Add pullups to your routine for a terrifying back.



At your local powder gym, you'll see people lining up to use the side lift machine and maybe a lone soldier hard at work on the chin-up bar. When it comes to back development and building a nice tapered V look, the pullup is king.

The pullup is what is classified as a closed kinetic chain (CKC) exercise (your effort moves you, rather than an open kinetic chain where your effort moves an object), which is safer and more functional than an exercise open kinetic chain.

CKC exercises can develop functional strength because they train the body to move its own weight, a prerequisite for almost any real-world event. CKC exercises are also safer because they allow an individual's body structure to determine the movement pattern of the joints. This allows for a more natural range of motion and can reduce stress on the joints.

PULLUP VARIATIONS

Another great benefit of pull-ups is the many variations you can perform to more specifically target your muscles:
Pullup:  The classic pull up is performed with a pronated grip (palms facing outward). Work your upper back, shoulders, lats, and abs.

Chinup: performed with a supinated grip (palms facing you). This slight difference in grip will really affect the biceps, and who doesn't want bigger biceps?

Alternate Grip Pullup - This is a pullup performed with a deadlift or alternate grip. One hand is in pronation and the other in supination. The benefit of the alternate grip is that this hand placement closely mimics the grip that is most often used in the grip.

The Pullup Command: Grab the bar like a baseball bat and stand up next to your ear until your trap hits the bar, then repeat on the other side. This hits the lats and obliques harder.

You can also add weight to any of these variations for a spectacular workout.



HOW TO INCORPORATE PULLUPS

An easy way to start adding them to your regimen is the Pyramid Method. To do this, choose a higher number, for a beginner it may be ten. You start out doing a pull-up, then you rest 30 seconds, then you do 2 pullups, then you rest 30 seconds, then you do 3 pullups, and so on until you reach ten, then you start to go down the pyramid doing 9, then 8, etc. .until it drops back to 1.

WHAT IF I CAN'T DO A PULLUP?

If you are having trouble pulling up, don't worry, Rome wasn't built in a day. Whatever you do, STAY AWAY FROM THE PULLUP MACHINE!

If you can't pull up right now, start by doing a partner or band-assisted pull-up. Keep track of your progress and wear a smaller band each week so you're pulling more of the load. In no time, you'll be doing legitimate pull-ups.

Slow negatives are another variation the beginner can use. The negatives provide a hellish muscle building overload. Place a box next to the chin-up bar and place your chin on the bar, and slowly (as slow as possible) lower yourself until your arms are fully extended, then repeat for sets of 5-8 reps.

Even if you have access to a pull-down machine, don't fool yourself into thinking that it is as effective as the pull-up or its variations.

Nothing builds massive upper back and lats like chin-ups do, just watch an athlete as a gymnast using chin-up variations as their primary means of upper back training, or watch an episode of "Lock Up. ". Without access to any weights, prisoners continue to build backs that will terrify tailors ... if they release them at all.