Thread: Pull-ups

Not sure i quite understand the question because my gym has about 12 different lat pulldown attachments. If you're asking whether any of those attachments are superior to the straight pullup bar then thats just a preference issue.

Go with whats comfortable.

I think he's asking if there is a difference between lat pulldowns and slightly wide grip pullups.
Yes there is a difference-colossal actually. Lat pulldowns are far less superior when matched. Regardless of grip positioning you should definitely do chins first.
So, get off your fat ass and start chinning bitch!

juggernaut
chinups are for wussies. he's asking about pullups, so get off your fat ass and do pullups... not chinups!!!!!

Originally Posted by stepaukas

juggernaut
chinups are for wussies. he's asking about pullups, so get off your fat ass and do pullups... not chinups!!!!!

enough with grammatical bullshit, asshole.

Originally Posted by PushAndPull

would there be any reason to do pull-ups with the normal bar?

well, you can adjust the weight when doing a lat pull down, you're lmited to your body weight on the pull ups unless you use a weight belt to hang weights from your hips, I think the main difference is convenience.

I disagree; the PULLup is a much tougher exercise and therefore may be more beneficial. But yes, if a chin bar isn't handy, a lat pulldown will definitely suffice.

I'm speaking of the actual shape of the pull-up bar. I'm doing pull-ups with one of those door jam jobs. The straight bar part of it isn't very comfortable because I can't get a wide enough grip. It has another bar I use instead(which is shaped like a lat pulldown bar) which has a wider grip so i have been doing those instead. I doubt there is any reason to do reg pull-ups as well, but was just curious.

you don't need a wide grip, in fact a wide grip can cause shoulder problems, a shoulder width grip is good.

Originally Posted by Gazhole

Not sure i quite understand the question because my gym has about 12 different lat pulldown attachments. If you're asking whether any of those attachments are superior to the straight pullup bar then thats just a preference issue..

I guess I should have said that it was shaped like the standard lat pulldown bar. I tried to find out if the bar actually had a name, but google failed me.

Originally Posted by Gazhole

Go with whats comfortable.

I hear you on that. Otherwise you believe it's basically the same?

Originally Posted by Robert D.

you don't need a wide grip, in fact a wide grip can cause shoulder problems, a shoulder width grip is good.

I hear you. Remember the door jam job -lol- The straight bar part is just to narrow. The other bar is basically shoulder width which is perfect, the only difference is the grip. Instead of it being straight where you grip it's angled slightly downward.

I have always found a wide grip on a completely straight bar is not helpful to the wrist joints and so takes away from the lat workout.

But with back, there is so much going on, a lot of different muscles working slightly differently depending on what you're doing, that you want as much variety as possible, so go for a different assortment of handles over the course of different workouts.

Originally Posted by BigBackGrips

But with back, there are so much going, a lot of different muscles working slightly differently depending on what you're doing,[/I] that you want as much variety as possible, so go for a different assortment of handles over the course of different workouts.

I agree with this.
I also do chin-ups and pull-ups with the peg type grips(my best description) it's just the straight bar pull-ups that are too narrow so i don't do them.

pull-ups are great but like Robert, the most obvious difference between the two exercises is convenience.

for instance, i can do 15 bw pull-ups with relative ease but because i don't want to be in that high of a rep range, i'll do weighted chins, lat pulldowns or both.

if someone can only do one or two pull-ups, i see no problem in starting with pull-ups for a set or two, but eventually you should move over to the pull downs to build strength in your lats that you can't get through a couple of momentum-filled, form-lacking pull-up reps.

Originally Posted by Robert D.

you don't need a wide grip, in fact a wide grip can cause shoulder problems, a shoulder width grip is good.

right.

also, some idiots bring the bar behind their heads. i wouldn't advise doing that either.

Originally Posted by BigBackGrips

I have always found a wide grip on a completely straight bar is not helpful to the wrist joints and so takes away from the lat workout.

Agreed

Personally, I think the pull-up machine that takes weight away is pretty much crap.

thoughts?

