The traditional pull up remains one of the very best upper body exercises you can perform. In addition to the tremendous development potential it provides to the shoulders, it can also greatly enhance the ability to develop the muscles of the biceps, triceps, and forearm. As such, regularly performing these exercises can dramatically improve the development of the upper body.
How do you perform a pull up? The exercise is fairly easy to perform so even a novice can get a decent handle on it. Basically, you will need a pull up bar. These can be found in a gym or even a playground. You could also purchase a doorframe pull up bar in any decent sports goods shop.
When you approach the pull up bar, you are to grab it with your palms facing away from you. This is a critical point because if your palms face inward, you are not performing a pull up. Instead, you would be performing a chin up which hits different muscles on the body.
Once you have gripped the pull up bar (with palms facing outwards) you will then use the muscles in your back, shoulders, and arms to pull your head above the bar. Then, you will lower yourself in a controlled manner. Do not “drop” from the finished position as this can run the risk of injury. Also, the downward controlled movement of the pull up also helps properly develop the muscles as well.
It is very important not to jump or swing into the finished pull up position. This would be considered cheating and if it had any value, it would derive such value in the form of a cardio exercise or a calf workout. Of course, if you are doing pull ups you are doing so to improve and strength and muscular definition of the upper body. Hence, it would be best to avoid any cheating movements in your workout.
It is best to train to failure on these exercises since that will help stimulate muscle growth. This is a difficult exercise to perform since gravity will be yanking you down to earth as you try to pull yourself up. So, you may end up failing after only a short number of reps. This is fine since you will become stronger with each session and, in time, you will be able to increase your number of reps.
