Pull ups are one of the best exercises you can perform and are especially easy for you to do in your own home. You only need a pull up bar and if you like to do it “old school,” you can just use a rafter in the attic or a tree limb outside. Of course, I don’t recommend this due to safety and comfort but I have done it a few times in my life.
Have you ever tried to do pull ups on a 2 x 4? It’s not the greatest feeling on your hands so you might not be able to do as many as you would on a normal bar.
Pull ups provide a great upper body workout but as you might already know, the back and arm muscles are primarily involved. Many assume that you cannot get a great upper body workout by doing pull ups alone but I disagree. These people must have never done a difficult pull up workout before.
Specifically, you can get a great pull up workout at home by performing pull up pyramids. With pyramids, you simply start at 1 pull up and go up to failure. After you have reached a number at which you start to fail, you start going back down.
For example, do 1 pull up and then rest. Now do 2 pull ups and then rest. Now do 3 pull ups and rest. Continue this on until you can’t do anymore and then make your way back down to 1. You will be surprised at the effectiveness and difficulty of this workout.
You can also increase the challenge if you have a pair of dumbbells to hold in between your feet. Simply grab on to the dumbbells with your feet and do the workout. It’s likely that you won’t be able to do as many but you’ll build more muscle and will be able to increase the amount of regular pull ups you can do.
Overall, pull ups are my absolute favorite exercise to do at home. I love them because they are simple and effective.
