Outdoor activities are attracting more and more people. One of the most common exercises is pull-ups. This is a multifunctional exercise that can be adjusted to suit your needs. In this article we will look at the main problems related to this topic.
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Is it possible to pump up on the horizontal bar?
There are several points of view regarding this issue. The short answer is yes, it is possible. However, it all depends on what
what a person means by the word “pump up”.
When working out on the horizontal bar, you cannot acquire the volume of Arnold Schwarzenegger. But it is quite possible to dry out or give body relief. In addition to pull-ups, you can perform other exercises on the court that will help strengthen your abs, develop a strong grip, and pump up individual muscles. Proper preparation of a training program is the path to success.
Pull-ups from scratch
Of course, those who have been training on the horizontal bar for several years have a very big head start over a beginner. It is especially difficult to start from scratch.
Often they cannot overcome the fear of the horizontal bar precisely because of zero experience.
Fortunately, the “zero barrier” can be overcome at home. This will require a little care and imagination.
Use your attentiveness when you watch an experienced person doing confident pull-ups. Try not only to remember the movements, grip, body position, but also to somehow feel the sensations that arise during the exercises - alternating changes in tension in muscle groups, body weight, breathing.
How to gain weight using a horizontal bar
For good muscle growth and weight gain when exercising on the horizontal bar, a well-known rule applies - a calorie deficit. You need to consume more than you burn during training. It is also worth including more protein and carbohydrate foods in your diet. At the same time, the consumption of baked goods and sugar should be reduced. When training, you need to drink more water, as it normalizes metabolic processes in the body.
To gain weight, you need to follow a daily routine. It is advisable to go to bed before 23.00, and it is better to devote 8-10 hours to sleep. Exercising every day is acceptable if the program involves pumping up various muscle groups
groups. In any case, for beginners it is better to exercise 3-4 times a week. At the same time, for better weight gain, short (up to an hour) but highly effective workouts should be performed. It is better to eat up to 5 times a day in small portions. The dosage interval should be 2-3 hours.
Reference.
After training, you need to replenish your energy supply as quickly as possible. You can close the “protein-carbohydrate” window with foods rich in easily digestible protein (chicken eggs, cottage cheese) and fast carbohydrates (banana with yogurt is perfect).
Best Methods to Increase Your Pull-Ups
Before you try any method, do an initial test that will determine your starting point.
Warm up well beforehand. Tilt your head and torso, rotate your arms and legs. Do some light stretching.
Now you just need to go to the crossbar and, with the correct technique, pull yourself up the maximum number of times before breaking the technique. If you couldn’t pull yourself up at all, it doesn’t matter! We have a solution for such cases too!
Reverse and forward progression method
If you were into horizontal bars during your school years, then you are probably familiar with the game “ladder”. For those who are not in the know, I’ll explain. Two opponents take turns performing pull-ups, starting with one repetition and increasing their number by 1 repetition each time. The last one to complete the required number of pull-ups wins. So this is an exact copy of the direct progression method.
The reverse progression, on the contrary, begins with a large number of pull-ups. Then, in each subsequent approach, the number of pull-ups decreases.
The reverse and forward progression method can be used not only within one workout, but throughout the entire training cycle.
In order not to be unfounded, I will give a table with an example of a 30-week program, based on the methods discussed:
You need to train according to this scheme 3 times a week, every other day. Perform 5 sets using the reverse progression method. But from week to week, increase the number of repetitions in each approach. As you can see, the program assumes that you already know how to do pull-ups. If not, you will have to devote several weeks to the preparatory exercises, which I will discuss in the following chapters.
Advantages of the method:
- Simplicity
- The direct progression method corresponds to the main principle of increasing muscle mass - the load must increase
Minuses:
- Not suitable for beginners
Negative pull-up method
Use it if you want to learn how to do pull-ups from scratch.
The essence of the method is to eliminate the entire upward movement phase. You only apply effort when you go down. If you already know how to do pull-ups, then use additional weights with which you will not be able to pull yourself up, but will be able to lower yourself under control. It’s easier for beginners; they don’t need weights.
How to take the starting position?
- You can use a high stand, which will allow you to position yourself in the starting position (chin above the bar)
- Ask your partner to help you climb up
- Use a low bar that is just above your head. In this case, jump slightly and take the starting position. You will have to bend your legs so that they do not touch the floor when you lower
This technique can be used in preparation for the 30 Week Pull-Ups program. You will have to train 3 times a week, maintaining the same number of repetitions and approaches as in the mentioned program.
Pros:
- Suitable for beginners
- Place more stress on the muscles, which stimulates their more active growth
- Will complement standard training
Minuses:
- Cannot be used frequently. Due to the increased load on the muscles
- Requires additional equipment or partner assistance
Lewis Armstrong Pull Up Program
The training scheme was developed by Marine Corps officer Charles Lewis Armstrong. His goal was to increase the number of pull-ups per approach to the maximum possible number. Just what we need!
Armstrong recommends starting each morning with 3 sets of push-ups. Moreover, it is necessary to do push-ups to failure. And only after 3-4 hours you can start doing pull-ups.
