Narrow and wide grip. How to pull up properly and more.

The pull-up is the most effective basic exercise to develop muscles and maintain a regular posture. All you need to perform it is a bar. It would seem that everything is simple – reach out and lift the body up. But this main question arises every time you and your friends decide to compete in strength – what is the right grip for pull-ups? To stop all the unceasing arguments, personal fitness trainer Manvel Mamoyan tells you whether there is a hundred percent variant and how to choose the hand position that suits you.

Indholdsfortegnelse

What muscles are working when performing pull-ups?

The main benefit of pull-ups is that they allow you to work almost all the major muscles of the shoulders and back:

Back muscles:

Broad
Trapezius
Rhomboid
Round

Chest muscles:

Large pectoral
Small pectoral
Anterior serratus

Also included in muscle work are:

Biceps
Triceps
Posterior deltoid
Forearms
Press

Narrow grip

By placing your hands close together so that they almost touch each other, you will work the muscles of almost the entire upper body. Not only the muscles of the arms and back will be involved, but also the area close to the spine and the chest.

Reverse narrow grip

Reverse narrow grip pull-ups are the best way to work the lower part of the broadest muscles and the outer head of the biceps.

Neutral grip pull-ups

To pull up with a neutral grip, you will need a special bar with handles parallel to each other. The distance between them is small, usually narrower or shoulder-width apart.

Neutral grip pull-ups are easier than other types of pull-ups because they involve the chest, back and shoulder muscles, which help the biceps to bend the arms at the elbows. In this case, you can maximize the number of repetitions.

One-handed pull-ups

If you can do one or two pull-ups even with additional weights, it’s not a given that you’ll be able to do at least one repetition with one arm. These pull-ups are the most difficult. It involves the broadest and upper back muscles, which will help you achieve the Bruce Lee “wings” effect.