People are always searching for those magical exercises that will give them the greatest results in the shortest amount of time, and many times it’s the simplest movements that elicit the greatest results.  If you want to develop a strong and muscular upper body, you MUST do pull-ups.  Just as squats can be thought of as the king of all lower body exercises (not the leg press machine, but actual squats), I’d place pull-ups as the king of all upper body exercises.

Deadlifts are an outstanding exercise for back as well, but deadlifts also incorporate the lower body muscles.  Take a look at any Olympic level gymnast, and you’ll notice they all have amazing upper body development.  I guarantee you that they’re not spending hours at the gym doing lat pulldowns and seated cable row machines.  Gymnasts are spending endless hours on pull-up bars and gymnastic rings to develop those amazing results.

You’re probably asking yourself; “If pull-ups are such a beneficial exercise, how come gyms don’t look like the monkey exhibit at zoos, with people swinging and doing pull-ups from every bar they see overhead?” Because they’re ridiculously hard for most people!  If people spent more time doing the hard shit that really challenged them (squats, pull-ups, deadlifts, intervals, stair-climber, etc.), and less time of the not-so-challenging exercises (cable pulldowns, inner & outer thigh machine, leg press, calf raises, etc.), they would actually notice significant change.

Everybody has their definition of what a correct pull-up is supposed to look like, and there are many different variations of pull-ups.  Here are my three requirements to pass on performing a pull up.

  1. Must start from a dead-hang position.  This means elbows start from a fully extended position.  If you jump half way up on the first repetition, it doesn’t count.
  2. Your chin must be above or even with your hands. Attempt to touch your chest to the bar.
  3. Your legs MUST remain still.  You shouldn’t look like you’ve been shot with a stun gun as you flail up over the bar.  Kicking the legs is called a “Kip Up”, not a pull-up.

If you can’t perform a pull-up while maintaining these three requirements, I’d suggest doing some form of assisted pull-up.  Pull-ups are too beneficial of an exercise to leave out entirely.  You can perform assisted pull-ups using bands, a partner, or the pull-up/dip machines that counter your body weight (very common in most gyms).  Although you wont challenge your stabilizer muscles to the same degree using any of these assisted methods, you’ll still get more benefit than doing seated cable pulldowns.

Now before you all run off to the nearest pull-up bar and attempt to set a new personal record for pull-ups, there is one precaution you must take before doing the exercise.  If you can raise both arms straight overhead so your wrist and elbow lines up directly over your shoulder (as shown in figure A), then you’re good to go.  If you don’t have this full range of motion at your shoulder joint (as shown in figure B), then I suggest you perform cable pulldowns instead until you develop the full range of motion at your shoulder joint.  If you force yourself into that fully stretched out position, as you would be when hanging from a bar, you will begin to place excessive wear and tear on the shoulder joint, opening yourself up for injury or faulty movement patterns.  Flexibility training and muscle activation can help in getting back your full range of motion to begin performing pull-ups effectively.

FIGURE “A”                                                       FIGURE “B”

Don’t get too caught up in all the different variations of pull-ups, just start performing pull-ups regularly in whatever way is challenging to you.  I’ve added a video below of some variations to your ordinary pull-up exercises.  No excuses girls, do your pull-ups!

If anybody can do a one-arm pull-up from a dead hang position, please video it for me and send it over.  And you can’t hold your wrist with the other hand.  One hand on the bar, and the other hand free.  I’ve never seen it and don’t even know if it’s possible.  But as the magnet on my refrigerator states; “Anything is possible”!

Disclaimer: StupidGymShit.com is not responsible for any injuries that occur while attempting the one-arm pull-up. Good luck!