Pull-ups are a versatile exercise for developing the arms, shoulders, and back. When performing this exercise, a person works with his own body weight. You can change the position of the hands to distribute the load in different ways.
Instructions
Step 1
Classic pull-ups are performed with arms shoulder-width apart, palms facing forward. The main load in this version is taken by the biceps, but the latissimus dorsi and chest muscles take no less. If you turn your palms towards you when doing pull-ups, the lower part of the latissimus dorsi will also come into play.
Step 2
To practically eliminate back work from this exercise, you can place your arms very narrowly so that the hands are almost touching. To remove the work of the arms and chest - grasp the bar with a wide grip and perform pull-ups "behind the head", while the bar remains behind the neck. You can also put your arms very wide and do pull-ups to the chest, this option shifts the emphasis to the back muscles. During any pull-up, the hand is also strengthened, its grip becomes stronger.
Step 3
You can consider in more detail when and which muscles are included in the work during different stages of the exercise. The latissimus dorsi and pectoralis major muscle pull the torso upward, bringing the sides closer to the elbows. Also, the broadest muscle is responsible for abducting the shoulders back. The rhomboid muscle of the back and the pectoralis minor muscle rotate the shoulder blades downward. The large round muscle of the back helps in the work of the lats. The subscapularis and coracoid muscles help to tighten the torso and strengthen the shoulder joint. The biceps flexes the arm and fixes the elbow together with the triceps.
Step 4
By themselves, pull-ups are not an exercise that leads to increased muscle gain. Rather, they strengthen muscles, make them more resilient. This is evidenced by the fact that many lean, trained people can pull up a large number of times. If you want to speed up your muscle mass gain, add additional weights to your body weight. In this case, you should be able to pull up no more than 8 times. An extreme increase in the load on the above muscles will contribute to their rapid development.
Step 5
Also, if you wish, you can diversify your training program with pull-ups on one arm. This is a tricky exercise, but it can be very helpful for some occupations. For example, if you are mountaineering. The best recommendation for trainees is to practice different options for doing pull-ups in order to consistently work out all muscle groups.