What did the American officer's training program consist of? It included 5 classes per week, followed by 2 days of rest.
Monday is a hard day. You need to complete 5 approaches, performing each one to failure. But you can’t violate the correct technique!
Tuesday is pyramid day. Think about the direct progression method. Start with one repetition and continue to the maximum number of repetitions. And after pulling up for the maximum number of times, do one more approach until failure.
Wednesday. Your task is to do 9 hikes with a fixed number of repetitions. Moreover, every three approaches it is necessary to change the grip. Stretch first with a wide grip, then with a medium grip and finally with a reverse narrow grip.
Thursday. It will remind you of Wednesday, but there will be not 9 approaches, but a maximum. If you complete more than 9 sets, then next week add 1 repetition to each set of each day.
Friday is a day of memories. Remember which of the previous days was the hardest and repeat it.
For a visual aid, watch the video:
Pros:
- The variety of loads allows you to comprehensively work out the muscles of the arms, deltas, chest and back
- Will help genetically gifted athletes quickly improve pull-up results
Minuses:
- Not suitable for beginners
- There is a high probability of overtraining
A little about the correct technique
What muscles are in pull-ups on the horizontal bar?
more involved? There are quite a lot of them - the latissimus muscles, lower trapezius, biceps, triceps, forearm muscles and several other small muscles. Improper execution of the exercise not only reduces effectiveness, but also increases the risk of injury. The first point is breathing. Hanging in a free state, you should take air into your chest. When pulling the latissimus dorsi muscles, you should exhale smoothly. When lowering down, you should inhale again. Effort – exhale, relaxation – inhale. Thus, lowering down is one repetition.
The legs are an important part of the pull-up. Jerking and dangling are not allowed. When performing pull-ups on a wall bar, you should cross your legs for comfort. If there is enough space, then ideally they should be straightened. When moving up, the whole body is tense
. This way you prevent swaying and increase the effectiveness of the exercise.
You should not make sudden movements when doing pull-ups and try to somehow lift your chin over the bar on the last repetition. Do not twist your whole body, if your arms are still holding, then perform an incomplete pull-up
in strict technique. This way you can achieve a better response from the back muscles.
Clue.
To increase pull-ups, you can use the “Vietnamese style”.
It involves resting after the approach, hanging on each arm
.
This will allow you to add a few more repetitions. But in order to use it efficiently, you need to have a strong grip
and well-developed forearms.
General rules for pull-up techniques
There are several rules that not only characterize the quality of the exercises, but also create the prerequisites for how to do more pull-ups on the horizontal bar:
Avoid body swaying. You can, of course, achieve a larger number of pull-ups by training at first, but such “hack work” does not bring real strength, since the necessary muscle groups do not receive proper training.
Movements should be smooth and uniform, without jerking. This type of exercise helps you gain muscle mass as quickly as possible.
At the apogee of the pull-up, the chin should be fixed above the bar - this is the main sign of the “purity” of the exercise.
How much you can do pull-ups on the horizontal bar is facilitated by the correct breathing rhythm: upward movement - exhale, downward movement - inhale.
- The grip on the bar should be quite secure.
- You should try to keep your body upright.
If you strictly adhere to these rules, then dreams of learning how to do 30 pull-ups will very soon turn into reality.
Mass training program
Several types of pull-ups should be included in your weight training program. Muscles work in each of them
differently. Thanks to this, you can get not only a wide back, but also pumped up arms.
Wide grip pull-ups
Allows the latissimus dorsi muscles to be more involved in the work. To start pulling up
, you need to place your hands wider than
your shoulders
, straight grip. When pulling up, the elbows go to the sides.
Close-grip pull-ups
There are some differences here. Hands are placed with a narrow grip, fingers pointing back. Narrow overhand grip
designed for pumping biceps. To isolate the muscle, it is worth rounding your back, thereby relieving some of the load from the latissimus muscles. When performing the exercise, you should not fully extend your elbows, as in other grips. This is necessary so that the biceps are in tension all the time.
Parallel grip pull-ups
To perform these pull-ups you will need a handle bar. This exercise can be done on the parallel bars with your legs tucked. When doing pull-ups, your head should move freely over the bar. In addition to the back muscles, they allow you to work the brachialis and forearm muscles.
How to combine exercises for muscle growth
It is better to combine the listed exercises with others. In addition, wide-grip pull-ups should be done during training aimed specifically at developing the back.
Exercises for beginners
If you are thinking about how to learn how to do a lot of pull-ups, you need to “make friends” with the horizontal bar and get used to the crossbar. The exercises described below will be a good start to more complex exercises on the horizontal bar.
Hanging on the horizontal bar. Timed exercise. You need to hang on the bar; the type of grip does not matter. This exercise strengthens your hands. Stretches the spine, prepares the muscles for subsequent loads. The hanging time should be gradually extended.
Negative phase. Preparatory exercise for beginners. Starting position on the horizontal bar: arms bent at the elbows, chin over the bar, body vertical, legs straight, feet pressed together. You can take the starting position with the help of a chair or a partner. The essence of the execution is a slow (high-quality!) transition to the hanging position. Perform 3 sets of 5-7 times.
