Pull-ups on the horizontal bar is one of the most popular exercises. It is used in various power sports: bodybuilding, street lifting, gymnastics, street workout, etc. This exercise helps to build good muscle volumes of the upper body, as well as generally improve the functionality and endurance of your body. There are many options for pull-ups, and each of them works out your muscles in its own way. One of the most effective variations of this movement are pull-ups with a parallel grip. What muscles work during this exercise? How does it differ from classic pull-ups? How is it worth doing? You can find the answers to all these questions in the article.
Pullups: Anatomy Exercises
What muscles swing when lifting with a parallel grip? To get a complete answer to this question, you need to understand what gaps exist and what is the difference between them.
All options for pull-ups can be divided into 3 types:
- Direct grip pull-ups (classic). With this setting of the arms, the broadest muscles get the main load, the indirect load is distributed to the biceps.
- Pull-ups. Here the biceps do the main work, the latissimus muscles are indirectly included in the work.
- Pull-ups with parallel grip. What muscles work here? In this position, the load between the biceps and the widest is distributed almost evenly.
Features of pull-ups with parallel arms
What muscles work when lifting with a parallel grip? We think this is clear. Now let's take a closer look at the features of this movement.
To perform pull-ups with parallel arm positioning, appropriate handles must be present on the crossbar. Such a horizontal bar can not always be found on the street, but, as a rule, it is in every modern fitness center. In the event that you have hinged bars, then you can use them as a crossbar with parallel handles (just hang them higher).
The main advantage of parallel pull-ups is that during the performance of this exercise the crossbar does not bother you, so this movement becomes more convenient and functional.
Execution technique
The technique of doing pull-ups with parallel arms is not very different from the technique of classical pull-ups:
- Grasp the bar with a narrow or medium parallel grip.
- As you exhale, raise your torso until your chin is above the level of the bar. Try to work only with your hands; the body should not participate in the exercise. At the top point, take a short pause (1-2 seconds) to properly feel the muscles.
- Taking a breath, slowly lower to the original position.
- Perform the number of repetitions that you need.
The technique of doing pull-ups with an average parallel grip is clearly shown in the next video.
Medium parallel grip pull-ups: what are the features and which muscles work
Pull-ups with a wide parallel grip are not very convenient from the point of view of biomechanics, so the variation of the exercise with medium or narrow arms is more effective and safe.
The creator of the Nautilus simulators Arthur Jones was an ardent admirer of just such a method of pull-ups. Here the handles are located at a distance of 55-60 centimeters. With this option, the palms look at each other, and the hands are in a half-reverse position, but a neutral position is acceptable.
Narrow parallel grip pull-ups: which muscles work, what is the peculiarity of the exercise
For this variation you need to use a special handle with a horizontal or vertical block. Just remove it from there and, if possible, hang it on the horizontal bar. In the event that there is no handle, you can just grab the bar, but then you will have one hand a little further from the body than the other (as shown in the picture below). This means that the load will be distributed a little differently. Pulling up with such a setting of the hands must be alternately on each side of the horizontal bar. That is, the total number of pull-ups must be even.
And with an average and a narrow grip, the load between the biceps and the latissimus muscles is distributed approximately 50/50, as we said earlier.
Parallel grip pull-ups in gravitron
Parallel pull-ups can be done in the gravitron. Although this variation of the exercise is less effective, it has the following advantages:
- The ability to perform the correct (from the point of view of technology) pull-ups even with a low level of physical fitness.
- Beginners who are still struggling to pull up with their own weight can hone the exercise technique on it.
- Since the body is in a fixed position, it is much easier for an athlete to adhere to the correct shape. During pull-ups, the trainee will not succeed in bringing his legs forward, throwing his head back or trying to “cheat”, helping himself with jerks and sudden movements, as is often the case with free hanging.
Tips & Tricks
Below are a few helpful suggestions that can help you improve your pull-ups and make your workouts more effective and safer:
- Do not pull yourself up every day. If you conduct hard training daily to failure, this will adversely affect your athletic performance. With frequent physical exertion, your body simply will not have time to recover, because of which you will quickly drive it into a state of overtraining. If you use parallel pull-ups to pump your biceps and back muscles, then do this exercise only on the day when you train these muscles (that is, once or twice a week).
- Always warm up. Parallel pull-ups are a fairly safe exercise, but this is not a reason not to warm up before doing them. During the warm-up, you warm up your muscles, joints and tendons and prepare them for heavier loads, which significantly reduces the risk of injuries.
- Do everything skillfully. This advice applies not only to the exercise discussed today, but also to absolutely all activities. Due to improper technique, you, firstly, reduce the efficiency of the movement performed several times, and secondly, increase the likelihood of injury. Before adding this or that exercise to your training system, make sure that you have thoroughly studied the technique of its implementation.
Related videos
What muscles work when lifting with a parallel grip? Everything that could be said on this topic, we have already said. And now we would like to share with you a useful video, which explains in detail the technique of parallel pull-ups, as well as how they differ from other varieties of this exercise.
So, what is the difference in grip in pull-ups, what muscles when pulling up with a parallel grip are included in the work? We think we were able to give a complete answer to these questions. We hope that our article was useful, and you learned a lot of interesting and informative facts.