Pulling up on the horizontal bar from zero to good performance. Pull-ups on the horizontal bar

Probably the most common type of exercise among coaches and athletes are pull-ups on the horizontal bar. To perform this particular exercise, you only need a crossbar and your own weight.

To do this, it is not necessary to sign up for an expensive gym. You can also do pull-ups at home (even in a small apartment) - the horizontal bar will not require expensive costs and a specially designated room for this.

It is very important only to fix the horizontal bar well on the crossbar or in the doorway and you can start exercising.

Pull-ups are aimed at developing the muscles of the back, arms and chest. Due to their effectiveness, this exercise is compared in terms of performance even with basic training that is used in bodybuilding.

When performing this type of exercise, do not forget, of course, about the correct execution technique. Thanks to the observance of the technique, you will be able to train the muscles without injury.

Review content:

What types of pull-ups, or rather grips on the horizontal bar, exist?

The classic version of the grip is straight or medium. You can see the correct execution of this exercise in the photo of pull-ups on the horizontal bar: hands should be placed palms forward, that is, shoulder width apart. The thumb should be in the lock position. The legs are in a straightened position, connected together. The movements are smooth, without sharp jerks.

To minimize injury to the hands, do not loosen them when moving down. Some coaches believe that while lowering the body down, the biceps work more efficiently. Therefore, they recommend that in the pull-up program on the horizontal bar, go down more slowly than pull up.

In the classic pull-up, the following muscles are involved: the trapezium, forearm, shoulder girdle, lats, triceps, and biceps.

Pull-ups with a narrow grip differ from the classic in the following way: the palms of the trainee look at him. When performing this type of exercise, you need to touch the horizontal bar with the lower part of the chest.

The pull-up photo on the horizontal bar shows that the palms must be placed parallel to each other. This type called close-grip pull-ups.

Muscle work when doing pull-ups on the horizontal bar:

  • With a narrow grip, the main load is taken by the muscles that are located from the bottom of the back;
  • The most frequently working muscle is the biceps, the latissimus dorsi;
  • The triceps are the least involved.

When performing pull-ups with a direct grip and placed arms shoulder-width apart, you should not overload the forearm and shoulder - with overworked muscles, it is quite difficult to do the required number of repetitions technically correctly.

Neutral pull-ups on the horizontal bar

This type of pull-up is aimed at training the lower part of the latissimus dorsi. However, it is worth remembering that this exercise is effective in combination (it is best to immediately paint the pull-up program on the horizontal bar).

When performing this exercise, the load is directed to the point of the dead zone of the biceps. After the main load is gone, the lats begin their work, at the upper and lower points.

Each pull-up scheme on the horizontal bar includes pull-ups with the so-called wide grip. Thanks to this exercise, the latissimus dorsi muscles are worked out. Their training will help create a beautiful upper body.

The rule for performing a wide grip: hanging on the horizontal bar, you need to place your hands at a distance of about 25 cm wider than the level of the athlete's shoulders. To warm up the muscles, you just need to hang a little. The arms are relaxed, the entire load is distributed evenly on the forearms.

While inhaling, we rise on our hands up until the chest rests on the horizontal bar. Control the movements of the elbows, they should be located at one point. On exhalation, we take the starting position.

Exercises for pulling up on the crossbar can be performed on one arm. To do this, you need to hang on one hand. The other hand must be kept straight. Ankles must be crossed. Buttocks - tighten. This will allow you to better work out all the muscles.

Remember the main rule - on the exhale we pull up, on the inhale we go down. To effectively build mass, you can rotate the brush during pull-ups.

How to breathe properly during exercise?

By holding your breath while lifting up, the latissimus dorsi will be able to lift the body up more easily. It will also minimize injury to the small muscles located near the shoulder blades.

Do not forget to fix your body to the maximum and do not make unnecessary movements. Lifts must be done vertically.

Grip width classification:

  • Hands to be located on the horizontal bar much narrower than the width of the shoulders - these are pull-ups with a narrow grip.
  • Hands should be wider on the horizontal bar or at shoulder level - these are pull-ups with an average grip.
  • Hands are further than shoulder width - these are pull-ups with a wide grip.

