Pull-ups are the choice of the Commandos. Why? Quite simply they are harder than chin-ups and its all to do with hand placement. Upper body wise, the pull up is one of the best exercises to perform. It is not only a compound exercise involving a large number of muscles of the upper-body, it also exercises the core and abdominal areas.
The major muscles used are those of the upper back, shoulders and arms. Furthermore, the pull-up is performed with the exerciser’s own body-weight, making it not only functional and effective, but also means it provides a great sense of achievement when mastered.
Many people who train in a gym, avoid pull-ups because they are deemed difficult to do. To look good at pull-ups you have to train them, commit to them and stay dedicated to them. However, in the end you will be rewarded as they will become easy to perform and a great tool in your training toolbox. Various machines like the ‘Lat Pull Down’ that exercise the same muscles are excellent as a training aid or regression to build up to the pull-up, but at the end of the day, nothing is as good as a genuine pull-up using your body weight as your resistance, besides, not everyone will have access to a gym to use a Lat pull-down machine, yet finding suitable places to do pull-ups is fairly easy.
Pull-Ups vs Chin-Ups.
The difference between a pull-up and a chin-up involves hand placement. A pull-up means the palms of the hands are facing away from the body in an “over-grasp” grip. A chin-up is the opposite, with palms facing you in an “under-grasp” grip. The pull-up is the more difficult of the two to execute yet, the majority of the worlds military forces test chin-ups and not pull-ups. Commando training only ever tests pull-ups, the more difficult exercise, and hence why it is the exercise of choice if you really want a strong upper-body.
Regular Pull-Up
The exercise should begin with a dead hang from a bar or beam with palms facing away from you, arms just over shoulder width apart. Notice the legs and feet are together with the legs being kept straight. The body is then pulled up so that the chin passes the bar/beam and the chest is brought as close to the beam as possible. The legs and feet remain straight and together. The body is then lowered to the dead hang (arms completely straight) start position and the exercise is repeated. Try to execute the whole exercise using controlled form. Avoid jerky movements (kipping), bringing your knees up for extra propulsion and coming down only half way. By doing so, you’ll only be cheating yourself.
It is important to remember that ‘quality is more important than quantity’. If you can only do a few reps to start with, no problem, most people struggle when they first start training pull-ups. The best way to overcome this is to set yourself simple goals. By setting small goals and trying for small progressions, you will soon find your strength improves naturally. Eventually aim to do sets of 10, 20 or even 30.
Simple Pull-Ups Training Sessions
Eccentrics
If you are really struggling with pull-ups, try performing some eccentric reps to force some strength gains from the muscles. To do this grip the bar in the normal way, but instead of pulling your weight up so your chest touches the bar/beam, jump up instead. Hold the top position for a second, then lower the body back to the start position, but slowly: a 5 second reverse count is best. Repeat this as many times as you can. 3 sets of these are a good start.
Down to 1
Start with the most number of pull-ups you can do, give yourself a set rest (30 seconds, 1 or 2 minutes), then do a second set with one (or two) less, have the same rest time, then do one (or two) less than the second set. Repeat until on 1 is left. Sets could be as follows 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 or 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1.
Gainers
Basically perform 3 sets every session but add one rep to one set every time, however, do not start too high!. For example, if in the first session I do 8, 8, 8, then the next session I will do 9, 8, 8. The next session after that I will do 9, 9, 8, then next session I will do 9, 9, 9 etc. My rest between sets is again 30 seconds, 1 or 2 minutes.
This session is VERY effective, and if taken slowly and stuck too will very quickly see a large number of pull-ups being achieved.
Dynamic Pull-Up
To train this movement, two bars/beams are required. If lucky, the pull-up bars in your gym will have the this type of frame.
As with the regular pull-up the start position is dead hang under the bar/beam, legs straight and feet together. A pull-up is then performed as quickly and powerfully as possible to allow you to release from the first bar/beam and reach up and grab the second bar/beam. Once you have grasped the second beam, perform a pull up on it to take the chin over the bar/beam and chest as close to the bar/beam as possible. The arms then lower the body from the upper beam, release and catch the lower beam, return to the dead hang start position and repeat.
As far as possible the legs should remain together and straight, this will help training core stability strength, as well as to ensure that your back muscles are being worked properly.
Reps: Ensure you can do normal pull-ups comfortably before moving onto this exercise. It is an advanced exercise to do, so start slow with 2 or 3 reps and build up. Doing 10 of these correctly and with proper form each time is impressive.
Safety: Keep an eye on the bars before and while performing this exercise. Doing so will prevent you from hitting the bars/beams on the way up or on the way down.
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