Pull for Strength !

The pull-up. In theory it looks simple; all you have to do is hang from a bar and pull yourself up. But many of us struggle to even move a few centimetres towards that bar, and just give up on the exercise altogether. However, pull-ups are one of the best exercises you can ever do. Imagine: You are moving your entire body using your upper body strength. That alone will tell you that pull-ups require great upper body strength and will help to pack on the mass if you are scrawny. And not to mention they help to widen the latissimus dorsi, the muscle in your back that is responsible for the v-taper.

To pull or not to pull?

Pull-ups offer many benefits:

They help to strengthen your upper body.

In moving your entire body, you will develop muscle as well as strength.

Your grip strength will improve; especially if you do pull-ups weighted or the towel variation.

Most people concentrate on the chest and biceps, and doing pull-ups will help to correct muscular imbalances.

You are only as strong as your weakest link

Most beginners will find that before they can even start pulling, their grip will fail them. Therefore, you should strengthen your grip to ensure that you can stay on the bar long enough to even attempt one pull-up.

One basic way to strengthen your grip is to just hang from the bar. Once you can hang for a minute, try wrapping a towel around the bar to increase the thickness of the area you have to hold; this will help to increase your grip strength. Another way would be to hang onto heavy dumbbells and try to increase the time you can hold onto them.

Here comes the fun!

As with many exercises, pull-ups come in many shapes and sizes.

Pull-up: You pull yourself up with palms facing away from you. There is a greater emphasis on the back.

Chin-up: You pull yourself up with palms facing you. There is a greater emphasis on the biceps.

Weighted Pull-ups: You execute pull-ups with weights; either with a weight vest, a dip belt with weights attached or a dumbbell between your thighs. Ensure that you are able to do at least 10 bodyweight pull-ups before attempting any weighted variations.

Towel pull-ups: Hang two towels over the bar and grab the portion of the towel hanging below the bar. Your body will have to travel a longer distance and this makes it more difficult than the standard pull-up. Due to the way you hold the towels, this version is more demanding on the forearms as well.