Rules for performing exercises during a pull-up workout:

  • It is necessary to move without auxiliary rocking, only due to the movement of muscles.
  • Move your body as smoothly as possible. Sharp movements are inappropriate here.
  • When the body reaches the top point, the chin should be above the horizontal bar.
  • In terms of time, moving down takes as much time as moving up.
  • Remember about breathing: inhale - up, starting position - exhale.
  • During movement, the body is in a vertical position.

Pull-up exercise with a reverse narrow grip - the nuance of this exercise is that when returning to the top point, you need to watch your shoulders. Shoulders should be laid back. The shoulder blades must be brought together.

Photo pull-ups on the horizontal bar

Pull-ups on the horizontal bar will give your body great shape, but it depends on how you perform them correctly.

Let's look at a few rules for the most appropriate pull-up scheme on the horizontal bar:

1. Pulling up occurs with the help of your muscles, without swinging.

2. You should rise slowly, without jerking.

3. The chin should be over the bar.

4. You need to go down as slowly as you go up.

5. You must breathe properly. Breathe out when you go up, and breathe in when you go down.

6. Hold onto the bar firmly.

7. Your body must be vertical.

Of course, as in other types of sports, pull-ups have a lot of little things that you should definitely know.

Let's look at the types of technology that is used to different types loads.

The starting position for all types of pull-ups (except, of course, pull-ups with a wide grip on the head) is hanging and a slightly arched back. Legs should be crossed.

NARROW STRAIGHT GRIP

When you pull up on the horizontal bar, try to touch the crossbar with your upper chest. Your gaze should fall on the hands.

NARROW REVERSE GRIP

It is performed following the example of a direct grip, but at the same time it is necessary to reduce the shoulder blades and make sure that the shoulders are laid back.

MEDIUM STRAIGHT GRIP

This technique assumes that when you raise your torso, you must at the same time bring your shoulder blades together. When you have already reached the crossbar, then touch the upper chest of the horizontal bar. For better stretching of the muscles and faster muscle building, when you lower yourself, try to fully straighten your arms.

NEUTRAL GRIP

Now we will tell you how to properly pull up with a neutral grip. During such a grip, you must change the position of your hands, first in front of the right, and then the left. Rising, try to touch the crossbar with your lower chest. At the same time, keep an eye on the position of your head, immediately take it to the right, and then to the left.

WIDE GRIP TO CHEST

Try to turn off your biceps in the technique of such a pull-up, and rise at the expense of your muscles and squeeze your shoulders to each other. In order to engage the broad muscles of the shoulders, try to pull up so that thumb was on top of the crossbar, not clasping it with his fingers. It is necessary when lifting to try to touch the upper chest of the crossbar, and the elbows should look at the floor.

WIDE GRIP TO THE HEAD

This technique does not involve arching the back or crossing the legs. You should be as aligned as possible so that your back and legs form one line. After you have risen, your head should be behind the bar. Just be sure to watch the position of your head to avoid injury and your elbows to look clearly at the floor.

The heaviest types of pull-ups are those that involve a wide grip. If you have just started training, then you should first start with the classic types - straight medium or narrow grip.

The priority of such classes is that they are available to everyone. In any, even a small town, there are gyms or playgrounds where the horizontal bar is located.

LEARN TO RIGHT UP CORRECTLY

Probably everyone who is going to build muscle mass due to pull-ups on the horizontal bar is wondering how to learn how to do it. Start over by hanging just on the bar for a few minutes every day so that your hands get used to it and do not slip off the bar. After you feel that your hands have grown stronger and are accustomed to the horizontal bar, start to rise slowly, but pay special attention to the technique of their implementation.

Grab the bar firmly, with an overhand grip shoulder-width apart, slowly begin to pull your body up. Pay attention to your elbows, they should go down and diverge a little to the sides. Relax your shoulders, tighten your abdominal muscles. As soon as your chin reaches the bar, slowly lower yourself down until your arms are straight.

