Pull-ups are the ultimate test of whether you are a fit, balanced, all rounder. You see, this exercise only relies on bodyweight and therefore does not need special equipment nor machines for you to do them. You just need a steady grip on a over head bar, or even a branch in the park, so long as it is steady and parallel with the ground. Many folks hate the pull-ups because they are quite difficult, but this difficulty is precisely why you should do this exercise, as it has great potential to improve your fitness in many ways.
Your latissimus dorsi muscles, also known as “lats,” are the muscle group that works the hardest during the pull-ups. But not only that, a whole host of other back and arm muscles will have to wake up as well, and get working!
The Rhomboid muscles, adjacent to the your lats, support the lats, and have to work out equally hard, when you do the pull-ups. The back muscles, which are in opposition to the stomach muscles, are vitally important for maintaining an even balance of strength throughout your upper body. So, strengthening your back is an important part of strengthening your front and core, as well. Your forearm muscles, biceps, and triceps will all have to engage in order to bend your arms at the elbow and accomplish the lifting motion that makes up the pullup. Thus, all of these various muscle groups will also benefit from a set of pull-ups. In addition to being an effective strength building exercise, the pullup is also highly effective as part of a cardiovascular workout.
Now I am sure I have convinced you why you should do the pull up! Here are some variations of it..
Standard
Standard dead-hang pull up is grasped with an overhand/underhand/alternative-hand grip. Then the body is pulled up until the chin clears the bar, and finished by lowering the body until arms and shoulders are fully extended. Stricter standards would only consider a full repetition to be one in which the elbows pass behind the coronal plane.
Weighted
Weight is added using a dipping belt, or grasping a dumbbell with the feet, or weight vest/shorts
Behind-the-neck pull-up
The chin is dropped forward through cervical flexion. The goal of the pull-up is to touch the bar with the back of the neck.
One arm
A one arm pull-up is performed by grasping the bar with only one hand while pulling up. This is difficult due to the considerable strength required.
One hand
An easier version of the one arm pull-up: a pull-up where one hand grips the other arm just below the wrist.
Climber’s pull-up
A pull-up staying as close as possible to one side; typically the arm doing the majority of the work is alternated each repetition.
Kipping
An easier version where the body is bent dynamically to help propel the athlete upward. The hips swing first forward and then back as the legs swing forward. Finally, the legs swing downward again, pushing the torso upward. The fastest version where the head follows an elliptical path, moving backward at the bottom of the motion and forward at the top, is sometimes called a butterfly pull-up.
Sternum pull-up
A pull-up with a longer range of motion, finishing with the bar touching the sternum.
Muscle-up
A pull-up with a maximal range of motion, transitioning to a dip. Generally the initial pull-up uses an overhand grip to make the switch easier and is more explosive in order to take advantage of momentum from the first half of the exercise to aid in the second half.
Finally, you can warm down by working the abs.. and stretching!
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