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“Lat Science: Exploring the Pull-Up” by Charles Staley
List of posts in Articles by Charles Staley
- “Are You an Exerciser or an Athlete? Part I” by Charles Staley
- “Are You an Exerciser or an Athlete? Part II” by Charles Staley
- “Lat Science: Exploring the Pull-Up” by Charles Staley
- “Towards A Better Way To Train Beginners” by Charles Staley
- “Why I Don’t Want To Clean 315 Pounds” by Charles Staley
- Re-examining the Value of Aerobic Exercise: Part I
- Re-examining the Value of Aerobic Exercise: Part II
I really appreciate Charles Staley’s approach to training. It seems to be the right balance between scientific jargon and a language the layman, like yours truly, can understand. His article below breaks down why the pull-up is such a great exercise and one that you should definitely be doing NOW! So, step away from the lat pull down machine guys and get ready to move your body through space.
Don’t forget to leave a comment to let me know what you think …
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Lat Science: Exploring the Pull-Up
By Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems
I have to admit, I love pull-ups. All versions actually—chins, pull-ups, parallel grip… low reps, high reps, weights strapped to my waist, you name it. I’ve done a lot of experimentation with this exercise too—much of which involved stupid-level high-tension stunts involving heavy eccentrics, plyometric loads, all sorts of stuff.
My affection for this exercise probably stems from the fact that I’m pretty good at it (I can do 12-13 reps weighing 215 at age 49—like I said, pretty good—nothing to write a press release about, but you get my point).
Aside from my own modest success with this exercise, there are plenty of more objective reasons to take a second (or third) look at doing more pull-ups:
Same But Different
Like all good exercises, the pull-up is almost infinitely modifiable: you can use both arms, one arm (maybe), supinated, pronated, or neutral grips—in fact, you can even use a thumbless grip.
Pull-ups allow you to use less than bodyweight (I’ll show you how later), bodyweight, or additional loads… you can use all sorts of bar options—thick, thin, towels, gymnastic rings… we even do this drill called a “Lat Rotisserie” — check it out here
Infinite variability is important, because it allows you to perform an exercise year after year, without burning out your mind or your connective tissue. So variability allows you to safely do what’s important—all the time, not just one week out of four, which means you never make any progress.
Muscular Topography
The pull-up quickly adds visual impact to your physique—it thickens and widens the lattisimus dorsi, which also makes your waist look smaller by comparison. Pull-ups also rapidly hypertrophy the biceps, forearms, traps, rhomboids and all sorts of “under the hood” musculature that typically goes unnoticed – until poor training habits lead to imbalance, or (possibly) injury.
Athletic Functionality
In terms of movement pattern classification, pull-ups fall under the category of “vertical pulling” exercises. Vertical pulling is one of eight categories of movement patterns that we recognize at Staley Training Systems (the other seven: horizontal pulling, vertical and horizontal pushing, trunk rotation and flexion, squatting, and lunging). If you wish to have a “complete” physique and/or complete functionality, you simply must incorporate vertical pulling drills into your training strategy.
The ability to do a given number of pull-ups also speaks volumes about another aspect of functionality — your relative strength (or “strength to weight ratio.”) My colleague Martin Rooney of the Parisi Speed School once remarked to me that he’s noticed a direct correlation between pull-up strength and 40-yard dash times. This correlation (if it exists) becomes intuitively obvious when you consider than both events benefit from low bodyfat and high strength levels.
There are many additional, less-obvious examples of the lat’s role in balanced athletic functionality. For example, since the lattisimus dorsi is the only muscle that directly connects the humerus to the spine, its participation in all pulling movements (such as Olympic lifts and deadlifting) is absolutely critical.
Fun
I know training’s supposed to be a miserable experience (or at least you’d think so by the way most people conduct themselves in gyms), but for me at least, if it’s not fun, I wouldn’t do it. Now granted, I probably have a warped definition of the word “fun,” but the point is, training should instill a sense of accomplishment in you—a sense of pride in your own physicality.
I recently spoke with a colleague of mine about the subject of pull-ups, and he told me:
“Coming from someone who used to be VERY over fat and couldn’t do a pullup to save my life all through middle and high school. I had very good pressing and lower body strength but couldn’t do a chin. After losing weight, it was very empowering to be able to do a pull-up—it feels AWESOME. It’s a great feat of strength and when people seeing you doing chins or pull-ups, they have a certain respect for you.”
These sentiments are almost universal among those who spend any kind of time in the weight room. It’s possible to bench or squat with light weights and you’re still benching or squatting, but the smallest weight increment with pullups is you—your own bodyweight. The exercise becomes a visceral metaphor for personal accomplishment: after all, you’re “pulling your own weight.”
If You’re Not Convinced Yet, Sorry—I Did My Best
Let’s move on to a more practical discussion of the pull-up—what it is, how to do one, and how to incorporate it into your own training strategy.
The most prevalent point of confusion involves nomenclature—what’s a pullup, and what’s a chin-up? Simply, a chin-up involves supinated hands (meaning, your palms face you during the exercise). Pull-ups are the opposite of that. Other variants, such as neutral-grip pull-ups, are a bit fuzzier, and definitions vary from coach to coach.
As we move on to performance-related issues, I’d like to share an observation with you that may enhance your understanding of the movement from a biomechanical perspective. Imagine yourself standing under a chinning bar, ready to do a chin-up. You reach up with a supinated grip, and grasp the bar.
Just for the purposes of this (mental) exercise, imagine that somehow your hands are attached to the bar so you don’t need to grip it. I’m not sure if that involved duct tape, superglue, or whatever. I also want you to imagine that your biceps are de-innervated (meaning, they don’t work).
Still with me? OK, from here, ask yourself this question: what happens if you just activate your lats, maximally without doing anything else?
The answer is, you’ll do a chin-up, despite no biceps activation. If you maximally activate your lats, your elbows will be drawn down to your ribs, which means you did a chin.
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October 23rd, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Good stuff!! Keep up the great work. Staley’s articles are great.
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Muata Reply:
October 23rd, 2008 at 9:07 pm
@Sol Goode – Thanks for the compliment and for leaving a comment Sol …
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November 24th, 2008 at 9:12 am
[...] Mr Low Body Fat’s Blog . He can do 12-13 reps weighing in at 215 at age 49, pretty decent. [...]
December 16th, 2008 at 11:13 am
I don’t have lots of room for equipment and I’m trying to get back into shape so I just picked up a pull up bar:
http://www.studbarpullup.com/index.html
The info you have provided is great and I can’t wait to get started.
Thanks!
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Muata Reply:
December 17th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
@chris – No problem Chris and thanks for the link to the stud bar …
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October 7th, 2009 at 11:58 am
It sucks that I’m 35 pounds heavier than my friend and he destroys me everytime we go do pull ups at the park together. I know for a fact that I’m stronger than him but it sucks to see him doing more than me and people look at him as if he’s hulk. It aint easy doing 15 pull ups at 220 pounds. I’d love to see how things would turn out I had my strength at his weight and vice versa. I’d rub it all in his face like he does to me.
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Muata Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Xavier, don’t sweat it bro; here’s what you do. Slowly increase your pull-up numbers by doing pyramids or ladders. Then, work on doing handstand holds to eventually doing handstand push-ups. Even doing these against a wall will excite the crowd more than your friend doing pull-ups …
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