Do as many times as you can do in one go, even if you don't do more than five, the most important thing is that you do them correctly and fully. After you have determined for yourself how much you can do in one approach, you are probably wondering how you can do more?

In order for the muscles to grow and strengthen, do 15-30 sets in one workout. You need to approach the desired figure slowly so that the body gradually gets used to the load. To calculate the optimal number of pull-ups for your body, use the proposed scheme.

If at one time you pulled up from three to five times, then the number of approaches is 3. In the first run, you must do the maximum number, and with each next decrease it by one. Rest three minutes between each set. The second day involves an additional rise in the last run, the next day do one more time than in the penultimate run, and so on until the 5th day.

On the sixth day, take a break for yourself. According to such a system, you can practice for at least a month, after which you can rest for 2-3 days and start all over again, starting to increase the maximum number of pull-ups.

If you pull up 10 times, then such a system will also suit you, but now increase the number of approaches to 5. But in this case, you should not do 5 or 6 times a week, but 3-4.

GRIP VARIETIES

The type of grip depends on how your load will be distributed. The grip on the horizontal bar can be divided into 2 types - the grip of the crossbar and the width between the hands. The first type of grip is divided into the following types: neutral, direct and reverse. The second type is wide, narrow and medium grips.

Straight - this is a grip that suggests that the palms look away from the face.

Reverse - it is performed so that the palms look in the face. With a reverse, as well as a direct grip, the torso of a person should be parallel to the horizontal bar.

A neutral grip is when the person's torso is perpendicular to the bar, with the palms facing inward.

Let's move on to grip width:

1. Narrow grip - the hands should be at a distance less than the width of the shoulders. It is even possible that the edges of the arms should be in contact with each other.

2. Medium grip - the hands can be at a shoulder-width distance, and maybe even more.

3. Wide - it is the same as the position of the hands when you squeeze the barbell. Fists with a neutral grip without a gap one behind the other.

PULL-UP CLASSIFICATION

Pull-ups are designed to work all muscle groups:

1. Spinal muscles - round, trapezium, rhombus, wide.

2. Pectoral muscles - small and large.

3. Serratus anterior muscles.

4. Shoulder muscles - shoulder, rear delta, triceps, biceps. As well as the muscles of the forearm.

We can offer you the following classification depending on the width and grip method:

1. Narrow straight grip. Engages the shoulder muscles, serratus and latissimus dorsi.

2. Narrow reverse grip. Focus on the biceps.

3. Medium straight grip. The emphasis is on the muscles of the chest, shoulders, and back.

4. Medium reverse grip. Engages broad muscles and biceps.

5. Wide grip to the chest. Trapeze, round and wide muscles.

6. Wide grip on the head. Upper and middle wide muscles, as well as round and trapezius muscles.

7. Neutral grip. Emphasis is placed on the lower broad muscles, shoulder, triceps, as well as anterior serratus.

Remember that a wide grip works all the muscles in your back, while a narrow grip works all the muscles in your chest and arms, so you need to vary your workloads so that all the muscles are involved. Following our recommendations, you can easily and quickly build muscle with the help of a horizontal bar.

Pull-ups are versatile exercises. Pulling up, you work with your own weight. As a rule, having decided to start pulling up, the question arises: what kind of muscles work during them? To get an answer to it, you need to figure out how to pull up correctly, what types and techniques of pull-ups exist.

Exercises on the horizontal bar - a complex type of training. Pulling up is a cyclic exercise, and is based on playing the same action a certain number of times. The complex consists of a cycle of exercises repeated in a similar sequence. This exercise works all the muscle groups of the upper body together. Each of the cycles is divided into several phases. So:

  • Starting position - putting your hands on top of the horizontal bar, grab the crossbar with your fingers, hang on it with straight arms
  • Hull lifting
  • Hanging on bent arms
  • Get down to starting position

Starting position: arms (hands) on the crossbar, the body is straightened, the heels are brought together, the socks on the legs are extended. Mostly the load goes to the shoulder girdle and arms, the muscles of which tend to keep the body in this position. This phase takes the most time compared to the others. There is a recovery after the previous pull-up. If you unsuccessfully pulled yourself up and hung, swinging, fix a static position with the efforts of the muscles of the legs or body. If your arm is tired, transfer the weight to the other for a while.

