beyond

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