Regular Pull-Ups are Boring, Try These Instead
Hooper’s Beta Ep. 33
Intro:
What are your favorite pull up variations? This video, featured from my outdoor gym (my balcony due to quarantine-athon) is meant to give some variations to the classic pull-ups you can do.
Why does it matter, you ask?
Boredom prevention - don’t just stick to classic pull ups, doing these variations can keep you more interested and engaged and give you some variety in your home workouts.
Reveal a weakness that you didn’t know was affecting your climbing. Maybe you need to work on those wide pull ups which will help when you aren’t directly underneath your next hold.
Improve strength gains by challenging the muscles in new ways. When we repeat the same movements, the body eventually adapts to this and requires a new challenge or stimulus for it to continue to progress. SOmetimes that just means adding weight, but if you can’t do that, add these variations to continue to get stong.
Kind of what #2 was trending towards is that these are meant to be more functional for climbing. Think about all the different ways we have to pull in climbing. Practice those while you are stuck at home that way you stay strong when we can get back on the walls.
I hope you like some of these, but what are your thoughts? What are your favorites? Feel free to comment and share just as always, keep comments constructive and contribute to the discussion on the topic!
General modifications:
You can make nearly all of these exercises easier by using a band to subtract body weight
You can make most of these harder by increasing reps, increasing hold, or adding weight.
You can do all of these either on a pull up bar or on a ledge on a hangboard. I naturally prefer the hangboard because it engages the forearms more which is awesome for climbing (1).
So what are the variations?
Normal grip - Stick the chest up as you pull up to get a good contraction of the back. Make sure you can get full range of motion, don’t stop short and don’t use momentum.
Narrow grip - You may feel this more in the elbow and forearm as it places more load on the elbows and arm and less on the back as you have changed the mechanical advantage away from the back.
Wide grip - Opposite of the narrow grip, you will probably feel this more in the lats and shoulders as this changes the mechanics to favor these muscles.
V-Pull - One of my favorites as it helps with working on 1 arm strength, and is more applicable to climbing as we more often will pull into this position. This can also help you practice your lock offs.
Typewriter - A good, but very challenging variation. Works on transferring load to different muscles and can be a good modification to work on. Any projects you are working on that have a balancy transition from side to side? Work this into your routine.
Modified single-arm with band/towel - A great way to work on those single arm pull ups. Using a band is great because you can slowly increase the amount of work the single arm is doing by changing the resistance of the band or how high up on the band you grip it. You can also use a towel if you need more assistance.
L-Sit pull-up - Another personal favorite of mine. Completely changes the angle of force during the pull up and also works on the core while working out the arms and back. Good for challenging the muscles to emulate more situations where you feet may cut off while doing cave climbing. Be careful straightening the elbows at the bottom of the movement as this can be quite challenging and create a lot of stress on the elbows
Ice Cream Makers (ICMs) - Not the best variation here with my home setup but a great dynamic pull up that helps with core control when cutting feet in the cave. Also good to help work on front levers if that is a goal.
Reference:
Vigouroux, Laurent, et al. “Performing Pull-Ups with Small Climbing Holds Influences Grip and Biomechanical Arm Action.” Journal of Sports Sciences, vol. 37, no. 8, 2018, pp. 886–894., doi:10.1080/02640414.2018.1532546.
Disclaimer:
As always, exercises are to be performed assuming your own risk and should not be done if you feel you are at risk for injury. See a medical professional if you have concerns before starting new exercises.
Written and Presented by Jason Hooper, PT, DPT, OCS, CAFS
IG: @hoopersbetaofficial
Filming and Editing by Emile Modesitt
www.emilemodesitt.com
IG: @emile166
Strong boi in the thumbnail:
IG: dor_the_explorer