How to succeed in bodybuilding tractions?

What are pull-ups?

The pull-up is a bodybuilding exercise that aims to lift the weight of the body with the arms to develop the back muscles among other muscles. This type of exercise requires you to make a movement with the sole force of your arms. The reason it is so popular with those who want to build muscle is simply because it works the back and upper body muscles. It contributes to the good development of the basic musculature and the force, which is essential to chain more advanced movements (front lifts, muscle-ups)

Nevertheless, despite the fact that it helps to build up the entire upper body, it remains a difficult exercise to perform.

Indeed, it requires a minimum of strength in the arms to be able to perform it correctly.

However, there are techniques to learn how to do pull-ups or do it with a fitness accessory to support the load on your body. This is what we will see below.

Forge a perfect upper body with military traction

Best movement of body-building to sculpt the upper body, the exercise of traction makes it possible effectively to muster the back and the arms. According to a survey of L'Équipe, 30 % of the Net surfers can link 1 to 5 pull-ups against 23 % for 15 and more. It solicits several muscles and in particular the muscles of the arms, deltoids, biceps, forearms, rhomboids....

Are you in great shape, but can't quite get the hang of your pull-ups? Do you want to progress in pull-ups and build a muscular upper body? Do you want to progress with pull-ups? Check out my best tips!

What equipment do we need?

Practicing this exercise may not require any equipment. A good place or a pull-up bar to hang can be perfectly sufficient for you: for example the solid branches of a tree. However, to challenge your entire upper body, it is best to use a barbell.

Concerning the latter, it comes in different models. The bar on door is installed very easily, by placing its curved arm on the door. The telescopic bar consists in fixing the arm in the door frame. The wall-mounted pull bar is screwed directly into the wall with screws and plugs.

What types of exercises are there, and which muscle is used for each?

There is a whole multitude of variants of the movement which make it possible to vary its trainings according to the solicited muscular groups and thus to optimize its evolution, and to work the arms and the back in several manners.

The supine grip or chin up

This exercise of musculation is carried out by seizing the bar with the palms of hands turned towards oneself, with a distance of hand more or less equal to the width of the shoulders. It requires to bring back the elbows behind to better target the back muscles. The chin up targets particularly the biceps, the triceps, the muscles of the trapezoids, the large rounds, pectorals and the rhomboids.

Pronation or pull-up grip

Unlike the previous movement, this one is performed with your hands on the bar. The back of the hands facing you. This back exercise proposes 2 different variants, the broad catch and the tight catch, with a distance of the hands higher than the width of the back. The first variant favours the musculation of the back in width and the aspect back in V or of the chest. The second variant is more focused on the lats and trapezius muscles, optimizes the development of the back muscle in thickness and opens the rib cage.

The neutral plug

For the neutral grip pull-up, the palms are facing each other. It is possible to perform it on a Roman chair.

The most common pull-ups are usually pronated and supinated.

To learn more about bodybuilding holds, you can read this article: The different holds in weight training

How do I get a successful pull?

Pronation pull, supination pull, neutral grip, where to start? When we start doing pull-ups, it's much easier to do them in a tight, supinated grip. Here's how to do a pull-up:

Grab the handles by putting your hands on the bar in supination and hang on. The grip is commonly called. Once your body is relaxed, lean back slightly and pull yourself up with your chest up. You can cross your legs and your arms should remain in continuous tension. Keep your back as straight as possible in order to perform the exercise properly and slow down the descent as much as possible to feel the muscles being worked. In short, the movement must be slow and controlled. This is the best way to develop your back muscles. Finally, to avoid what is called corns in the hands, it is preferable to use weight lifting gloves.

Learning how to do a pull-up is good, but adopting the correct execution of the exercise is better. Practicing bodybuilding requires knowing some important parameters. It is important to know that even the best training with the best bodybuilding program requires proper nutrition. Having an adapted nutritional plan will be a plus to be able to reach your goals (weight loss, muscle increase, strength acquisition...).

Can't do the pull-ups?

If you can't do the pull-ups properly, here are the solutions

For beginners and or women, there are assisted exercises with guided machines that allow you to assist in all movements. This will take the weight off your body, allowing you to perform correctly. As you perform the pull-ups and other exercises in your strength training program, you will develop your biceps, which will eventually allow you to do them without.

Second solution, if this machine does not exist in your gym, you can do it on a normal wall bar, and to lighten your body weight, you can carry out this exercise with a rubber band. The principle is simple: you attach the elastic band on the barGrab the band and move your shins or feet over the band and you can pull yourself up to do your pull-ups. Generally, it is the beginners and women who use this technique.

Finally, you can do the horizontal or Australian exercise which consists of working under a table or a fixed bar at the height of your hip. In parallel, the negative or eccentric pull-ups consist of jumping on the bar and putting yourself in the final position (chin above the bar), and then descending gently. The legs are supported on the ground. You can see this method in the explanatory video below.

How to progress with pull-ups?

If assisted exercises are perfect for beginners, you can also make your movement more difficult when you master it by adding weight such as a weighted vest or a belt or even a weight between the legs. The one-armed movement is absolutely and solely reserved for professionals, and is not recommended in weight training. As well as the muscle-up which consists in passing the bust above the bar to finish the movement with the arm stretched.

How to make your own bar pulls ?

The pull-up bar is an indispensable piece of exercise equipment if you want to have a dream bust or a V-shaped back. Since you can't always show up at the gym, it makes sense to have your own bar at home. To do this, you need to decide whether you want to a dependent bar or self-supporting. The latter requires more technique than the former. For a normal bar, you need a support to be fixed to the wall in order to find space to move. For a self-supporting bar, you must develop a structure strong enough for your weight. Once you weld your bar together, you put on safety supports and non-slip foam.

Before any weight training exercise, never forget to perform a warming up to properly prepare any back muscles. Also, don't neglect back stretching exercises to reduce the risk of injury and to preserve your joints and tendons.

Here is a video I made a few years ago to help people do pull-ups.

It should help you do pull-ups successfully.

With a good training program and these tips, you should be able to master the pull-ups quickly and build back muscles.

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