Pull-Ups Exercises using 3 Different Grips - Wide, Medium and Close-Grip

Man doing the pull up strength training, bodyweight exercise.
Photo by RODNAE Productions

Pull-ups are one of the best types of full-body or bodyweight exercises to do for strength training and bodybuilding and here are 15 great reasons to do pull-ups! They can be done in a relatively short period of time while still working out many of the body’s muscle groups simultaneously while still giving you a pumped and a ripped look. It's a great exercise to get you ready for the summer.

Generally, pull-ups will primarily work the back but also tjhe shoulder, biceps, chest and triceps and to a lesser extent the core muscles which are used more as support in doing this exercise. Along with providing you with an amazing strength training workout, when pull-ups are done to exhaustion, this exercise will provide you with a great cardio workout as well and burn any extra, unwanted fat.

Depending on the handle bar grip (hand grips) that you use and the angle at which you perform this exercise, you can work the various upper body muscle groups differently and provide yourself with constant variation in your workout. Basically, you will never get bored doing pull-ups and your body won't get used this exercise since there are so many different variations to do pull-ups.

I like using this Hammer Strength workstation (shown in the video) because it offers a variety of different angles of handles and bar grip angles. I do these pull-ups using a wide grip, a medium grip and a narrow (close) grip. Each grip works the lats and back muscles from a slightly different angle. With each handle bar you can also change the proximity of your hands on each bar i.e., closer or further apart thus offering even more variation i.e., a very wide grip or a more medium grip. You will also notice that the wider the grip, the more difficult this exercise becomes.

Method of Performance on Hammer Strength Rack

Wide Grip Pull-Up

The wide-grip is my favorite as it really works out the lat muscles the best to give you that amazing V-shape back look as well as working out many other upper body muscles, the other supporting muscle groups .

Medium Grip Pull-Up

Same way to do this exercise as the wide grip pull-up except that the palms of the hands will face at an angle towards each other or more inwards.

Narrow or Close Grip Pull-Up

The close-grip pull-up works the back from different angles and is great as an additional biceps workout.

Same way to do this exercise as the wide grip pull-up except that the palms of the hands will face inwards or directly towards each other depending on the angle of the handle.

Pull-up TIPS

Superset Suggestion

Try supersetting pull-ups with the deadlift exercise for an amazing strength training and muscle building exercise combination that will also help burn any unwanted fat and provide you gain more muscle mass and definition.