Advanced Pull Up Variations for Building Upper Back Strength
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Heed my warning; pull ups will turn you into a monster made out of muscle, steel and sex appeal. These variations are for the hardcore, the passionate and the dedicated in the violent pursuit of strength, constantly looking for new challenges. These pull ups require a considerable amount of upper back power, core strength and full body tension and they’re probably more difficult than you might expect.
Sadly however, it seems many gym goers these days lack the testicular fortitude to add a healthy dose of pull ups into their routines. Either that or they just don’t know of many variations other than the standard chin up or pull up. Many people will never have seen or heard of the pull up variations you’ll see below, which is unfortunate because I believe they can inject a great deal of fun into a workout, while effectively building ferocious strength.
So far we’ve covered the basics, utilizing the variations I discussed you can simply add extra resistance with weight and continue progressing for years to come. However, variety is a powerful tool in strength training, and in order to keep progressing, the pull up bar is one of the most underrated pieces equipment on the planet.
I’d like to make it clear that I’m not one of those so called urban street workout athletes that are flooding youtube these days, who flail around on a bar wiggling their legs about, as if they’re doing pull ups and riding a unicycle at the same time. If that’s what you’re into then that’s cool, but it’s really not my cup of tea. I’m all about building brutal strength (and actually training legs) using exercises with which I can accurately measure my progress.
I use a pull up bar to get strong, not as an excuse to look like a thug or a gangster, or even to look cool, so I don’t recommend contorting yourself into weird positions and doing funky unnecessary stuff just for the sake of looking cool.
Below you’ll find many of the pull up variations that I include in my own training on a weekly basis, when done with strict form are challenging even to the strongest of athletes, which are also fun and effective.
Behind the Neck Pull Ups
Most stuck up polo shirt wearing fitness instructors will tell you that behind the neck pull ups are bad for you and advise you that you just shouldn’t do them, plain and simple. It is my opinion however, just as you wouldn’t try to deadlift a certain weight before your body is strong enough for it, you shouldn’t attempt the behind the neck pull up and many other advanced variations of pull ups, before you have built a proper foundation and base layer of strength.
If you wait until you are ready and respect this exercise, there is no reason you should injure yourself by including these in your programme. There is as much risk of injury here as performing a squat, deadlift, riding a bike to work or even crossing the road. Just use common sense and be sensible, acknowledging that this exercise also requires a degree of shoulder flexibility that many people lack.
However, if you have shoulder/rotator cuff issues or any disc issues in your neck, proceed with caution. I recommend being able to do 10 solid overhand wide grip pull ups before attempting the behind the neck variation. Behind the neck pull ups are one of my very favourite exercises for my upper back, I make it a point to use no momentum and take it nice and slow. I’ll often hold the top position for a second or two, it hits the traps more than one would think.
Be sure never to shrug your shoulders, as with all basic pull up variations you should aim to pull them back and down, while sticking your chest out. Also avoid your head moving too far forward like a chicken neck, try to keep your head in a neutral position, only moving your head forwards just enough to clear the bar and not compromising your spine.
A full behind the neck pull up involves a larger range of motion than a standard pull or chin up, which is why it is often more challenging. Pull yourself up slowly, touching your traps to the bar if you can, hold this top position for a half a second and then slowly descend back down.
Close Grip Pull Ups
On the subject of decreased leverage, this is most apparent with the close and wide grip pull up variation, in opposing ways. Close grip pulls will take the lats out of the movement, putting your upper back muscles in a position of weakness, forcing you to rely on your biceps and forearm muscles to complete the movement.
The close grip pull up is not rocket science, its painfully simple and brutally effective, much more difficult than the standard pull up but rarely seen in gyms today. Start with your thumbs touching, and perform your pull up as usual, you’ll be feeling humbled very quickly especially if you are weighing north of the 200lbs mark.
Some may underestimate this awesome arm strength builder, as underhand close grip chin ups are by far the easiest pull up variation, however the overhand close grip pull up is sure to be a challenge for any athlete and can be much more challenging than the standard pull up.
Wide Grip Pull Ups
Like I mentioned before regarding width, the standard pull up involves a grip just wider than shoulder width, take your hands any closer or wider however, and the pull up becomes more difficult.
