I often receive questions from people who are trying to substitute pull-ups with other similar exercises that work the same muscle groups. This gentleman asks:

I am always trying to add muscle and do not have access to a pull up bar or lat pull down machine. I work out at home and have dumbbells. What is an alternative exercise to pull-ups in your opinion.

First of all, one thing I always do no matter whether I am traveling or at home is to go for a jog near a school district and search for any playground that is open to the public. There you will find monkey bars and maybe even pull-up bars where you can do pull-up workouts such as the PT Pyramid.

When discussing alternative exercises for a challenging calisthenics exercise such as pull-ups, simply break down the pull-up into muscle groups used. They are...

Biceps – These are your pulling muscles that enable your arms to bend and lift your weight over the pull-up bar. The exercise recommended to develop biceps is, of course, bicep curls.

A good workout for this muscle is what I call a superset where you select three dumbbell weights (For instance 15lbs, 20lbs, and 25lbs). This is a non-stop workout where you only rest to change the weights after each series of repetitions. Do the 15lbs for 20 reps, the 20 lbs for 10 reps, and the 25 lbs for 5 reps. Select the weight for you that will make it challenging to do a set of 20,15,10 reps non-stop.

Back and Grip Muscles - Another great exercise that can work the same muscle groups as pull-ups is the Bent over Dumbbell Row.

It is recommended to prop yourself as shown in the picture to take stress off of your lower back and better concentrate on pulling the dumbbell as if you were starting a pull-start lawnmower. Let the heavy dumbbell hang and stretch your back and shoulder connection and then pull the dumbbell to the outside of your chest – hold for 1-2 seconds at the top of the lift.

Stomach and lower back – It never hurts to workout your torso, as pull-ups cause you to flex your abs and back during the lift and hang.

Keep the emails coming! You can contact me at stew@stewsmith.com.