Doing pull ups is one of the best bodyweight exercises you can do with simple exercise equipment and, finding the best pull up bar can be a daunting task. Because there are so many selections, you can make on the internet and well, it seriously depends on your wants. What are you looking for exactly; a doorway pull up bar, a ceiling-mounted one, maybe a pull up stand? Lucky for you, we got all kinds of pull up bars you’re looking for in this 9 Best Pull Up Bar for Any Setting – the Easy Ultimate Guide.
Pull ups are amazing because:
First, accessibility. You can do pull-ups anywhere you want, and it gets quite accessible if you got yourself a doorway pull up bar. If you don’t want to feel like you’re doing a chore, you can turn pull ups to a game; each time you leave the room try to do 5 pull ups, if you can’t do any pull ups yet, hanging for 30 seconds would be great also.
Second, versatility. Some of the pull up bars have more than one grip position, that will alone make you work out some muscles more than the others. Besides the usual pull ups and chin ups, you can also level up your pull up game to more advanced by slightly changing hand positions, crossing legs or changing body alignment.
Third, affordability. Pull up bars are super affordable; you can find a pull up bar under 50 dollars if you’re not looking for something extra.
Above all, you’ll only spend around 50 dollars for all the benefits pull up bars offer.
Pull ups work muscles you have in your back, arms and shoulders. Besides the strength gains, you can get more flexible and also build-up your stamina. It all depends on what you want to improve; you can find all kinds of workout routines with pull up bars on YouTube.
We hope you can find the best pull up bar you’re looking for in this guide. But before we get to that, let’s look through some of the most asked questions related to pull ups.
Pull up vs Chin up – Which is Better?
Most people are unaware that pull ups and chin ups are different exercises, and they use these two terms interchangeably. In fact, the key difference between two exercises is, for chin ups your palms face toward you and for pull ups, your palms face away from you. So what’s the big deal, right? How come this small grip difference can have its own section named pull up vs chin up? There is more to learn on this matter.
Both of the exercises work your lats, arms and abs, but the major difference between pull up vs chin up is: chin ups target your biceps more and pull ups work your back muscles a bit more.
We can’t say one exercise is worse than the other because even the movement pattern is pretty much the same, it’s entirely on you to pick one exercise over the other one. Chin ups are relatively easier to do, and they work your biceps better, on the other hand, pull ups target your back more efficiently.
No matter pull up vs chin up, if you don’t want to jeopardize your shoulders’ health, we recommend you not pull the bar behind your neck. And also, gripping the pull up bar as wide as possible can lead up to injury by straining your shoulder muscles beyond stretch.
So, pull up vs chin up, which do you pick? If you can’t even properly do a full range of both exercises, our next section illustrates how to do a pull up.
How to Do a Pull Up?
Don’t feel lonely if you can’t do a full range of pull up; in fact, most people struggle to do pull ups. In this section, we’ll start from absolute beginner to advanced step by step.
First and the most neglected part doing pull ups is; not warming up properly before the exercise itself. For example, you should simulate the exercise without a pull up bar to activate your back muscles; this is the most important part of how to do a pull up. Also, warming up beyond your limits can actually strain your muscles, so you should find the sweet spot on how long you should warm-up. Harvard Medical School recommends that; a good warm-up should last between 5 to 10 minutes. (1)
If you can’t manage to pull yourself up, that’s fine. Before you do a pull up, you should strengthen your body with accessory movements for pull ups. These accessory movements are:
First, the passive hang. You should only hold onto the bar with your arms straight and palms facing away from you, don’t forget to grip the bar slightly wider than your shoulders. Try to hang at least 30 seconds.
Second, is the active hang. Similarly, hold the bar and engage lats and shoulders slightly down and away from your head still keeping your arms straight. Hold on to this hang for 30 seconds.
The third movement, shoulder shrug. Hold on like you did for the active hang, but this time try to raise your body toward the bar without bending your arms.
Also, try to do halfway pull ups and assisted pull ups by putting a chair or a box under you. In fact, you can do the descend part by stepping on a chair and slowly lowering your body. If you feel like you are ready to do you pull up, let’s move on.
Pull up Step by Step – How to Do a Pull Up
-With your hands facing away from you, grip the bar slightly wider than shoulder-width. Your grip shouldn’t be weak, hold on properly.
-Before you do the pull up movement, hang for a second.
-Then engage your shoulders by pulling them down and back towards each other.
-Also, don’t forget to engage your core.
-Pull yourself up and pause for a second on the top.
-And finally, lower yourself to hanging position.
That’s it! You’ve done a pull up! However, there are two major tips you should know:
First, don’t shorten the range of motion by going only halfway down.
Second, don’t rush through the movement; pulling up should be faster than the descend.
Do you think this section was helpful to you? We hope it was because now you should pick your best pull up bar.