Nearly all strength athletes are familiar with wide grip pull ups, but they are seldom done with proper technique and full range of motion. The wide grip largely takes the biceps out of the movement by placing the arms in an outstretched position, focusing on the lats and rest of the upper back to get the job done.
Truly strict wide grip pull ups are an impressive feat of strength, as lowering to a dead hang with straight arms every rep, while the arms are stretched out, is very tough and much more demanding than it looks.
Commando Pull Ups
The commando pull up is a more challenging version of the neutral grip pull up in which you place your hands on a single bar instead of parallel grip bars. Due to the smaller space between your hands, you’ll have to fight rotational forces in order to stop your body twisting around.
These are actually pretty tough and can be a lot more challenging than your standard pull or chin up. You may notice that this variation hits the chest as well as the arms and upper back, you’ll have to engage your entire upper body and your core to keep your body from trying to spin around out of position. It’s harder that it looks.
Take an underhand grip with one hand and an overhand grip with the other, pull your head to one side of the bar one rep, then to the other side of the bar on the next rep. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions, or until you go to failure.
I suggest alternating which hand is over/under each set to avoid any muscle imbalances and be sure to perform an even number of sets. Try commando pull ups on a thick bar to really fry your grip.
L-sit Pull Ups
This is a variation I often had to perform in gymnastics as a kid, L-sit pull ups are much more difficult that regular pull ups, as the leg position shifts your centre of gravity forward in front of you and forces you to incorporate more muscles to assist you.
With you’re the weight of your legs so far out in front of you, your core, shoulders and upper back will have to work much harder in order to hold the L-sit position throughout the movement, this becomes painfully obvious once you begin pulling yourself upwards. So, you’ll have to keep the movement very slow in order to keep the right position, and maintain control.
Keep your whole body tight and your legs straight, start from a hanging L-sit position, trying as best you can to maintain the L as you move, a rigid midsection is also a must for L-sit pull ups.
This exercise can also be performed with a wide grip, for added difficulty, but chances are the standard variation will be challenging enough for you for quite some time.
Archer Pull Ups
The archer pull up (also known as a bow and arrow pull up) is an excellent upper back strength builder, especially for those wishing to progress to the one arm pull up.
This movement gets its name from the shape your upper body creates, once your chin is over the bar, like that of an archer preparing to fire an arrow from a bow.
You’ll pull yourself up to one side of the bar, while straightening the opposite arm out straight, attempting to use the straight supporting arm as little as possible. Think of this almost as a self-supported one arm chin up.
You can choose to perform numerous repetitions in a row on one side and switch sides each set, or instead alternate sides each rep.
Try to hold the top position for at least a half a second if you can, although this can be extremely challenging.
Typewriters
We’re raising the difficulty once again with typewriters, which involve performing an archer pull up to one side of the bar, then switching the arm position, moving to the opposite side of the bar just like a circle pull up. But instead of lowering back down to the start position you’ll keep your chin up above the bar while you slide back and forth from one end of the bar to the other.
Typewriters are extremely tough and I guarantee that even the strongest athletes won’t be able to do many repetitions, as a highly dynamic exercise they will definitely challenge you.
Around the World Pull Ups
Also known as a circle pull up, this is essentially a variation of the archer pull up made a little more difficult. You’ll perform an archer pull up to one side, then as you hold your chin over the bar, slide all the way to the other side of the bar so that the bow and arrow arm position is reversed, then return back to the start position to complete your first repetition.
For this exercise you’ll definitely need a strong upper back, shoulders and a core made of steel.
X-Pull Ups
X-pull ups are deceivingly challenging, they might not look like much, but you’ll feel like every single muscle in your core and upper body are being worked hard when doing them.
They might look a little bit whacky and outside the box, but they are effective and certainly give your forearms and upper arms a great workout, injecting some fun and variety into your workout.
During each rep you’ll have to use a significant amount of core, upper back and shoulder strength just to keep your body from trying to spin around out of position, and you’re forearms strength will certainly be tested due to the unusual hand position.
You’ll need to move through the range of motion nice and slow, contracting your whole upper body, in order to stay in control and stop your body from spinning around.
Both hands will be using an overhand grip, whilst you cross your forearms over each other and grip the bar hard. This exercise requires quite a bit of shoulder flexibility so take care when attempting these for the first time.