Keep in mind that during exercise, breathing becomes deeper, as muscles need more oxygen for greater endurance.

The next phase is lifting the body. By the force of the muscles, they bend, and then the elbow and shoulder joints unbend, while the body leans back slightly, and the legs and hips protrude forward to maintain balance. The load goes to the biceps of the shoulder. The force with which it works is determined by the width of the grip. The rise is performed on exhalation, occasionally while holding the breath.

After this phase - hanging on bent arms on the crossbar. By and large, based on a rational technique for performing pull-ups, this phase should not be. However, when performing exercises on the crossbar, it is still present, although it takes the shortest possible time. When hanging with bent arms, the muscular frame of the body is as tense as possible, breathing is very difficult.

Finally, return to the starting position. Lowering the body, the same muscles work that raise it, but in the opposite mode. In fact, they slow down the body, which falls down under the force of gravity. The slower this “fall” occurs, the greater the load on the muscles. Having sharply hung, you can simply slide off the horizontal bar.

Pull up required teamwork not only the upper muscle groups of the body, but also the joints: elbow and shoulder.

The horizontal bar will give a load and make it work efficiently:

  • Muscles of the middle part of the body, such as the oblique and transverse abdominal muscles, the rectus abdominis (abs), and the muscle responsible for straightening the body.
  • Deltoid. The superficial muscles of the shoulder, making its contour attractively sloping. When pulling up, the posterior deltoid muscle is involved.
  • Trapezius - a wide superficial flat muscle that stretches from the back of the neck to the middle of the back and to the sides to the shoulder joints. Move the shoulder blades and support the arms.
  • Large round - flat, elongated muscle.
  • The broadest back is superficial, occupying the lower back. Perform big role in pull-ups. Athletes call them "wings".
  • Rhomboid - located between the shoulder blades.
  • Biceps. Or the biceps muscle - large, clearly visible. It is auxiliary when pulling up, its role is to bend the arms at the elbows and rotate the forearms. Located on the front side of the shoulder.
  • The infraspinatus is a triangular flat muscle that is located under the scapula.
  • The triceps muscle of the shoulder, she is the triceps. Attaches to the back of the humerus.

Description of pull-ups

Most professional athletes are convinced that pull-ups are exactly the exercises that are needed to build a wide back. There are several rules for the technique of performing exercises on the horizontal bar, despite the fact that their types and methods are different.

Do not do other exercises before pull-ups. it important rule. Start your workout with pull-ups. If you start training on the neck after other exercises, the muscles that are involved in pulling up will be fatigued, and these are the muscles of the forearm, the latissimus dorsi and biceps. As a result, you will not get the proper load and the desired result. Pull-ups require the use of quite a lot of physical strength, so it is best to perform them on unloaded muscles. In order to verify this, it is enough to simply compare the number of times that you can pull yourself up at the beginning and end of the workout.

Professional athletes are advised not to use wrist straps. By pulling up without them, you can significantly increase the strength of the biceps and strengthen the grip of the neck. It is especially important to do without straps in the first two approaches. It’s not scary if you don’t get to do as many repetitions as you did with the carpal straps. Over time, the opportunity will return not only to make the previous amount, but also the grip strength will increase. Of course, for those who cannot pull themselves up without wrist straps, it is simply necessary to use them.

When pulling up, it is best to hold on to the horizontal bar not with your fingers, but with your palm, that is, all fingers, including the thumb, should be on top of the neck. With this grip method, the main load is distributed to the latissimus dorsi, making it easier for the biceps, which are the weak link in this chain. It takes time to master this grip. But once you get used to it, you will be able to see a noticeable effect on the back muscles.

