Another basic movement of our body is the vertical pull, where this movement is best represented by the (un)popular: pull-up on the pull-up bar. This exercise engages the muscles of almost the entire upper body: the large broad muscle of the back, shoulders, interscapular muscles, muscles of the arms and forearms, and even the abdomen. Due to its difficulty and complexity, it is often performed poorly and with the involvement of the wrong muscle groups. If this exercise is performed correctly and with sufficient volume, it can significantly help to shape the upper half of the body. So, let’s break down the basics of this movement.

First of all, it should be said at the very beginning that pulling movement patterns (both horizontal and vertical) are often less practiced and there is a lack of some kind of balance between them and pressure exercises. A possible factor in the unevenness of strokes and pressures is that we simply do not see the back muscles first when meeting a person, so people focus more on the pectoral muscles, shoulders and biceps, which complete a better first impression when meeting. The second factor is that they are simply more demanding. According to modern “functional” training, the ideal approach to exercising the upper body is a ratio of pulls and pressures of 2:1 or at least 1:1. This is probably also due to the classic sedentary lifestyle, which rounds our thoracic spine, pulls our shoulders forward, which weakens (inhibits) the back muscles and scapula stabilizers that keep us “alert”, and also by the fact that we do many things during the day in a forward or forward position. with his hands in front of his body. This unevenness between the parts of the muscle groups leads to posture problems, overload of the pressure muscles on the front of the body and shoulder injuries, so we should definitely pay attention to it.

When compared, for example, with horizontal pressure – bench press, a certain correlation should apply. If a person is able to bench press significantly more than his weight and does a maximum of a few pull-ups in total, he is exposed to the risk of shoulder injury, due to the unevenness between the tensile and pressure groups of muscles (push-pull balance).

To perform a technically correct pull-up, you will certainly need sufficient shoulder mobility, which most people have a problem with, when they often cannot raise their arms above their heads without extension (tilt of the torso) in the spine or pain in the shoulder. In this case, it is necessary to address the scope with proper relaxation and strengthening exercises in individual parts of the thoracic spine and shoulder blade before training as part of the warm-up.

The simplest variant of the pull-up will be the pull-up with the so-called undergrip. “Chin up”, when our palms are turned towards the face and our little fingers towards each other. This is followed by a pull-up with a neutral grip (palms facing each other) and the most difficult variant will be the classic pull-up with an overhand grip (thumbs pointing towards each other), the so-called “Pull-ups”. “pull up”. The progression in this exercise should be the same, but if someone has problems with their shoulders or wrists, a neutral grip will be the most comfortable for them due to the more natural position of the shoulders.

The ideal progression in the number of repetitions is to get to the level of 10-15 technically correct pull-ups and then add external weight, for example, in the form of a belt load.

Pull-ups – technique, advice and recommendations:

This pull-up is also the easiest thanks to the fact that the biceps muscle contributes to the assistance of the upward movement to a greater extent than in other variants. The grip width may vary, but by default it is at the level of shoulder width or shoulder width. slightly wider. The grip is with the thumb closed (wrapped around the pull-up bar). A good recommendation for better power transfer in terms of grip is to focus on the little finger edge, where the grip is weakest.

A big problem with pull-ups is not stretching the elbows in the lower position (half reps). By doing so, we deprive ourselves of an increase in strength to the full extent and ineffectively practice the movement. Another “cheating” is kicking yourself above the level of the pull-up bar – but I personally think that as long as it helps you get up on the last repetitions, a little “cheating” is fine, but we certainly don’t want to do it with every pull-up. A big problem is also the poor curvature of the spine, which is manifested by “hunching” in the upper position, and “jumping of the shoulders” towards the ears due to insufficiently strong shoulder blade stabilizers.

The body should be firm, the abdomen taut and the legs connected slightly in front of the body to prevent wobbling from front to back. In the starting position (down), we inhale, then pull the shoulders down from the ears and perform the movement. The exhalation is above the level of the pull-up bar. The chest should be open in the upper position and the shoulders retracted.

There are aids respectively. machines that can relieve our body and make pull-ups easier (support machine, which we also have at FitCamp) and learn the right technique. This method can help especially at the very beginning, but it is ideal to switch to an assisted variant with an expander. Pull-ups on the assisted machine or vertical pull-ups of the pulley in a sitting position do not show much correlation with improvement in the pull-up bar, but they are especially important at the beginning for strengthening the ligaments and tendons in this movement pattern. Therefore, it is not recommended for complete novices to hang up the pull-up bar straight away and rise to the point of madness every day. Another method to improve is extended eccentric (negative) or isometric (endurance) repetitions. As we already know, the eccentric force is the strongest in our body, followed by the isometric and finally the concentric (positive), so it is certainly important to focus on all three.

Conclusion:

With such a complex exercise as pull-ups on the pull-up bar, I definitely recommend respecting the time for adaptation and progress. Sometimes it takes 7-8 weeks to do the right first pull-up, depending on the experience of the exerciser. As in previous articles about exercise techniques, I tried to analyze it in more detail in this one, but it is impossible to teach you how to perform the exercise correctly from one article or video. Therefore, if you don’t know what to do and want help with the right techniques and progress in your fitness life, look for one of the trainers with us and they will definitely be able to help you.