As you know, pull-ups are an excellent exercise to work the muscles of the upper body. And it is that they are not only highly effective at the muscle building level, but to do them you only need your own weight and something to hold on to, such as the typical bars in the parks, those in the gym or, if you prefer to train at home, your own wall pull up bars.
Still don’t know which muscles work? Keep reading! Here’s everything you need to know about the types of pull-ups and the muscles they work! And don’t forget that at the end of this post you can download the infographic of all the proposed exercises for free.
The main muscles that pull-ups work
If you are looking to work the upper body, pull-ups are an exercise that cannot be missing from your routine. And it is that, although they are a bit complicated, especially at the beginning, you will be working with a single dynamic a lot of muscles at the same time, such as the latissimus dorsa, the biceps, the pectoralis, the trapezius, the rhomboids, the round muscle major, the minor round muscle and the infraspinatus, among others. Of course, depending on the type of pull-up you do, you will work some more than others, but in general, all of these are involved.
- The Latissimus Dorsi: This pulls the top of the spleens closer to the body, allowing the latter to rise up to the bar.
- The biceps: This is the main muscle for pulling up on the bar. You will notice that it works together with the bib, especially when you go down.
- The trapeze: here is the one in charge of supporting the load in the pull-ups.
- The deltoid: with this type of exercise, various muscles of the back are worked. In the case of the deltoid, you will notice a different activation depending on the type of grip you perform.
- The pectoral: this is the great helper of the latissimus dorsi when you are going up in the pull-ups.
- The teres major, the minor and the infraspinatus muscles: these are other great collaborators of the latissimus dorsi.
Types of pull-ups and muscles that work
Now that you know the general involvement of the different muscles, it is time to see which muscles are worked depending on the type of grip. Although, remember! It is very important that you always do more than one type when training and do not always stay with a single option. In the variety is the effectiveness!
The main types of grip in pull-ups
When we talk about grips, in general, we can differentiate three main types:
- Overhand grip (pull-ups): The backs of the hands face you and the palms face out.
- Supine grip (chin-ups): palms facing you and backs of hands facing out.
- Neutral grip: hands do not look to one side or the other. It would be like reaching out your arms and grabbing the bars in that same position.
What muscles are involved in the different pull-ups?
With the different types of grip, we get some muscles involved more than others. Hence the importance of varying our routine.
- Main muscles that work with the prone grip: the involvement of the latissimus dorsi, the trapezius and the infraspinatus is greater with respect to the supine grip.
- Main muscles that work with the supine grip: in this case, the pectoralis major, the biceps brachii, the spinal erectors and the external oblique are activated more, with respect to the previous one.
- Main muscles that work with the neutral grip: here the prone and supine grip muscles are activated, highlighting, above all, the activation of the pectoralis major, with respect to the former.
Mistakes to avoid when doing pull-ups
Now that you know that success lies in variety and which muscles are activated in the different types, the time has come to reveal the typical mistakes that you should avoid when doing pull- ups to get the most out of your training and avoid injuries in the short term. long term.
- Don’t use body momentum: To really get the most out of pull-ups, you need to work your arm and back muscles. Succumbing to the temptation of jumping to reach the bar and swinging as a means of momentum translates into wasting the work of muscles that are so important in pull-ups, such as the latissimus dorsi. But, if you notice that you are working! Yes, the abdomen and muscles of the lower body, which is not what interests you in pull-ups… although it is in kipping, which is what this variant is called.
- Control the movement of descent and do not go down too fast: fatigue can want to sabotage your pull-ups by convincing you that it is not necessary to straighten your elbows and that you have already gone down enough when it is not true. Ignore him! Stretch your elbows well on each repetition.
- Count only the reps finished: ouch! Fatigue… don’t let it convince you that that incomplete repetition counts. For an effective training, stay only with the ones that have really been complete. Better few and well done than many and half.
- Do not contract your shoulders too much: if you feel the shoulders, almost at the ears, watch out! The trapeze will be overloaded and you will begin to notice compensations that you were not looking for in your pull-ups.