Half pull-ups are not a panacea for those who are unable to perform them completely. With such underpulls, the latissimus dorsi muscles contract only partially, which means that there is no point in them as such. That is, if it’s hard for you to pull up, but you want to master this exercise, don’t chase quantity. It is better to do the minimum number, but full-fledged pull-ups. Improve over time.

Various pull-up techniques

To find the answer to the question of what kind of muscles are pumped up during pull-ups, you should understand the types of grips with them. After all, depending on its type, various groups are being worked out.

This type of grip is divided into two types: narrow forward and narrow reverse. To perform, you need to grab the crossbar a little narrower than shoulder width. Try to keep your head and torso as high as possible when performing the exercise. With this option, pull-ups are well pumped lower and upper chest, shoulder.

When performing pull-ups with a reverse narrow grip, the hands on the crossbar are located in such a way that the thumbs are turned out, as it were, looking in opposite directions from each other. During pull-ups with a reverse grip, those very “wings” are especially involved and trained and the desired biceps are pumped up.

To perform this type of pull-up, you need to place your hands as far as possible from one another, raise your head up, bend a little in your back. While bending the arms at the elbows, the shoulders should be parallel to the crossbar. thumbs are located on top of the horizontal bar. It is necessary to reach up not with the help of the hands, but with the reduction of the shoulder blades. In the peak phase, try to fix the position in which the chest touches the bar. Pull-ups with a wide grip to the chest intensively work out the latissimus dorsi of the lower back and paired circular muscles.

When pulling up with a wide grip on the head, the latissimus dorsi, round pair and trapezius muscles actively develop and work. It is performed as follows: having maximally arched the back, the hands on the crossbar are fixed in a wide grip, the elbows are lowered. From the starting position, smoothly and slowly begin to pull up, and at the top point, bring your head under the horizontal bar so that the back of the head touches it. This type of pull-up is quite complicated and traumatic, therefore it is not recommended for beginners. In the process of performing pull-ups with a wide grip on the head, the shoulder joint is especially heavily loaded. Based on this, it is extremely necessary for trained experienced athletes and not only to properly stretch the muscles of the shoulder girdle in order to avoid injury.

Pull-ups in this way are great for those who have just started doing them, since the load when performed in the middle grip is distributed evenly. Reverse mid-grip pull-ups effectively engage and target the biceps and latissimus dorsi. Their study and development is necessary for the subsequent performance of pull-ups in more complex ways, described above. The execution technique is quite simple. Grasp the horizontal bar with your hands, hands shoulder-width apart, turn them so that the palms of the inner side are turned towards you. Start pulling up with your shoulders slightly back, while your head should be in a strictly horizontal position.

Whatever method of pull-ups you choose, during the exercise, almost all muscles will still work one way or another. And if you decide to pump up the abs while pulling up, raise and lower your legs in the process.

Another method recommended for those who have just started doing pull-ups. The exercise is simple and not traumatic. Observing the execution technique, you can work out the biceps, brachioradialis muscles, and the lower part of the broad back muscles well. The bonus will be the development and strengthening of the area of ​​the elbow joints. The peculiarity of pulling up in the described way is that for its implementation, not one horizontal bar is needed, but two crossbars at once, which are located in parallel.

There are two ways to perform pull-ups with a parallel grip:

  • Grasp the crossbars with your hands, straighten your body as much as possible, smoothly and slowly lift the body up, fixing the position at the highest point, and also smoothly go down.
  • Place your hands on the crossbars one after the other. The back when pulling up should be tilted back as much as possible. Turn your head to the side. Pull up, at the peak point, fix the position in which you need to touch the crossbar with the lower part of the chest.

There are also complicated types of pull-ups described, for example, with cotton, with rolls, and so on.

Ways to increase the effectiveness of pull-ups

If you are determined to achieve maximum results, pump up certain muscle groups as quickly as possible, pulling yourself up on the horizontal bar or crossbars, follow a few simple but very necessary recommendations.

