Hey there viewers! Pull- ups might be one of the most underutilized exercises for size
and strength. But they are as important to your upper body as squats are to your lower
body.
Although pull-ups might be one of the most challenging exercises, their benefits are
sky high! In today’s video we will tell you why you should make pull ups part of your
exercise routine. Not just that, we will also talk about the different pull-up variations
you can try. So keep watching till the end!
Before we get into the actual benefits, it is important for you to know how to do a classic
pullup properly. Firstly, make sure the pullup bar that you
are using is at a height that requires you to jump up to grab it and your feet should
hang free. Next, stand below the bar with your feet shoulder
width apart. Jump up and grip the bar with an overhand grip about shoulder width apart.
Fully extend your arms so you are in a dead hang. Bend your knees and cross your ankles
for a balanced position. Take a breath at the bottom.
Exhale while pulling yourself up so your chin is level with the bar. Ensure you pull yourself
with your chest and keep your shoulders down and back. As you pull up, push your stomach
forward and keep your chest high to strengthen your back muscles. Pause at the top.
Then lower yourself, inhaling as you go down until your elbows are straight. Repeat the
movement without touching the floor. Repeat the process and continue until you can’t
tolerate anymore.
Now that you know how to do a proper pull-up, let us get into what muscles are worked by
doing it.
When you do a pull, you work out several muscle groups at once. They efficiently build your
biceps, triceps, wrist muscles, forearm muscles, shoulder, back muscles, core muscles, and
muscles of your hand.
There are no exercises that work as many muscle groups as pull-ups. You would need to do about
7 non-compound exercises to work as many muscle groups, but a pull up would do this at once.
Ok, now let’s get into the benefits of doing pull-ups everyday:
Increased Grip Strength: From opening a jar of jam to carrying groceries – you need
a strong grip for most things in life. You surely don’t want to struggle to do everyday
chores. Here comes the pull-up.
As you do more pull up reps your grip will be doing most of the work to lift your body
weight. So your grip strength will increase as the days pass. It also works on those forearm
muscles simultaneously. This is how your grip gets the pull-up advantages.
Weight Loss: A pull-up is a high intensity exercise which burns calories, although in
smaller amounts compared to aerobic exercises such as cycling, running on a treadmill, and
running.
If what you want is to shed more weight, you may step up the intensity of the pull-ups
by doing more sets, doing them faster, and taking less of a rest in between.
This will get your heart pumping faster and your metabolic rate higher. As your body’s
metabolic rate increases, more fat is burned to produce glucose which fuels your exercising
muscles and other tissues.
Better Mood: Another thing you stand to gain when you do pull-ups consistently is a better
mood. Doing any form of exercise causes the release of chemicals called endorphins which
make you feel good. You will notice that, any time you do exercise, you feel happier
afterwards.
The levels of serotonin in your brain are also boosted when you exercise, making pull-ups
and other forms of exercise a good supportive treatment for anxiety, depression, and mood
swings.
Another chemical that is released when you exercise is endocannabinoid, another feel-good
chemical. Endocannabinoid makes you feel relaxed, and happier after a pull-up.
You will become stronger: Pull ups are known as being a closed kinetic chain exercise,
which basically means they work muscles that are used in daily activities.
After doing pull ups for some time, you’ll be able to carry heavy bags and lift items
from those high kitchen shelves with ease.
Closed kinetic chain exercises are also safer to do because they allow your body’s natural
structure to determine how your joints move, creating a more natural range of motion.
Strengthens Your Back: Our backs are often the most unjustly overlooked muscle group
when it comes to working out, as many gym rats would rather focus on the bicep exercises
instead. But, the strength of your back is crucial no matter if you’re an athlete or
an office worker.
Pull-ups are one of the best exercises for your back as they stimulate all the important
core and back muscles. Just a couple of them a day is sure to strengthen your back significantly
over a fairly short period of time.
Also, it’s always a good idea to train your back if you have a desk job, as regular workouts
that affect this area can prevent injuries in the future!
Increases Your Stamina: As you consistently exercise, your body’s stamina will also
increase meaning that you will become more resistant to your workouts whether it’s
running or lifting weights.
Keeping your stamina up during each workout session is important because you want to be
able to do more and reach your health goals.
