You may have been reading about the rumors that Will Smith could possibly be playing the role of Captain America in the new film from Marvel entertainment. Well…..somebody ought to ask Will

“How many pull ups can you do”?

Because Captain America could do hundreds of em, and then go out and kick some Nazi ass. Of all the body weight exercises that have ever been invented, pull ups, and all its many variations, are one of the toughest. Its an exercise that gives you big time results. A stronger back, and make no mistake about it, a stronger back is hugely important to your health and well being. Not to mention a great looking back. Are there any guys out there who have never done a double take at a woman with a backless dress that shows off a well defined, back? It looks great! Many years ago strong men were judged by the strength and the look of their backs. Old sayings like “put your back into it” came from the days when men needed a strong back. Not to mention strong hands, shoulders and forearms which incidentally are also built through pull ups. It is, in fact, a total body exercise. Legs are tense. Abs , low back are working. Yes, the upper body works hard but you are NOT doing real pull/chin ups if you don’t feel the muscles working in the rest of your body. Yeah baby!

Today the emphasis has shifted. Nowadays guys want the big man boob chests. (Once they get on in years will they need to wear the infamous “Bro” or “Manzier”?)  Plus of course the venerable bulked up shoulders and arms, but their backs get shorted in the whole deal.

Women who want to “tone up,” jeez I HATE that term, let’s call it tightening up shall we? At least until I can come up with something better. A back with definition sounds much better to me. There really isn’t such a thing as “toning up” anyway.  Back to what I was saying….women who want “definition” in their back. You know, the kind that a dancer might have, will also find pull ups and all the variations VERY useful.

Ok…… so if pull ups are such a fantastic exercise then why doesn’t everyone do them, and do them well? The main reason is because they are hard! Yes, I will admit it. Pull ups, chin ups, parallel grip, behind the neck, wide grip, towels grip etc,  are tough. There is a wonderful trade off though. This is an exercise that stimulates a lot of muscle fibers. It necessitates the use of big muscles too. That’s good news for tightening, definition AND fat burning. I also have some disheartening news for you weight machine people out there too. Compared to pull ups those “pull down” machines are a distant second. Better to have to tighten your entire body for a pull up than sit on your butt with your knees locked under a pad pulling the weight towards you instead of you pulling yourself up. It’s a MAJOR difference, and involves many more muscles. Plus it gives you big results for short sessions.

I love this exercise because of the strength and definition/tightness it builds, but like any exercise there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. Most people (including many guys who think they can blast out 20 pull ups or more) do it so badly that it can be painful or funny to watch. If you have watched episode 7 you will see what to do. Here are the ground rules to get the most bang for your buck out of this exercise and keep your shoulders and elbows healthy.

To get the most bang for your buck:

Your chin must clear the bar on each and every rep.

You must lower yourself all the way down on each and every rep. That means elbows straight at the bottom of each and every rep.

Abs stay tight, pelvis slightly tucked.

Legs straight. No excessive piking or swinging to cheat!

To keep your shoulders and elbows healthy you must:

Keep your shoulders away from your ears. At no time must you allow your shoulders to jam up into your ears. That means pulling them down a bit as you are lowering on each and every rep. This all starts in your upper back. Around your shoulder blades. Pull your shoulders down and back.

You must PULL your shoulders down when you are at the top of each and every rep.  If you hunch your shoulders upwards at the top of your pull up you are asking for trouble in your shoulders. Once again this starts in your upper back. Around the shoulder blades. Once you get to the top of the bar give an extra effort around your shoulder blades to pull them downwards a bit.

Keep the pits of the elbows “screwed in.” If you have watched Episode 3: the Burpee/Push up you will learn about the elbow position and “screwing the elbows in” so the pits of your elbows face forward. This is the same position in the pull ups. It will look different though because now you are hanging from a bar so your elbow pits will face behind you, but they are still in that same position. If you are confused please make sure you watch Epsiode 3. You’ll know you have gotten it when everything screws into place as you are hanging from the bar.

This directly relates to the last paragraph. Never allow your elbows, at any time, to flare outwards. This puts excessive strain on the fronts of your shoulders.

Patience, patience! It takes a while to build the strength in this exercise. You may have to stay with the modifications in Epiosde 7 for weeks or months before you can do even one full pull up.

Start with chin ups (underhand grip). This is what you see Jen doing in Episode 7. You hang from the bar with your palms facing towards you. This method is easier. Steve Maxwell says it is about 20% easier so please…start with these. Pull ups are done with your palms facing away from you (overhand grip)

If you have been doing pull ups you may find that these rules will make your numbers go down. That’s great because it means you were doing them incorrectly before. Keep working them and you will get back up there again eventually. Also avoid doing all your pull ups/ chin ups to failure. That means to total exhaustion each time. It’s always better to leave a few in the bank on each set so you can practice more of them with out too much fatigue to screw up your form.

Stay tuned for ladder style exercise sessions to see how to spread this exercise out over many sets for better and faster results.

Best,

Robert