  • You need to pull yourself up as smoothly and slowly as possible, carefully focusing on the sensations in the muscles. To work hard exactly those that you want to develop and train in a specific way of pull-up exercises
  • To achieve the best results, give your muscles time to rest and recover from strenuous exercise. And this means that there is no need to give them overload, to exhaust frequent workouts. Especially on initial stage. At a minimum, this approach can very quickly cool the ardor with which you initially set to training. In everything, moderation is important, and in sports too.
  • The ideal would be the sports schedule, in which training is held three times a week, with an obligatory interval per day for rest and recovery.
  • A rather subjective question regarding the duration of the workout. It is quite difficult to determine its duration if you are doing it yourself. The only thing you can focus on is your own well-being. If you work out in the gym, the trainer will draw up a program for you with the duration of the classes that will correspond to your gender, age, physical form health, presence or absence excess weight. If you're training on your own, don't overload your muscles in pursuit of quick results! In this way, you can injure yourself by damaging your joints or tearing your muscles. The load and duration of training should increase gradually.
  • Take rest breaks between sets. Training should consist of several approaches. For beginner pull-ups, it is best to do a small number of repetitions in one set. More effective will be more approaches with a small number of pull-ups in each.
  • Highly important condition to achieve the desired result is nutrition. After all, from what we eat, the body takes building materials for muscle growth. And they need protein. It is these foods rich in protein that should be included in the diet.

Thus, following all these simple rules and recommendations, observing the regularity and systematic training, with the help of pull-ups, you can achieve well-developed, beautiful muscles of the back, chest, arms, shoulders and abdominals, making the body strong and harmonious.

Pull-ups have always been considered a difficult strength exercise. The ability to pull up 8-10 times is necessary when entering the armed forces various countries, including the USA. Tests by physical training always include pull-ups. This is the standard for all power. Therefore, many want to know: ?

How to pull up correctly - basic theory

The inability to pull up is associated with the dispersion of one's attention and the lack of a clear vision of the physiological and anatomical picture. this movement. The exercise is multi-joint and basic, and it is impossible to learn it in a barbaric way. This requires an understanding of the underlying theory.

There are only two effective options for pull-ups: for fitness and for quantity (military). The execution technique is different, as are the goals pursued by these variations of pull-ups. As part of today's topic, we note only the main differences:

Pull-ups for fitness target the muscles of the back and arms. The emphasis is on the stimulation of muscle fibers and the development of strength indicators. The movement is performed purely in full amplitude.

Army pull-ups are used for a different task - the development of speed-strength characteristics of muscles due to a large number repetitions and appropriate execution technique. Such pull-ups are usually called “by quantity”, since here the final number of repetitions will be more than in the fitness version.

Now, knowing the classification of pull-ups, you need to determine which option is right for you. We note right away that you cannot chase two birds with one stone. Either you work the muscle segments of the back in perfect technique, or you apply tricks and nuances to increase the number of repetitions. By combining two goals into one, you run the risk of achieving zero productivity, which is what we see in most fitness centers, where beginners can't learn to pull up for years.

What you need to know about pull-ups

The stereotype that bodyweight exercises are not purely strength training breaks down under the pressure of your own body weight in pull-ups. Weight is your weight, and often its coefficient is excessively large.

The heavier the person, the more difficult it is to perform pull-ups. The percentage of fat and muscle mass does not play a significant role. Up to 75-80 kg, pulling up a couple of dozen times is quite realistic, especially with regular training. More body weight leads to a decrease in the total number of repetitions in this exercise.

If you do not know how to pull up, the reason is most likely due to being overweight. The presence of body fat is a significant barrier to learning proper pull-ups. To begin with, you will have to lose weight by replacing the exercise with analogues, for example, pulling a vertical cable block to the chest.

Pull-ups on the horizontal bar: the correct execution technique

Due to the presence of two types of pull-ups, there is no single correct technique. Check out the individual articles that cover this process in detail. Within the framework of this topic, we will list the mistakes inherent in any pull-ups. Avoiding them will teach you how to pull up safely and productively.

