Few will disagree that pull ups are one of the best upper body exercises you can do. Before you start hurling yourself around a pull up bar, make sure you understand proper form.

Because you’re using your entire bodyweight, if you start incorporating pull ups into your workout without adequate strength, you could really hurt yourself!

What Muscle Do Pull Ups Work?

Your Lats (Latissimus Dorsi) is a large wing like muscle group of the back and is primarily responsible for movement of the shoulder.  Pull ups will incorporate many upper body muscle groups, but your lats are definitely the power house.  For this reason, the good ole pull up is one of the best back exercises you can do!  You’ll also find that pull ups train your rear delts really well not to mention your biceps and triceps.  If you’re new to pull ups, you may want to try using gloves for pull ups.  While this isn’t necessarily the first thing people think about before they jump up to the bar, keep in mind that a pair of the best gloves for pull ups will help reduce hand fatigue.

As you get more comfortable with the pull ups bar, you’ll be able to add different variations to the exercise.

Pull Ups Variations

Knees to Elbows and Kipping Pull ups are more advanced variations.

Muscle Ups are a pull ups variation as well.  As you can see from the video demo a muscle up is a hybrid of a pull up and a dip.  While you may be conditioned to do a set a pull ups, and you can kill it with dips, combining the two movements requires a higher level of strength and conditioning.

Best Gloves For Pull Ups

GymPaws are made from 100% Real Leather.  If you’re new to pull ups you’ve probably realized that your hands feel like their going to tear apart!  That’s because there’s nothing between your skin and the cold hard bar.  Because GymPaws are leather, they allow your hand to naturally rotate around the bar.  Gymnasts use hand taping specifically for this reason.

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