The 3 Most Important Pull Up Exercises

There are many ways to do a pull-up but in the end it all comes down to three fundamental movement patterns. In this video we will take a look on these three types of pull movements and show you progressions for each one of them. Let's start with the first one. The horizontal bent arm pull movement. This exercise is known as body row. It's great for people who can't do pull-ups yet to build a basic strength and feeling for pull moves. The difference between a normal pull-up and a body row is that your feet are resting on the ground. You have to use your legs, your butt and your erector spinae to stabilize the movement. In the bottom position you start by pulling your shoulder blades together to activate your back. After that you start to pull your elbows backwards and bend your arms to pull yourself up. When you're in the top position your hands should be on the same height as your chest. If the bar is too high it won't work because either the angle will not allow you to perform the movement correctly or the movement gets too easy. A good solution for this are rings because you can adjust them on different heights. You can also make the exercise harder by doing archer body rows or one arm body rows. Here you can also change the difficulty by changing the angle. One of the hardest variations of this movement are all kinds of front lever pull-ups. Here you don't support yourself with your feet on the ground anymore. When you start with tucked front lever pull-ups do it on the rings because when you do it on a bar you have to extend your legs a little bit more to be able to move over the complete range of motion. Of course you can also do it on the bar but even this little leg extension makes this movement a lot harder. The second type is the vertical bent arm pull movement. This exercise is the classic pull-up. There are different ways to do a pull-up but when you start you should focus on pulling your shoulder blades downwards to get the necessary tension in your shoulders and back. After that you pull your elbows down and bend your arms to pull yourself up. At the top you can lean yourself a little bit backwards, bring your chest forward and bring your shoulder blades together to activate the same muscles like in the body row. With this execution you get the most out of this movement when we talk about back development. Always try to avoid any form of kipping or momentum but move clean and controlled. You can make this exercise easier by using a band to support the movement and you can make it harder by working with typewriter, archer or even one arm pull-up. The less you use one arm the harder the other one has to work. Always make sure to work both sides with the same intensity, rep speed and time under tension. The last type is the straight arm pull movement. Here you work with front lever raises. When you work with straight arms you change your body position from vertical passing horizontal to upside down vertical. Like in the normal pull-up you start with pulling your shoulder blades downward. After that you pull yourself up with straight arms. Imagine it like a reversed straight arm let pull down which lets your body rotate backwards around your shoulders. The movement is a lot harder than a normal pull-up because you don't bend your arms and the lever is longer. The result is that you don't use your elbow flexors to support the movement. All strength is produced in the back, mostly the lats and for a small part of the range of motion in the pecs. Of course you also have to stabilize your core and your legs to let your body straight. If a full lever raise is too hard for you, you can adjust the difficulty by changing the lever. You do this by bringing one leg or even both legs close to the body. To master the pull movements you should include all three types into your workout. If you have any further questions feel free to ask in the comments. Thanks!