The pull-up is a popular military drill exercise that is usually included in every top workout program. The exercise involves hanging from a bar with the palms facing away from the body and the body fully extended. You then pull yourself up using your upper body strength until your chin is above the bar.
There are numerous benefits of this upper body strength training exercise, including strengthening the back muscles, strengthening the shoulders and arm muscles, improving grip strength, and enhancing overall fitness. Some people consider pull-ups as an advanced exercise. However, anyone can attempt a pull-up, and you don’t even need a bar to do this exercise.
Here are some easy alternatives to a pull-up bar to help you do the exercise at home:
Use Your Doorway
This is one of the simplest ways to do a pull-up and is perfect for people who don’t have the strength to hoist their entire bodies up yet. To perform this exercise, you need to stand in front of a doorway and grab both sides of the door frame with your hands. Place your feet close to the doorway and slowly lean back using your hands as an anchor on the door frame.
As you lean, you’ll place weight on your arms. Using your arms, pull yourself forward again to the starting position. Repeat as many times as you can until you start feeling like you won’t be able to pull yourself back anymore.
The further back you lean, the tougher it will be to pull yourself back, so make sure you have plenty of room and something soft to land on in case you don’t have the strength to pull yourself back.
The Towel and Doorway Method
This method also uses a doorway, but it is more comfortable because you don’t have to use your hands to hold on to the door frame, which can hurt a little. Take a long towel and wrap it around the doorknob on the opposite side of where you are standing. Close the door while keeping the ends of the towel on your side so that it is secured in place. Make sure the door doesn’t open on the side you are standing to avoid accidentally opening it and sending you tumbling. Hold on to the towel and lean back and pull up using the same technique as the simple doorway method.
Inverted Pull-Ups Using Chairs and A Broomstick
The inverted pull-up method requires two sturdy chairs and a quality broomstick or mop. Set up the chairs next to each other with a couple of feet of space between them. Place the handle of the mop or broomstick on the seats of both chairs to create a makeshift bar. Lie down beneath the stick and pull yourself up from the floor and back using the broomstick. Make sure you are lying on a soft surface such as a yoga mat for safety in case the stick breaks or you lose your grip and fall back.
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