A pull up is a challenging upper body exercises. In this exercise, you grip and overhead bar and lift your body up until your chin is above the bar. Even though it may seem very easy, it is hard to execute exercise.

Why is it so difficult?

If you are finding pull-ups very difficult to perform, it may not mean that you do not have sufficient upper body strength. Even though if you have strength in your upper body, you may not be able to perform pull-ups with the right form because of physics. In pull-ups, you need to lift your entire body mass straight up using only the muscles in your upper body. You do so by counteracting gravity throughout the process and that is why it is so difficult. If your weight is more, the exercise may become more difficult for you.

Then why should you do it?

When you perform pull-ups, you need the intense engagement of nearly every muscle in your upper body.

Hands-there is a complex group of highly specified muscles present in your hands and these muscles help you to grip the bar.

Wrists and forearms-the rise during pull-ups is guided by flexors running from your forearms through your wrists.

Abdominals-if you are doing the pull up correctly, that the mineral muscles will stabilise your core and they will keep you from swinging.

Back and shoulders-pull-ups can do wonders for your back muscles and for some people that is the only reason why they devotedly try pull-ups. The latissimus dorsi, which is the V shaped slab of muscle in your upper back, pulls on your upper arm bones as you pull yourself up. The let’s are assisted by the infraspinatus and other muscles which involved your shoulder blades in the movement while performing pull-ups.

Chest and arms-pull-ups will also help you to build your chest and arms. This happens because pectoralis major muscles and part of your triceps pull your arm bone toward your body.

If you simply focus on perfecting the form and then repeat this exercise where your renter body mass is reached, it will help you to build strength and definition. Very few other exercises can help you to do so many things.

It is very important to learn pull-ups with the right form and you need to do them in the right form so as to get the maximum benefit possible from pull-ups.

What to do if it is difficult

Sometimes, you may find it very difficult and you may fail initially. However, experts agree that the best way to get to the pull up is to practice the pull of movement itself. Even if you can’t complete it at first, you will have to keep doing it. There are some other exercises and techniques that can help you to do better faster. A negative pull-up is a downward half of the pull up and you can start it with your chin above the bar. This can help you to practice pull-ups better and reach a position where you can do pull-ups better. Spotter-assisted pull-ups and partial pull-ups can also help you to do pull-ups better.

References 1. The Ultimate Pull-up Program
2. Effects of grip width on muscle strength and activation in the lat pull-down
3. Electromyographical Comparison of a Traditional, Suspension Device, and Towel Pull-Up