Pull-Ups Step-by-Step

Pull-ups are a basic exercise that dominates the vertical traction movement pattern, ideal to emphasize the work of the outermost muscle fibers of the wide dorsal.

However, it is an exercise that is usually performed poorly, precisely because it makes a movement too vertical. In this article we explain step by step how the course of this exercise is and how your body should be placed at all times.

How do you do a pull-up properly?

A good pull-up is more than hanging from a bar and pushing your body up. Let’s look at the details:

Grip

Although there may be other grips depending on the objective or the sensations that one or the other provokes us, we recommend the full grip or full grip if what we want is the maximum performance.

Just grab the bar by letting your thumbs embrace it. A tip: Hold the bar tightly as if you weighed twice as much as you weigh, this will create more tension in your arms and shoulders and help you produce more strength.

Grip width

The ideal amplitude takes as reference the distance between our shoulders or acromial width. Place your hands in such a way that at the end of the movement, that is, when the chin passes the bar, they are slightly outside our shoulders.

In other words, the hands should be placed at a width slightly higher than that of our shoulders. Wider grips that even bend the width of our shoulders are contraindicated by the potential for injury and by how ineffective they are in order to gain strength and hypertrophy (lower range of movement).

Position of the elbows

Each repetition should begin with the elbows fully extended. In fact, it is a common mistake to start with these slightly flexed which means shortening the course whether faith form unconscious or not.

When the movement begins the elbows should remain at all times pointing to the ground and close to our torso, usually at about 45 degrees approximately.

What to do with your chest

The movement should not start with a bending of the elbows. This will cause a too vertical trajectory and your shoulders will end up preriorizing at the end of the movement. Instead it starts the movement by lowering the scapulae and allowing the chest to slightly rise in the first place. After this small gesture, bend your elbows and try to climb towards the bar with your chest in front, finally touching the bar (or at least going in that direction) at the height of the sternum approximately.