Pull Your Weight

Expand your back-training repertoire with these challenging pull-up variations.

- Joe Wuebben

IF YOU ROTATE BETWEEN only overhand-, underhand-, and neutral-grip pull-ups, then it’s time to broaden your training horizons—and probably your lats. There are way more pull-up variations than the simplistic body-weight tower at your local gym would lead you to believe. To walk you through six worthy pull-up options, we called upon calisthenics icon Al Kavadlo, author of the best-selling books Get Strong and Street Workout and lead instructor for the Progressive Calisthenics Certification (PCC) programme. (Visit Kavadlo at alkavadlo. com.) You may not be able to crush all six of these pull-up moves—ranked from easiest to hardest—as impressively as Kavadlo, but your back will be bigger and better for trying.

1 BAND-ASSISTED PULL-UP

DIFFICULT Y RANKING: 1 of 6

KAVADLO’S COMMENTARY: “If you aren’t strong enough to do a full pull-up yet, this is probably the best way to practise going through the full range of motion.”

EXECUTION: Secure a wide elastic band to a pull-up bar and let it hang straight down to the floor. Select a band resistance appropriate for your strength level—the thicker it is, the more assistance it will provide. Place one foot or knee in the loop of the band, then grab the pull-up bar with a shoulder-width grip. Lower down to full arm extension, then pull yourself up to the bar. Repeat for reps. As you get stronger, use a lighter band and eventually work toward body-weight pull-ups with high reps (10-plus).

2 COMMANDO PULL-UP

DIFFICULT Y RANKING: 2 of 6