With great upper body power comes a great responsibility to keep up with regular strength training. Installing a home pull up bar is essential for anybody who desires firm triceps, back muscles, chest, abs, biceps and leg muscles too! The best way to gain upper body strength and reduce body fat is to incorporate as many tricks and tools into your daily workout routine as possible. One of those ‘must have’ exercise tools would be the pull up bar.
Pull up bars can be installed in minutes, or seconds if you purchase a door frame removable pull up bar such as this one. Having frequent access to a pull up bar is very convenient, especially if it is installed in a location that you frequent often, such as the bathroom door. Getting into the habit of jumping into a few pull ups or chin ups each time you pass the bar, can increase your upper body strength immensely.
Below you will find 7 unique exercises to enhance your pull up bar experience. These will build upon the basic pull up bar exercises such as the pull up, chin up and relative variations.
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The Hanging Monkey
This exercise is more complicated than it sounds. Simply hang from the pull up bar with one arm for as long as you can. Switch arms when needed. Try to increase the amount of time you can hang on to the bar each day, for optimum results. Be sure to rest your arms in between sets.
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The Negative Lift
For increased strength training, speed up the lift and slow down the reversed drop. This will rapidly improve the capability of your muscles. You can try this negative lift with basic chin ups or pull ups and their variations (eg. Wide Arms, Reversed Hand Pull Ups, Chin Ups etc.)
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The Hanging Crunch
This is exercise will increase core strength and upper body power. Simply hang with both arms on the pull up bar. Bring your knees towards your chest and hold for 3-5 seconds and slowly release back down. For a greater challenge, avoid touching your feet on the floor.
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The Inverted Hang
To achieve the Inverted Hang on a pull up bar, a great amount of upper body strength is required. Do not attempt this move for the first time without having a friend assist you, in the event that you need help. Simply grab the pull up bar and jump your feet up and swing your body upside down. Your aim is to rest the soles of your feet beside your hands that are grabbing the pull up bar. Hanging up-side down has many age reversing benefits and even promotes lymphatic drainage.
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Iron Man Leg Lifts
While hanging with both arms from the pull up bar, lift and bend your knees into your chest and then extend your feet outwards. Try to keep your legs parallel to the ground as you repeat these leg extension/retraction moves as many times as you can. Rest when needed and repeat for optimum results.
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The Bicycle Lift
While completing a regular chin up, include slow bicycle kicks to increase core strength and lifting stability. Not only does this move rock your body, it also looks super cool.
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The Scissor Lift
During a reversed arm pull up, extend one leg out front and one leg out behind you. As you release back towards the ground reverse the leg extensions and repeat. The higher you hold your legs, the greater intensity you will experience.
Basically, having access to a pull-up bar is like having an ‘all in one’ gym in your doorway. Not only does it strengthen the body, but it increases the chances that you will feel like a kid again. If you liked climbing on the monkey bars in pre-school, then it is almost guaranteed that you will fall in love with your pull up bar. Just remember to practice safety first, especially when exercising from home.
Kaeli has always had an infatuation with keeping fit and improving life. Whether it is strength training, endurance building, or self-study research, she has devoted endless hours to them all. Her interest in health started at an early age. From swim competitions to long distance running, she discovered that keeping fit is an integral part of her life. After being diagnosed with... Read More
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