The classic pull up is a staple in most training programmes for building a big upper body and improving your pulling strength, hence the pull-up bar is where many people start their fitness journey. But did you know that there is so much more you can do with a Pull Up Bar than just pull ups?

1 - Front Levers

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• Hollow Holds - This helps develop core strength in a similar trunk position to the front lever.

• Inverted Rows - This helps develop the upper back and lat strength needed for a front lever.

2 - Muscle Ups

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• Pull Ups - This strengthens the initial portion of the muscle up.

• Tricep Dips - This strengthens the last portion of the muscle up.

3 - Leg Raises

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• Isometric Hollow Hangs - This strengthens your ability to hang off a bar without excessive swinging.

• Knee Raises - This regresses the leg raise and helps you learn to initiate a leg raise from hip flexion.

4 - L Sit Holds

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• Isometric Hollow Hangs - This strengthens your ability to hang off a bar without excessive swinging.

• Isometric Knee Raises - This regressed the L sit hold by reducing the distance of the leg from your torso and reduces the need for hamstring flexibility.

5 - Toes to Bar

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• Knee Raises - This regresses the leg raise and helps you learn to initiate a leg raise from hip flexion.

• Knee to Elbow Raises - This fills the gap between the knee raise and the toe to bar.

6 - Knee Raises

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• Isometric Hollow Hangs - This strengthens your ability to hang off a bar without excessive swinging.

• Hip Flexor Raises - This strengthens your hip flexors relevant to the knee raise.

7 - Single Leg Knee Raises

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• Bicycle Crunches - This builds strength in a cyclical, unilateral exercise, developing your ability to rotate while keeping your core controlled.

• Knee Raises - This develops your knee raise strength up bilaterally before doing it unilaterally.

8 - Side Knee Raises

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• GHD Side Crunches - This strengthens you obliques for the twisting motion of the side raises.

• Knee Raises - Again, this develops your initial knee raise strength.

9 - Windscreen Wipers

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• Toe to Bar - This strengthens your ability to hold the position with the feet over the bar.

• Supine Laying Windscreen Wipers - This strengthens the twisting windscreen wiper part of the movement.

10 - Around the Worlds

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• Pull Up Holds - This strengthens your ability to hold the pull up at the top.

• Single Arm Cable Lat Pulldowns - This strengthens your unilateral lat and upper body strength, helping you maintain control during your around the worlds.

11 - Bicycles

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• Single Leg Knee Raises - This strengthens the top position required from each leg during the bicycle exercise.

• Bicycle Crunches - This works on control during the cyclical motion of the bicycle exercise.

12 - Garhammer Raises

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• Isometric Knee Raises - This solidifies your knee raise position so you can stay stable before raising the knee further in your Garhammer raise.

• Knee to Elbow Raises - This works on the upper range of motion of the Garhammer.

13 - Scap Pull Ups

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• Isometric Hollow Hangs - This strengthens your ability to hold a hang of a pull up bar during your scap pull ups.

• Cable Lat Pull Downs - This strengthens your lats during an isometric movement, which you can do with less than your bodyweight, before attempting the scap pull up with your body weight.

14 - Dead Hangs

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• Child Pose Lat Stretches - This works on your upper body and lat flexibility so that you are able to relax and stretch your body out without overstretching during a dead hang.

• Hand Gripper Squeezes -  This works on your grip strength to help you hold a dead hang.

15 - Hand Rotations

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• Dead Hangs - This works on your grip strength specific to the pronated position in a hand rotation.

• Supinated Dead Hangs - This works on your grip strength specific to the pronated position in a hand rotation.

16 - Skin the Cat

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• Hanging Knees to Elbows - This works on strength and control during the initial roll up portion of the skin the cat exercise.

• Tricep Dips - This works on strength at the shoulders and chest during extreme ranges of shoulder motion, similar to the end position of the skin the cat exercise.

17 - L Sit Flutter Kicks

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• Hanging L Sit Isometrics - This strengthens your ability to hold your core position during L sit flutter kicks.

• Parallette L-Sits - This regresses the L sit further for those that struggle with lat flexibility or grip strength.

18 - Chin Over Bar Holds

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• Dumbbell Bicep Curls - This strengthens the biceps, a key muscle during a chin-up hold.

• Cable Lat Pull Downs - This strengthens the lats, another key movement during the chin-up hold.

19 - Neutral To Wide Grip Hangs

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• Hand Rotations - This similar variation works on your ability to move your hands during a dead hang.

• Single Arm Dead Hangs - This works on your single arm grip strength and lat strength for the moving portion of the neutral to wide grip hang.

20 - Towel Hangs

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• Dead Hangs - This is a good regression to the towel hang to help you get your first towel hang because of the extra grip.

• Towel Bent Over Kettlebell Rows - This is a great regression to the towel hang, working on specific grip strength and upper body strength.

21 - Cannonball Hangs

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• Cannonball Reverse Rows - This works on your upper body strength specific to the cannonball grip.

22 - Pilar Hangs

Exercises to help you achieve this -

• Pillar Grip Kettlebell Suitcase Carries - This works on your grip strength specific to the pillar grips, which can be progressed up until you are ready to do it with your bodyweight with a Pillar Hang.

23 - Banded Tricep Extensions

Exercise this helps you to achieve -

• Barbell Bench Press - Banded tricep extensions are great for extra tricep training volume to aid in your bench press strength.

24 - Banded Lat Pulldowns

Exercise this helps you to achieve -

• Pull Ups - Banded lat pull downs are great for building lat strength prior to getting your first pull up for those that cannot yet lift their bodyweight.

25 - Banded Bicep Curls

Exercise this helps you to achieve -

• Chin Ups - Banded bicep curls are great for developing strength in your biceps to help you get your first chin up.

26 - Banded Face Pulls

Exercise this helps you to achieve -

• Barbell Rows - Banded face pulls are great for building your upper back which helps during pulling movements like the barbell row.

27 - Ring Inverted Rows

Exercise this helps you to achieve -

• Ring Pull Ups - Ring inverted rows are a great regression to the ring pull up which you can slowly progress by increasing the height of the rings.

28 - Ring Bicep Curls

Exercise this helps you to achieve -

• Ring Muscle Ups - The ring bicep curl is a great exercise for developing strength during the transition between the pull and tricep press out portion of a ring muscle up.

29 - Ring Press Ups

Exercise this helps you to achieve -

• Bench Press - Ring press ups are a great variation to help improve your stability during a bench press, allowing you to express force more efficiently.

30 - Ring Tricep Extensions

Exercise this helps you to achieve -

• Ring Muscle Ups - Ring tricep extensions are great for developing strength in the last portion of a ring muscle up.

So, whether you only have a pull up frame in your home gym or have all the kit in the world in your local gym, add these pull up bar exercises into your training to mix up your training and get a killer full body workout!

Written by guest author Ewan Hammond.

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Tags: Equipment > Pull Up Bars ; Exercise Type > Strength