Part 1: The grips
Sometimes called the ‘squat of the upper-body’, the pull-up is the gold standard of bodyweight movements and is one of the greatest indicators of relative strength. If you want to get stronger and develop mass, you'd be crazy not to include them in your workout routine. Some people ignore pull-ups in favour of the lat pulldown because the thought of hoisting such a large portion of bodyweight can be too much to contend with. Stop being a whimp. In the long-run, pull-ups will serve you better than cable or machine alternatives, creating true upper-body strength that may also improve your numbers on bench, squats and deadlifts. Plus, it also helps being able to pull yourself out of a swimming pool or over a fence without making a scene.
Hand positioning
There are the three main grips, each working the same muscle groups but in slightly different ways. The lats and biceps are the main targets but pull-ups also ask challenge your rhomboids, trapezius, pectorals, obliques, and forearms.
Hanging around
Regardless of which grip you use, it’s important to have a strong, rigid frame so that your arms don’t feel like they're being pulled from their sockets and the movement can be completed with a degree of economy. Grip the bar, hang with straight arms and tighten up by pulling your shoulder blades directly down, away from your ears. Now you’re ready to go.
Grip 1: Pronated
Best for: Working your lats, jumping over fences.
The overhand – or pronated – grip is the pull-up standard and the one you’d be expected to perform in a military fitness test. They hit your lats hard as bicep involvement is reduced due to a weaker line of pull. This amkes them a perfect move for building a strong back and thus a superhero-esque V-shaped torso.
Technique: Grip the bar slightly wider than shoulder-width apart with your palms facing away from you. Let your body hang, and then pull your chest up towards the bar by drawing your arms towards your body from the sides. Lower yourself back to the start position and repeat.
Grip 2: Supinated
Best for: Building big biceps, prison yard kudos.
This movement is more commonly known as a chin-up and is an excellent exercise for biceps and lat development.
Technique: With your palms facing towards you, grip the bar shoulder-width apart or slightly narrower. Let your body hang without swinging, and then pull your chest up towards the bar by drawing your elbows down from in front of you, towards your body. Lower yourself back to the start position and repeat.
Grip 3: Neutral
Best for: Forearm and grip strength, joint flexibility.
This semi-pronated grip places additional emphasis on your elbow flexor muscles. It also targets the lower lats and is the kindest to your shoulder, elbow and wrists joints.
Technique: Grip the bar with your palms facing each other, shoulder-width apart. Pull your chest up towards the bar by drawing your elbows from the front, towards your body. Lower yourself back to the start position and repeat.
There we have it – the three most common pull-up manoeuvres. For those with adequate pulling strength it’s simply a case of programming them in to your workout schedule and varying the grips to hit your muscles from all angles.
If you struggle with pulling your own body-weight or are looking for ways to increase your reps, look out for, ‘The ultimate pull-up guide: part two’.
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