9 Best Pull Up Bar for Any Setting
1) Perfect Fitness Doorway Pull Up Bar (Best pull up bar for doorway)
The first pull up bar in our list has more than one grip option like narrow, standard, and wide handholds. Perfect Fitness doorway pull up bar stays on the top of the doorframe, that’s good because it broadens your range of motion, you won’t be stuck in between a narrow door frame. Also, it supports up to 300 pounds, which is more than enough. And adding to that, if you have wide shoulders, you’ll be easily maximizing your lat engagement. Because this pull up bar works with doorframes that are up to 6 inches deep and 33 inches wide.
Besides doing pull ups, you can also do sit-ups, push-ups and dips with this pull up bar.
2) Garren Fitness Maximiza Pull Up Bar – Locking Doorway Pullup Bar
Garren Fitness Maximiza pull up bar, offers safety and stability by its multiple screw-in door mounts, there are three sets of mounting hardware, two of them support up to 300 pounds and the other door mount supports up to 150 pounds. Also, the adjustable pull up bar fits doorways between 26 and 36 inches wide.
Above all, the foam provides a comfortable grip.
3) Ultimate Body Press XL Doorway Pull Up Bar
This could be the best pull up bar you can get, because of its quality production. The bars are much thicker compared to other pull up bars but also takes up a bit more space. Also, the curved up handlebars provide much more room for vertical pull ups.
Adding to all of that, you can do full-body workouts with Ultimate Body Press doorway pull up bar, including sit-ups, push-ups and dips.
4) Ultimate Body Press Wall Mount Pull Up Bar (Best wall mounting pull up bar)
We are well aware that not everybody would choose to have doorway pull up bars, that’s why we are including one of the best pull up bar with wall mounting. Ultimate Body Press wall mounting pull up bar is quite popular among fitness enthusiasts, because it has four grip positions that can help you target every muscle you have in your upper body, with high-density foam protecting your palms.
5) Ultimate Body Press Ceiling Mounted Pull Up Bar (Best ceiling mounted pull up bar)
So, you don’t want the pull up bar to be in between doorways and on one of the walls, alright, what about your ceiling? Ultimate Body Press has all kinds of pull up bars. And this brand has three spots in our guide of the best pull up bar, this ceiling mounted pull up bar could be the best in the bunch.
This pull up bar offers three grip positions for standard, wide-grip, and 20-inch parallel grip with support from the high-density foam.
6) Iron Gym Pull Up Bar (Best affordable pull up bar)
The Iron Gym pull up bar is similar to Perfect Fitness pull up bar. In fact, it hangs from the doorframe and can use this pull up bar for sit-ups, push-ups and dips just like the first pull up bar in our list. So, what’s the difference? If you are looking for a cheaper option that also offers versatile workouts, this easy to mount pull up bar should be your choice.
7) Stamina Power Towers (Best pull up bar and dips)
Here we have a pull up bar that’s more than just a pull up bar. In fact, the Stamina 1690 Power Tower offers more than just pull ups. Also, you’ll be able to do push-ups, sit-ups, leg raises for abs, dips and more with its 5 sets of grip places.
The durable steel makes this pull up bar an investment more than a simple purchase. Nevertheless, the overall size of this tower is 49 inches long, and 42.5 inches wide by 81 inches high that means if you don’t have enough space in your house, we recommend you look other options. But, you won’t be putting any screws into your doorframes, walls or ceiling.
Also, if you are looking to have your own home gym, check our guide “The Essential Home Gym Guide 2021”.
8) GoBeast Pull Up Bar Free Standing Dip Station (Best pull up bar stand)
The free-standing pull up bar GoBeast is much more lightweight compared to the previous selection in our list. Also, you’ll be able to perform up to 35 exercises.
If you want to put away the pull up bar or carry it to somewhere else, it comes with a convenient bag for it. Yes, it lacks a bit of stability compared to other one, but this is a better choice if you don’t want your pull up bar taking room all the time.
By the way, if you are also looking for a power rack, this is our best pick:
9) Stamina 65-1460 Outdoor Fitness Power Tower (Best outdoor pull up bar)
The last pull up bar in our list is for people who have a backyard and enjoy exercising outside. For example, sometimes you want to exercise outside your house and, working in a gym can also feel suffocating. With the comfort of your yard, you’ll be able to do your exercises in a private setting.
In the same way, to other pull up bars, Stamina Outdoor Fitness Power tower offers all kinds of exercises that targets; arms, shoulders, upper and lower back, abs and chest.
Also, this outdoor pull up bar is weather-resistant, that’s built with heavy-gauge steel and stainless hardware. Adding to that, it provides chip and corrosion resistance and UV protection. If you’re looking to exercise outside this is the best pull up bar you can choose.
Summary
In this guide we’ve talked about; why you should do pull ups, the difference between pull up vs chin up, how to do a pull up and finally showed the best pull up bar selections.
Finally, we recommend that you should incorporate pull ups to your daily routine in some way to live a healthier life. Please, start to work out daily to eliminate any future health problems.
Have you found our guide helpful? Also, let us know how many pull ups you can do in the comments. Thank you for reading our best pull up bar guide and your feedback!
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