Pulling is an exercise known to everyone, performing which you need to take up a fixed crossbar and hang on your outstretched arms, then, bending your arms in elbows, pull yourself up until the head is above the brushes, and the bar approximately at shoulder level. With all the external simplicity, this is a rather difficult exercise.
What muscles work when pulling?
The correct technique of pulling on the bar assumes a great load on all the muscles of the upper body. This exercise involves several muscle groups at the same time, as well as shoulder and elbow joints. Muscles during tightening work very actively, and depending on the position of the hands on the crossbar you can control the distribution of the load.
So, let's look at the muscles that work when pulling:
- The widest muscles of the back. Often these muscles are called athletes wings. They are responsible for the rotation of the shoulder joints: namely, for the movement of the hands to the center of the body, as well as behind the back. In addition, they help stretch and bend the spine in the lumbar region, and in any direction.
- Trapezius muscles. These are two rather large superficial muscles, which are located from the bottom of the skull to the middle of the back, and also extend to the sides from the vertebrae of the thoracic region to the shoulder joints. It is these muscles that allow you to move your shoulder blades and keep your hands.
- Flexors and extensors of forearms. These muscles allow you to grab the crossbar and hold onto it. The same structure includes a large number of muscles: flexors and extensors of the fingers, brachial muscles (responsible for the ulnar fold), pronators (needed for the movement of the palms down), as well as instep supports (needed for palm movement upwards).
- Biceps. These are the auxiliary muscles, they also help to bend the arms in the elbows and rotate the forearms. If your goal is to develop them, it is better to use a reverse grip.
- Muscles of the middle part of the body. This includes: straight, oblique and transverse abdominal muscles, as well as a muscle that straightens the trunk. This area is the source of functional movements of the whole body, in this connection it is very important to pay attention to it.
- Deltoid muscles. Pulling up helps to develop an attractive sloping shoulder contour, which organizes these muscles.
The system of pull-ups on the bar allows you to develop and strengthen to varying degrees each of these muscles. Do not forget about how to breathe properly when pulling - the main effort on exhalation.
Pulling up a wide grip: features
It's no secret that this excellent exercise involves all the important muscles of the upper body. However, you can increase the load on this or that muscle, if you choose one of the options for doing the exercise:
- wide grip. In this case, the arms on the crossbar are as far apart as possible. The main load in this case lies on the latissimus muscles of the back;
- average grip. This is a universal option: the arms on the crossbar are located at the level
shoulders, which means that the load is distributed evenly. Pulling on the bar from scratch should start with this kind; - a narrow grip. In this case, the arms are located on the crossbar as closely as possible to each other. The muscles of the back are practically not working, but the muscles of the arms and shoulders are involved 100%.
Depending on your goal, you can distribute the load the way you want. Choosing a wide grip, you reduce the load on the biceps, and preferring a narrow grip, on the contrary, increases the load on them. Before increasing pullups, it is better to train using medium grip, and then switch to other types. If you can not pull yourself up even once - use a special simulator with a counterweight or pull-up with the foot rest.