Fitness planner | Pull-ups: how to do, benefits and who can do them

When you do a pull-up, you engage up to 21 muscles in the back, arms, shoulders, chest and core, according to a 2014 study. (Representational image: Anastase Maragos via Unsplash)

It is one of the toughest movements to pull off. Even the strongest men and women who have worked out for years and move heavy weights with ease tend to struggle when it comes to the pull-up, says A.K. Abhinav, coach and founder of Namma XFit in Bengaluru. “Yet it is one of the most important basic movements you need to master in order to unlock your potential when it comes to exercise and fitness,” he says.

The pull-up is so challenging that it often appears on the fitness goals enthusiasts set for themselves. Ritu Mehrotra, country manager, India, Sri Lanka and Maldives, Booking.com, has set herself the target of doing 20 pull-ups at a single go while Neha Motwani, co-founder and CEO of fitness discovery marketplace Fitternity, wants to master the pull-up this year.

When you do a pull-up, you engage up to 21 muscles in the back, arms, shoulders, chest and core, found a study published in the Strength and Conditioning Journal in June 2014. A pull-up is a compound exercise for the upper back. It can help to achieve the coveted V-shaped body for men and tone both the arms and back for women, says Abhinav. Biceps are a major assisting muscle in the pull-up, he adds.

The pull-up is essential for prowess in sports that require upper-body strength like climbing, gymnastics, swimming, rowing/paddling, gymnastics, pole vaulting, and wrestling. Also, for anyone with body shape goals, the pull-up is a movement that they need to master, say fitness coaches. The pull-up is performed against gravity and requires the use of several muscles and also needs your core to be strong enough to keep your entire body stable.

It took Ashana Beria, a marketing executive from Kolkata, five years to do to her first pull-up despite working out five to six times a week for all that time. “I have been working out regularly for five years now. I could do just about any exercise the trainer asks me to do in gym but I just couldn’t pull off a full pull up. But, I kept at it, used the trainer’s help, bands and all the tricks... I finally managed my first full unassisted pull-up last year,” says Beria.

It is not just Beria, even muscular people struggle with it, says Kyle Hill, a former climbing coach. Simple physics can explain their troubles. “Muscle men tend to flounder… because of their mass. The heavier you are, the more work is required to move that bulk,” he says in the Scientific American.

There’s a psychological reason too for our struggles with doing the pull-up. It’s because we don’t pay much attention to the muscles in the back as we cannot see them readily and hence don’t work on them. Out of sight is out of mind in the world of exercise and that’s a big mistake, says Gagan Arora, celebrity trainer and founder of Kosmic Fitness in Delhi.

“You require strong back muscles to perform the pull-up. Since we don’t see the need to haul ourselves up on a day-to-day basis, we never actively use the muscles in our upper backs,” explains Abhinav. “The day-to-day activities we perform mainly use anterior (front) muscles, so our posterior muscles aren’t as strong. One needs to consciously work on posterior muscles as they support the muscles in the front of the body. A strong set of muscles in the rear also play a big role in preventing injuries."

Not only does pull-up improve core stability, it also helps prevent injuries in the shoulder complex—a joint susceptible to injury because it can move in all directions. “It improves grip strength which will help you lift heavier,” says Abhinav, adding that among his clients those who could pull off a pull-up tended to lose weight faster because the lighter you get the easier it gets get your chin as high as the bar.

Once mastered, the pull-up sets the base for advanced exercises in the gym such as chest to bar pull-ups, weighted pull-ups, muscle-ups, levers, toes to bar, inversions, lateral pull downs, upright rows, bent over, seated rows, etc.

However, pregnant women should exercise caution when including pull-ups in their training plans. “Pull-ups can be a risky exercise for them for various reasons including the risk of falling or landing with a jerk,” says Dr Nupur Gupta, director of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram. “Pull-ups also need a lot of core strength to aid the movement. Pull-ups pull the pelvis into an anterior tilt and could cause lower back pain. So, people with back pain should do the exercise very carefully.”

Dr Gupta’s advice is to do as much as your body allows and not go for the full range of motion pull-up if you don't have the strength. Use bands to compensate for the lack of strength or opt for assisted pull-ups. Even half pull-ups are a good idea, she adds.

The movement

1. Find a sturdy bar at least 6 to 9 inches higher than you when your arms are fully extended overhead. Jump and grip it.

2. Engage your core and back muscles by squeezing your abs and glutes. Try to eliminate all swinging motion and be as steady as you can be.

3. Now, start pulling yourself up as fast as you can till you chin comes up to the bar.

4. In a controlled motion, lower yourself back down to the starting position.

5. The next goal should be to improve your pull-up and pull yourself up till the chest comes up to the bar level.

Tip: For beginners, jumping pull-ups and negative pull-ups are a good starting point. For jumping pull-ups, jump up to the bar and use the momentum to haul yourself up and then let yourself down to hanging position in a controlled manner. For negative pull-ups, follow everything you did with the jumping pull up but when you let yourself down, do it slowly over 5-10 seconds.