You're better off with a spotter helping only when you need it and not much then

^^ that yellow ad actually deters me from wanting to buy the sandpaper looking thing you sell. Wanna shrink it?

Originally Posted by juggernaut

^^ that yellow ad actually deters me from wanting to buy the sandpaper looking thing you sell. Wanna shrink it?

If I shrink it, will you buy the grips? Will you follow the instructions to get the free extra pair.

If you say yes, I'll shrink it.

Here, this one is smaller.

Originally Posted by juggernaut

^^ that yellow ad actually deters me from wanting to buy the sandpaper looking thing you sell. Wanna shrink it?

no-too much work..reading and following directions.
I'm pretty sure I prefer developing grip strength than your way.

Wow Glad I saw that about the grips! I lost(or was robbed of) my other pair. I really like them! I'll be ordering my two pair soon!

Originally Posted by Merkaba

Wow Glad I saw that about the grips! I lost(or was robbed of) my other pair. I really like them! I'll be ordering my two pair soon!

We look forward to your order.

Originally Posted by juggernaut

no-too much work..reading and following directions.
I'm pretty sure I prefer developing grip strength than your way.

That's cool. A lot of serious pro's use these, but everyone has their favorite. Personally, I like to focus totally on the set and take my hands out of the equation.

Originally Posted by BigBackGrips

That's cool. A lot of serious pro's use these, but everyone has their favorite. Personally, I like to focus totally on the set and take my hands out of the equation.

oh, now I have to get them. I want to be serious.

Jugg, play nice. <stern look>

I'm with BBG on this one actually - I don't like to think too much about my hands when I'm working my back. I usually use over-under grip until that stops working - then I use straps.

These grips, what are they - are they just kinda sticky sandpaper like Jugg suggests? How does using them differ from using straps?

Originally Posted by Built

Jugg, play nice. <stern look>

I'm with BBG on this one actually - I don't like to think too much about my hands when I'm working my back. I usually use over-under grip until that stops working - then I use straps.

These grips, what are they - are they just kinda sticky sandpaper like Jugg suggests? How does using them differ from using straps?

Built, thanks for the question. The short answer is: comfort, cush, and GRAB. They grip metal better than anything out there. So a better set, better pump. If you really want to squeeze out those extra reps, Big Backs will become your best friends. Check out Merkaba's comments on this thread.

Now, I'll try to keep it short, but if we can really deliver the better workout we promise it's worth a few words.

Big Back Grips are not sand paper; we manufacture them with a deep rubber tread (like a tire) on both sides so they grip just about anything. We have them made as tough as possible to hold up in the gym. And you can use them for bi's, tri's, chest, shoulder, and especially back!

As far as straps go, they essentially lash the weight to the bones in your hands, pull the wrist joints away from each other and function like a noose to cut circulation. Some guys like them, and more power to them. But we have a lot of customers who gave up straps and now use Big Backs. (See the VJ Hils on our homepage.)

Now, imagine lat handles that look like this becoming your favorite handles in the gym:


Big Back Grips will make the roughest (or smoothest) bars feel good, really really good in your hands[/B]. And they will give you a slip-free grip with little effort on your part. Your effort is saved for lats, traps, bi's, tri's, etc.

Result: All your focus goes into the rep, into the set. Your are hands are comfy, your grip is solid with near zero slippage, your set is better, your pump is better.

This guy is Jeremy. We met him at Muscle Beach on Memorial Day. You can see his comments in the video and the youtube page. Check out the user comments on our website, too. Mike, our homepage, explains it really well.

Also, 10 IronMagazine members are testing them. I'm sure they will post their comments soon.

Well, wow, thank you for all that.

I missed the post - I have this thing called "day job", <sigh>, and the giveaway was all given away by the time I got online.

The reason I'm interested is because I have a herniated disk in my neck that has caused me to lose considerable grip strength (it's funny, but when the signal doesn't get to your fingers, they don't work so well - I know, right? I was as surprised as you are. Right around the time I dropped a bowl of soup onto my laptop last summer... grrr...).

I'll see how the fellas respond to them. Maybe order up a pair myself. Thanks again for the info.