Compound Vertical Pull Exercises

Chinups are a prime example of a compound vertical pull.

A compound exercise is one that works multiple joints and muscle groups, as opposed to an isolation exercise, which focuses just on one muscle and joint. Vertical pulling exercises involve pulling a weight toward you from overhead and target your back muscles -- specifically your lats, rhomboids and lower and mid-traps, as well as your biceps. Change your vertical pulling exercises regularly to keep your training routine interesting and challenging.

Chinups and Pullups

Chinups are a staple compound vertical pull, as they can be performed anywhere without the need of equipment and are an effective test of strength-to-body-weight ratio. You have three basic types of chinups you can try. For regular chinups, grasp the bar with a shoulder-width grip and palms facing toward you. Wide grip chinups -- often called pullups -- involve a wide grip with your palms facing away, while neutral grip chinups require you to have your palms facing in toward each other. Whatever variation you perform, start with your whole body fully extended and pull yourself up until your chin is above the bar.

Chinup Variations

You needn't stick to the same three basic grips with chinups -- there are plenty of variations you should try. When starting a training routine, or if you're new to weight training, chinups will probably be a little too difficult, so either use an assisted chinup machine or try band-assisted chinups, advises strength coach Mike Robertson. For these, attach a resistance band around your chinup bar and place your knees in the loop at the bottom. The band gives you a boost and enables you to progress to unassisted chins and pullups. For the more advanced, weighted chinups are the ultimate in chinning variations. Use a dipping belt with a weight plate attached, or hold a dumbbell between your feet and perform chinups as you would usually. Switch between high-rep body-weight chinups and lower-rep weighted chinups, recommends Ben Bruno, trainer at Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning in Boston.

Pulldowns

Pulldowns are an effective way to replicate the chinup or pullup movements using a machine. As with chinups you can use a variety of different grips -- most gyms have wide and short handles that you can use an overhand or underhand grip with, as well as neutral grip handles, rope attachments and handles that work one arm at a time. You may fare better with pulldowns if you're a beginner as they're slightly easier to set up than chinups and don't require as much core stabilization.

Considerations

Perform two compound vertical pulling exercises once a week in your back workout, or perform just one each workout if you're on a full-body or an upper/lower split and training your back twice a week. For muscle growth, perform sets of eight to 12 reps, sets of three to eight for strength gains and high-rep sets of 12 or more to increase your muscular endurance. Balance your vertical pulling exercises with horizontal pulling movements such as dumbbell, barbell or cable rows and face pulls, advises trainer Eric Cressey in "Maximum Strength." For each vertical movement, perform one horizontal one.

References

• ExRx: Chin-Up
• ACE Fitness: Pull-Ups
• ExRx: Pull-Up (Neutral Grip)
• Robertson Training Systems: Exercise of the Week: The Band-Assisted Chin-up
• EliteFTS: Tackling the Weighted Chin-up
• Maximum Strength; Eric Cressey; May 2008