Muscle relaxation at the bottom

The starting position in the hanging on the crossbar for the vast majority of beginners is associated with a serious biomechanical error - total relaxation shoulder girdle. Without special controlled tension, the shoulder bag stretches beyond normal. The humerus goes up, and this injures the ligaments and joints.

Regular repetition of such a mistake will lead to atrophy of the rotator cuffs of the shoulders, and under negative conditions - to the habitual dislocation of the shoulder. Readers may object that effective exercise for the muscles of the back involves a full stretch. That's right, however, to stretch the muscles of the back, it is not necessary to bring the shoulder up due to relaxation. This is easy to do and with a tense shoulder girdle. Mentally focus your attention on the removal of the shoulder blades from each other.

The risk of injury to the deltoid muscles and related joints is not the only disadvantage of this technical error. The biomechanics of the exercise change markedly. A completely relaxed shoulder girdle creates an uncomfortable position for the back muscles.

It is impossible to 100% innervate the posterior delta, the teres major and minor muscles in this case, since the position is anatomically uncomfortable for the muscular system, even taking into account the naturalness of pull-ups for the body. In ancient times, when our ancestors climbed onto ledges or tree branches, the starting position involved slightly bent arms and shoulder activation. Either with the help of a jump, or due to the small height of the obstacle.

Therefore, in pull-ups, in no case should you relax at the bottom. Stretch your back, but don't overdo it.

Psychological nuances

Central nervous system a person affects the possible power potential. Muscles and joints do not determine strength in the same way that the central nervous system does. Beginners focus in pull-ups on bending the arms in the elbow joints. Mental concentration on this element of technique contributes to the redirection of neuromuscular signals mainly to the muscles of the arms and forearms.

The problem is that no power and energy resources of the hands are enough to lift weights like you do. The pull up is an exercise for the back. and needs to be emphasized. But how?

Standard recommendations - bring the shoulder blades together and do not think about the hands. They help few people, since they do not significantly affect the work of the central nervous system. There is a more efficient and simple technique. Think for a second, what do you think about while doing them?

Most people think of the torso reaching for the bar. Try reverse thinking. Imagine pulling the horizontal bar towards your chest., as if you are performing a barbell row to the belt or a pull of the upper block simulator.

Such a small psychological trick redirects neuromuscular signals to the desired target muscle groups, in particular to.

Abs and leg muscles

The muscles of the legs are the main burden. More than half of the body weight is in the legs, which are not involved in pull-ups. Beginners relax them, which automatically leads to a loss of innervation of the abdominal muscles. This negatively affects the overall productivity of the exercise. The domino principle applies here as well. Following the press, the back and front serratus muscles are turned off, and they entail a weakening of the back delta and even biceps.

During pull-ups, strain your abdominal muscles statically. It is desirable to bend the legs at the knees or at least “squeeze” the gluteal muscles to give innervation.

Style Outcome

Pull-ups - best exercise for the back, this is an indisputable fact, but there is also a flip side of the “medal”. They are difficult to perform for most people due to excess weight. Wrong pull-ups lead to injuries, and persistent fanatical training takes away all the recovery resources and strength from the central nervous system.

The emphasis on training in pull-ups will interfere with the harmonious development of the back, because the load will have to be reduced and attention should be paid only to this process.

Therefore, pull-ups should not be put on a pedestal. Yes, this is the leader, but there are a number of others strength exercises only slightly inferior to the productivity of pull-ups. To sum it up, pull-ups are not for everyone and should not be overdone, especially in the context of fitness goals and improving GPP.

Pulling up on the horizontal bar can be attributed to the most effective exercises performed with your own weight. All you need for training is the crossbar and the desire to work on yourself.

The main benefit of pull-ups is that they allow you to work out almost all the main muscles of the shoulders and back:

  • back muscles (lats, trapezius, rhomboid, round)
  • breasts (large and small chest)
  • serratus anterior muscles
  • shoulder muscles (biceps, brachialis, triceps, back delta) and forearms
  • the press performs static work to fix the vertical position of the body

How to exercise on the horizontal bar

The effectiveness of exercises largely depends on the correctness of their implementation. Pull-ups are no exception. Consider the rules that apply to each type.

