Muscles Worked by Pull-ups

Pull-ups is one of the traditional exercises which will never go out of style. It is certainly a tough, unforgiving, and superb exercise, which helps in building a sound fitness foundation by using the person's own body weight. It has been a part of civilian athletic training as well as military physical training. The benefits include promoting strength, balance, stability, and also developing several key muscles. Having said that, let's find out which are the muscles that are benefited by this exercise.

The large muscle located on the lateral sides of the back is a prominent one which is strained by pull-ups. The energy required to do the exercise comes from this muscle located in the back, known as the latissimus dorsi. While doing this exercise, muscle building of the back muscles takes place due to the contraction and stretching of the muscles while lowering and raising the body.

While doing pull-ups, there is a lot of pressure exerted on the bicep muscles which are located in the arms. The biceps are utilized to a large extent, when you raise and lower your body during the exercise. Other than the bicep muscles, the muscles of the forearms are the secondary muscles that are worked. They have a secondary role to play. The muscles of the forearms are tightened and contracted in order to help secure a strong grip on the bar.

The muscles located in front of the shoulders help you in lifting yourself up. They are worked considerably while doing the exercise, both in raising you up and lowering you down. The shoulder muscles contract and give significant energy to do the entire exercise.

Contrary to the belief, pull-ups are also abdominal exercises. While doing the exercise, the muscles in the abdomen receive a significant amount of stimulation. While raising and lowering yourself up, it causes the abdominal muscles to contract, which helps in stabilizing the core that helps in making the exercise easier and efficient.

Now that you know which are the muscles that are exercised, you may want to know how to perform the exercise. To do the exercise, grasp the bar with a firm overhand grip, and keep your hands at shoulder-width distance. Your palms should be facing away from your chest.

Straighten your arms and allow your body to hang from the bar. This is the starting position of the exercise. Now, slowly without any jerks, pull yourself up such that your chest is about to touch the bar and your chin goes over the bar.

When you are pulling up, keep your body straight and ensure that you do not arch or swing. Once your chin goes over the bar, lower yourself slowly and come back to the starting position. To give yourself added support, you can bend your knees and cross your feet. It is recommended that you do not relax the muscles too much, between two counts. When you relax them too much, it can place a lot of stress on the shoulder joints.

This was the standard way of doing pull-ups, but there are other variations to it as well. The basic muscles targeted by this exercise are the same; however, the stress placed on the muscles can change depending on the variation you choose to do.