
All Articles Fitness Nutrition

Building Muscle Using a Pull Up Bar

Fitday Editor
pull up bar.jpg

A pull up bar is an effective piece of exercise equipment that is as easy to install as it is to actually use. As far as motivation and encouragement go, a pull up bar is additionally effective at providing an ever-constant reminder to get in your daily dose of exercise. The exercise of pull ups entails the use of an upper body compound pulling action, an action that depends on you exclusively using your upper body strength while keeping the swinging of your body to a minimum. A proper pull up consists of your hands gripping the bar as you suspend your body by your arms. Using only your arms, you must then pull your body up until your head is higher than your hands. Such a simple motion is very effective at building muscles.

Great for Back Muscles

If you want to build your muscles when you use a pull up bar, the main muscle that will be worked on is your lat muscle. "Lat" is short your latissimus dorsi muscle. In Latin, it literally means "broadest muscle of the back." The lat muscle is found on your trunk, in a location that is posterior to your arm and somewhat obscured by your trapezius. The lat muscle's primary characteristic is its size: It is quite large. With this large surface area to its advantage, this muscle also comes with more mass. As such, it is conducive to building muscle in a more effective manner than muscles which are smaller than it.

Concept Behind the Pull Up bar

The concept behind a pull up bar is very simple, which is why this exercise is not only effective, but also ideal as a way of building muscle. It is a very cost-effective way to build muscle since you don't require any fancy equipment or special training or clothes: Just one bar from which you can suspend yourself is all you need. The pull up bar uses gravity to help you build your muscles. When you are suspended by your arms and holding on to the pull up bar, you are then forced to lift up your own bodyweight. This lifting action of the pretty considerable weight of your body is efficient at building muscle because it provides a lot of stress to your body with each repetition of the pull up action.

Secondary Muscles

While the lat muscle is the one that a pull up targets the most, some secondary muscles also get targeted with each pull up repetition. Because you require more than just a joint to pull up your body in a repetition on the pull up bar, you also accordingly get to work out more than one muscle. Some of the secondary muscles that benefit from a pull up workout include your biceps, your forearms, your chest muscles and also your rhomboids.

{{ oArticle.title }}

{{ oArticle.subtitle }}