  • pull-ups are performed due to muscle strength, without inertia and swinging of the body
  • lifting is carried out without jerk
  • the chin at the top of the lift should be above the bar
  • the descent is smooth, equal in time to the ascent
  • correct breathing: on the rise - exhale, on the descent - inhale
  • firm grip
  • vertical position of the body
  • starting position for all types of pull-ups (with the exception of pull-ups with a wide grip on the head) - hanging, bending in the back, while the legs are bent at the knees and crossed

Types of grips for pull-ups

Pull-ups can be done different ways. At the same time, methods are understood as changing the grip: its width, the location of the brushes on the crossbar. There are other ways to change the load when doing pull-ups. For example, changing the time of the negative and positive phases, the use of additional weights, the technique of incomplete amplitude (partial repetitions). But it is the work with different grips the crossbar allows you to optimally redistribute the load between individual muscle groups and effectively avoid the occurrence and development of muscle adaptation. There are 4 main grips: regular (it is also upper, medium in width), wide, parallel and reverse grip (narrow).

Brief list of grips and muscles involved

Depending on the width and method of grip, you can do the following on the horizontal bar:

  • narrow straight grip (shoulder muscle, serratus anterior and lower part of the latissimus dorsi)
  • narrow reverse grip (biceps, lower lats)
  • medium straight grip (muscles of the back, shoulders and chest)
  • medium reverse grip (lats, biceps)
  • wide grip to the chest (top of the widest, trapezoid, round)
  • wide grip on the head (trapezium, upper and middle part of the widest, round)
  • neutral grip (lower lats, triceps, shoulder, serratus anterior)

The wider the grip, the more the back muscles work. The narrower the grip, the more the muscles of the arms and chest are included.

Now let's look at the main grips in more detail.

Width - a little more than shoulder width, overhand grip (palms look outward). At top dead center, the arms are fully bent at the elbow joint, the chin is over the bar. At bottom dead center, the arms are fully extended. The exercise should be performed without swinging, the negative phase (lowering the body) is a controlled descent. Usually the negative and positive phases of the exercise are performed at the same speed, however, the biceps are more sensitive to the negative phase of the load, so many athletes recommend doing the negative phase about twice as long as the positive phase. If the athlete cannot pull himself up on his own, then a partner helps him in this, lifting and allowing him to slowly lower himself (according to the controlled descent method) - this is one way to learn to pull up. In pull-ups with a regular grip, the biceps, trapezius and latissimus dorsi muscles are evenly loaded.

There are two methods of execution: a regular grip in width (slightly narrower than in pull-ups with a regular overhand grip) and a narrow grip. In both cases, the grip of the hands is lower (reverse), so that the palms look inward. The exercise primarily targets the biceps and lats. Moreover, the narrower the grip, the greater the load on the biceps. Distinctive feature exercise lies in the fact that here, as nowhere else, it manifests itself amazing property pull-ups - the muscle on which attention is focused is subjected to training. Reverse close grip pull-ups are considered one of the better ways pumping biceps.

In contrast to the previous movement, here the back muscles are mainly loaded - the latissimus dorsi. At the top point, the head is behind the bar in such a way that the trapezius muscles of the back and shoulders almost touch the crossbar. If the exercise is performed, trying to touch the crossbar with the chest, then the front deltas will develop (in combination with the bench press, this technique gives amazing results in mass growth pectoral muscles). Similar to the previous exercises, wide grip pull-ups should be performed slowly, with a controlled descent.

The exercise is focused on the development of the lower sections of the latissimus dorsi, while the amplitude of movement is shortened, and the touch of the crossbar is carried out by the chest, and not by the chin. When moving in full amplitude and / or until the chin touches the bar, the thrust is carried out mainly due to the strength of the biceps, and not the latissimus dorsi. Hands are placed as narrow as possible. Serves as an excellent final exercise in training the widest.