Best Pull Up Bars For You

Why should I be doing pull ups?

From every branch of military foreign and domestic to your hardened parolee serving time, pound for pound pull ups are an all in one work out incorporating eighteen different muscles in one exercise. Simply put being able to pull up your own body weight makes you a bad ass. Pull ups are the true measure of power it shows your true strength to body weight ratio. Repeated repetitions and daily routines allow you to quickly see results and improved overall upper body conditioning. And the best part is you dont have to join the armed services or go to prison to get better at performing pull ups. You can do this at home for a very minimal investment.

Can girls do pull ups?

With training and practice anyone can do pull ups. Whether you use pull up assist bands, a box or chair to perform jumping pull ups all these will help you build your strength and allow you to achieve your goal of performing a unassisted pull up. Start by just hanging with your arms extended and get your joints and muscles accustomed to the start of the pull up position. Then practice hanging with your elbows bent chin at the bar. The longer you can hold yourself in this position the stronger you will become. Then incorporate slowly lowering yourself from the bar down to the dead hang arms extended bottom position. These Negative pull ups will further build your strength and confidence. With a little time and repetition combine all three of these movements and you will be doing a pull up.

Whats the difference between a pull up and a chin up?

Quite simply a chin up vs. pull up comes down to your hand grip. When doing a pull up your will be looking at the tops of your hands. When performing a pull up you will be gripping the bar underhanded and will be facing your palms. Both are important variations and experimenting with both you will notice chin ups are bicep and arm driven where pull ups are back and shoulder driven.

What else can I do with my pull up bar?

Add some gymnastic rings and you now have a dip and body row station. Add some ab exercises to your routine as well. From a dead hang position lift your knees to your elbows and feel the burn from your abdominal region to your hands and arms which are holding you there. Or do some burpee pull ups one of my favorites. Nowhere else can you buy a piece of equipment that does so much.

Use a ladder to boost your reps!

I have found that doing a ladder workout approach has benefited my overall strength and ability to add repetitions to my max effort. Its simple start with 1 pull up then a short period of rest. Then do 2 pull ups and rest. Then 3 pull ups and rest. Do this until you can no longer add reps to your sets. You can modify this by starting with 2 pull ups then 4 then 6 then 8 then 10 and by the end of your ladder you can easily have just done 30 or more pull ups.

What pull up bar should I buy?

First decide what options your space allows. Doorway pull up bars are acceptable however the more serious athlete will want to consider a sturdy safer fixed mount pull up bar-chin up bar that attaches to your wall or ceiling. My personal choice was the Stud Bar available online at www.studbarpullup.com. Its highly regarded in the CrossFit and P90X communities. Made of 14 gauge welded steel finished with a durable powder coat finish its the only pull up bar designed so well it was issued a U.S. patent. Stud Bar comes assembled and is the same width as the studs in your wall or ceiling. Comes with grade 8 lag screws and easily bolts into your existing studs. Its available in 3 different sizes to accommodate varying ceiling heights.