For even more of a challenge, you can also try doing the X-pull up on a bar using a neutral grip with your palms facing one another.
Towel Pull Ups
As old school as it gets, Towel pull ups are renowned for developing crushing grip strength and monstrous, powerful forearms, there’s no need to waste your time with endless sets of wrist curls.
Towel pull ups challenge the grip big time, as one of the more advanced variations, especially for those athletes who weigh north of the 200lbs mark. By working the muscles of the hands and forearms with towel pull ups, you’ll strengthen what is often the weakest link for many athletes and get a great upper back workout at the same time.
There are two ways to perform towel pulls, first simply hang a towel over the top of a bar and hold it firmly by gripping each end with one hand, as you perform commando pull ups. Your hands should remain quite close together throughout this movement, but without touching.
Or, you can hang two towels from the bar, spaced shoulder width apart and grab each towel with one hand, then perform standard pull ups while gripping them. This is a slight more advanced grip exercise, as you’ll have to grip the whole towel (both sides) in each hand, as opposed to just one side in each hand when performing commando towel pulls.
If you don’t have any towels handy, you can always use some thick rope.
Tennis Ball Pull Ups
Also known as Grappler pull ups, Tennis ball pulls are another great way to totally smoke your grip and forearms while training your upper back.
You’ll be performing pull ups while holding a tennis ball in each hand, and resting your wrist on the bar, by using a false grip.
This exercise literally builds crushing grip strength as you’ll need to forcefully crush the tennis balls with your hands to build the tension needed to do the pull ups, while using this grip. Immediately you’ll notice that the tension irradiates out from your hands, all the way to your entire upper back, making for one delightfully evil exercise.
If this variation is too difficult, you can also try resting the tennis ball on the bar, but don’t forget to crush the living hell out of them.
Once you are performing pull ups with tarzan like upper body strength, you’ll find that there are more than just a few other ways to increase the grip demands of the pull up, you just have to use your imagination and get creative. However for challenging my grip strength when performing pull ups, I look no further than the towel or tennis ball pull ups.
Plyometric Pull Ups
Plyometric pull ups are a personal favourite of mine, because while there are many explosive pushing exercises that effectively work the deltoids, chest and triceps, there aren’t all too many that build power in the upper back. Aside from medicine ball slams, there really aren’t too many plyometric exercises that build power in the upper back as effectively as plyometric pull ups.
It goes without saying that you should have already mastered basic variations of the pull up and chin up before even thinking about attempting plyometric pull ups, I suggest being able to perform 10 strict pull ups before trying these out.
Be sure to use a full range of motion, hanging from the bar with straight arms, then begin by pulling yourself up as forcefully as possible, trying to get not just your chin over the bar, but much of your upper body and chest as well, the high you get, the more air time you’ll have. Towards the top of the pull up you’ll bring your hands away from the bar for a split second, so that at the height of the movement you’ll be suspended in mid-air, then as you begin to descend you’ll need to quickly grab hold of the bar again and then go immediately into the next repetition.
Clapping Pull Ups
Now things get really interesting, clapping pull ups in particular are sure to stop a few onlookers as they watch in amazement at this seldom seen feat of explosiveness. With any type of plyometric pull up, you’ll want to not only pull your chin over the bar, but also as much of your chest as possible, by performing each repetition as explosively as possible.
There are several plyometric variations of the pull up, all of which are rarely seen in gyms today. The bog standard plyo pull up involves simply bringing your hands up away from the bar for a split second before grabbing it quickly again on the way down, and you can even try clapping your hands together in front of your face or above your head as you do so.
Another option involves switching your grip between overhand and underhand each repetition as you bring your hands away from the bar, these are known as switchblade pull ups. You could also try switching from a wide grip to an extremely close grip and then back out wide again as you perform each rep, these are often referred to as In and Out pull ups.
Clapping pull ups take a great deal of strength, coordination and guts, but they are a very fun and worthwhile exercise for building upper body power. You’ll need to pull yourself up as high as possible, letting go of the bar on the way up and at the height of the jump clapping your hands together in front of you, then like lightning grab the bar once again on the way down.
Take care when trying the clapping pull up for the first time, if you miss the bar on the way back down, make sure to land on your feet and not on your face!
Spend some time working on plyometric pull ups without a clap before attempting this variation, after all it’s better to be safe than sorry.
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