Pull-Ups for a Powerful Upper Body
Coaching
By Nike Training
Try these two variations on the OG pull-up for ripped results.
Once you’ve nailed the perfect pull-up, it’s time to take it up a notch. Try these two variations from Nike Master Trainers, Flor Beckmann and Brian Nunez, to bring a fresh challenge to this classic upper-body workout.
All hail the pull-up, the incredibly humbling exercise that strengthens your back and arms like no other as you lift your body weight against gravity. But if you’ve mastered the move in its most basic form, there are plenty of ways to scale it up to continue to challenge your mind and body. Nike Master Trainers Flor Beckmann and Brian Nunez share two favorite progressions that make this show-off move even more impressive—and effective.
Before You Get Started
- Practice resetting your shoulders.
To properly activate your lats from the beginning, hang from a pull-up bar and pull your shoulder blades back and down without moving your arms (your body will lift up slightly). Hold this for 2 to 5 seconds, and repeat for 5 to 10 reps. Perform this shoulder-retraction exercise for 1 to 2 sets, with 1 minute of rest in between, as a warm-up to your first working set of pull-ups.
- The Traditional Pull-up
This is the foundation upon which you can add all sorts of variations. Here’s how to do it:
Stand under a pull-up bar. Jump to grab the bar with an overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder-width. Hang with your arms and legs extended. Pull your shoulders back and down, and engage your back, core, and glutes as you pull yourself up, keeping your elbows close to your torso and a natural arch in your low back, until your chin clears the bar. To help you make it there, think about trying to touch your chest to the bar. Slowly lower your body to return to the starting position (your arms should be fully extended). That’s 1 rep.
Two Pull-Up Variations to Try
These progressions turn up the intensity by shifting the load to different muscles or increasing the total time under tension (how long a muscle is working during a set). They’ll also prep you to take on even more advanced moves, like ring pull-ups or muscle-ups.
All you need is a pull-up bar, jungle gym, or similarly stable overhead, horizontal bar to incorporate them into your workout. Once you’re able to do 3 to 5 strict pull-ups with perfect form, give either option (or both) a shot. Aim for 3 to 5 sets for as many reps as you can, starting from a dead hang (which is exactly how it sounds) for each rep, to establish full range of motion. As you advance, you can add reps and sets, but always start with a quick form check.
1. Cliffhanger Pull-Up
Muscles worked: traps, lats, biceps, triceps, forearms, abs
- Stand below a pull-up bar, perpendicular to it. Jump to grab the bar with a neutral grip (palms face each other), with your right hand closest to your body and your left hand in front of it and your legs extended, to start.
- Pull yourself up, drawing your head to the right side of the bar until the bar grazes your left shoulder. Lower to return to the starting position. That’s 1 rep. Do all reps on this side, then switch sides and repeat.
Make It Easier
Try a close-grip standard pull-up (with your hands shoulder-width apart) if the cliffhanger is too difficult, holding for 10 to 30 seconds, if possible. This move similarly recruits more help from your biceps, so it can help you develop the strength and muscle endurance required for the cliffhanger.
Make It Harder
Add load, either with a weighted vest, a loaded weight belt, or a dumbbell held between your knees, legs crossed.
2. Knee-Raise Chin-Up
Muscles worked: lats, biceps, triceps, forearms, abs
- Stand below a pull-up bar. Jump to grab the bar with an underhand grip shoulder-width apart and legs extended, to start.
- Pull yourself up until your chin clears the bar. Hold this position as you draw one knee toward your chest until your leg forms a 90-degree angle. Lower it, then repeat on the other leg. That’s 1 rep. Keep alternating legs, as if you were marching slowly, for your desired number of reps.
Make It Easier
Perform a hanging knee raise. Start in a dead hang (the bottom of a pull-up), with legs extended straight. Engage your lats and abs, then raise both knees toward your chest. That’s 1 rep; repeat.
Make It Harder
Slow down each rep to increase time under tension, building more strength and muscular endurance. Or raise straight legs together until they’re parallel to the floor (called an L-sit raise), which works your abs even more.
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