Exercise with a partner. A full amplitude pull-up is performed, but with the help of a partner who helps with the positive phase.
Half-range pull-up. From the stand, jump onto the horizontal bar to the starting position, with your elbows bent at approximately 90 degrees. The practitioner enters the positive phase from this position and returns to it when lowering. This exercise is easier to perform than full range pull-ups, but on your own, without the help of a partner.
Recommendations and tips
Let's list the basic tips and tricks that will help you gain muscle mass faster.
- Increase your daily caloric intake.
- If your muscles are tight or sore, take an extra day of rest.
- Don't focus on quantity, focus on quality.
- Don't forget about the progression of loads.
- If it gets too easy, use weights.
Choice of weights
When the number of pull-ups performed has exceeded 15, it makes sense to include weights in your training. This will allow you to better work out your back muscles, which have already adapted to the usual load of your own body weight.
Regular backpack
For the initial stage of working with weights, a regular backpack is suitable, in which you can put dumbbells or place a bottle of water. The optimal weight of such homemade “equipment” is no more than 6 kg. A heavier backpack will pull you back, causing discomfort and disrupting your technique, which can lead to injury.
Weighted belt or vest
A belt for additional weights is a device that is fixed on a belt, which has a mount for hanging free weights. You can attach both weights and weights to it.
A more advanced and expensive option is a weighted vest. It allows the extra weight to be evenly distributed throughout the body. The weight used can be customized by removing or adding weights from the vest compartments.
Weight gain strategy
To get the expected effect from working with weights, you need to adhere to a certain strategy.
She looks like this.
- Only start lifting weights when you can do 15 quality pull-ups.
- In the first two weeks, use 5 kg. After you've finished lifting the weights, do 2 more sets of maximums with your own body weight. This will allow the muscles to be hammered as much as possible.
- Next, it is advisable to increase the weight by 1 or 2.5 kg. However, know that if increasing becomes too difficult, back off to the previous value. Do this until the muscles are ready for new growth.
- It will be best to add weight when, with the previous weighting, you can do the same amount with which you started (15 times, for example). This will be relevant in the first stages.
Reverse pull-ups
Those who are trying to figure out how to do more than 10 pull-ups should pay attention to this exercise.
Its essence boils down to the fact that the body does not rise, but descends as slowly as possible.
This type of training will require elevation or the ability to jump well. The task is to jump so that your chin is slightly higher than the bar, and fix your body in this position for 1-2 seconds. Afterwards you need to descend as slowly as your physical form allows. The slower the better.
Slow-down jumps (negative pull-ups) must be repeated 5 times. There should be 3 approaches. As a result, the body will very quickly begin to get used to the new loads. It is recommended to take a break of 2 days between workouts so that the muscles have time to rest.
For those who are faced with the problem that they cannot do more than 10 pull-ups, this exercise alone will significantly improve their performance.
Problems of horizontal bar lovers
Horizontal bar lovers
sometimes they face unpleasant problems.
Moreover, some of them can be caused even by ordinary pull-ups on the bar
. Let's take a closer look at the main disadvantages that come with exercising on outdoor sports equipment.
Injuries
Injuries usually plague beginners who do not understand the technique and neglect warming up. It is very important, as it helps to warm up the joints and ligaments and set them up for work. Before training, it is necessary to use dynamic stretching (swings, circular movements), and after training, static stretching (holds) in order to stretch the heated ligaments and avoid the feeling of “woodiness”.
The list of injuries sustained on the horizontal bar includes bruises, sprains and joint damage. They are not very dangerous, but it is better to prevent them than to be taken out of the training process for several days.
Calluses
Not everyone likes to train in gloves - because sometimes they slip and reduce grip strength. That's why people often get calluses on the horizontal bars - an unpleasant thing that sometimes hurts for several days. In addition, if the callus contains blood, it must be disinfected to prevent infection.
To reduce calluses, you can use magnesium, which provides grip by preventing unnecessary friction between your palm and the bar.
To combat calluses, you need to take measures. Old and dried formations can be cut off with a razor. At night, it is advisable to smear your palms with moisturizer. Holding your palms in warm water also helps; it steams dry skin, which can be carefully cut off.
Ligament pain
Typically, pain in the ligaments is the result of a poor warm-up, poor technique, or overtraining. After all, during rest, not only muscles are restored, but also ligaments are strengthened.
To reduce pain and prevent its occurrence, we recommend using wristbands and elbow braces. They fix the hand and elbow (the most common places for problematic ligaments), warm them and prevent injury. If there was a sprain, applying tape to the affected areas will help.
Falls from the horizontal bar
Falls from the crossbar do happen. Usually due to carelessness or rash actions, although no one is immune from accidents. However, falls are only possible when performing various types of elements. Basic pull-ups can't cause you to fall.
In our article, we revealed all the aspects of performing correct pull-ups, learned how you can gain weight on the horizontal bar, and looked at possible injuries and problems that arise when exercising on the horizontal bars.