Pull-ups benefit and impact your body’s stamina through each pull due to its physical
challenge. It might look simple but there is a good amount of pressure that is put on
your upper body.
Pull-ups are a great way to make your heart stronger and as it becomes stronger, your
stamina increases.
Your heart is the root to all physical strength as it paces your breathing and gives you the
oxygen flow your muscles need.
Reverses Muscular Imbalance: It’s pretty important to make exercise a focus as it helps
all of your muscles grow and prevents pain or injury. If you are new at this regime,
figuring out which exercises to do can be tricky. There might be times when a muscle
is being overworked and you might not know it.
When it comes to working the upper body, pull and push movements are key. If you are doing
too many workouts that require you to push, it can result in posture problems due to a
weak back.
Pull-ups are perfect to reverse this issue where it focuses on strengthening your back
to reduce the chances of you getting injured.
Improves Your Posture: During pulling movements one of the most common cues is to depress
and retract your shoulder blades or pull your shoulders down and back like you’re squeezing
a vertical pencil with your back muscles. Pulling your shoulders down and back in itself
will help you to have better posture.
Now, you can’t just go around depressing and retracting your shoulders all day. Well,
you could but it wouldn’t be very comfortable or realistic. Which is why doing pull-ups
can be so beneficial for correcting and maintaining good posture.
When you do a pull-up and continue to do them regularly, you’re training your muscles
to get used to pulling your shoulders back and down. That way as you progress and improve
your performance during the pull-up, you’re also improving your awareness of which muscles
are tightening and preventing your shoulders from rounding forward.
Prepares you for advanced training: Another key benefit of doing pull-up workouts is that
they essentially prepare you for taking more advanced pull-up exercises that require serious
upper-body and grip strength.
This could be one of the goals if you are looking to build serious muscle. Start out
with regular sets of pull-ups and gradually build your way to more advanced workouts that
are more demanding. Taking on too much too early comes with risk so be safe and start
slow.
Gets you the V shape: V shape is something that we all admire and pull-ups can get you
step closer to your dream body. Shaping a perfect V requires a lot of effort on the
entire trunk; especially the abs and lats.
Pull-ups will do half the work. It is a well-known back exercise, so getting some work done on
your lower back can be best achieved by pursuing a pull-up routine.
Moving on, Let’s talk about a few variations of Pull-Ups that you can try:
Weighted Pull Up: Once you get to the point where you can do 10 pull ups, you can add
weight to make it more challenging. There are three primary ways you can add weight,
first using a weight belt, second, put a dumbbell in between your ankles when crossed, or using
an ankle weight, and third using a weighted vest. Weighted pull ups are also a great way
to increase the total number of pull ups you can complete if you are hitting a plateau.
Muscle Ups: This is a very difficult pull up because you have to lift your entire torso
over the bar so that it’s high enough to then extend your arms straight, which is the
finishing position. One little trick you can use is to keep your legs slightly forward
as you are coming down at about a 20 degree angle, which will help you build a little
momentum as you swing them backwards to help you forcefully pull up again. Even with this
little tip, they are still very difficult.
Because you’re pulling your body up and over toward one hand, then across the bar
to your other before coming back down to the starting position, you’re loading only one
side of your body with weight. This puts more load on your muscles than a traditional pullup,
which distributes your weight evenly.
Around the World Pull Up: Start with an overhand grip with your hands about 6 to 12 inches
wider than shoulder-width apart. Pull your body up toward your right hand, then pull
your body across the bar laterally to your left hand, then drop down back to the starting
position. You can either repeat the right hand, or pull up toward your left to change
direction for the desired number of reps.
Close Grip Pull Up: Grab the bar with an overhand grip slightly narrower than shoulder-width
apart. Pull up to the bar in a smooth motion so the bar touches the bottom of your neck
at the top of the pullup. Lower down—keeping the movement controlled—until your arms
are locked, then repeat for the desired number of reps.
Wide Grip Pull up: A wide-grip pullup emphasizes your back muscles to a greater degree than
close-grip pull-ups. Grab the bar with an overhand grip wider than shoulder-width apart.
Pull up to the bar in a smooth motion so the bar grazes the bottom of your neck at the
top of the pullup. Lower down—keeping the movement controlled—until your arms are
locked, then repeat for the desired number of reps.
Do you do Pull-ups regularly? Do you use any variations? Let us know in the comments section
below!