What is it? Grabbing an overhead bar and repeatedly dragging your body up towards it, like all the tough guys in the movies do.
How much does it cost? Ostensibly free. Your gym will definitely have somewhere to do pull-ups, or you can buy home pull-up bars for about a tenner.
What does it promise? Hugely improved arm, shoulder, back and grip strength. Plus a trainer once told me that pull-ups are good practice in case you ever have to drag yourself from the wreckage of a traffic accident, so there’s that as well.
What’s it actually like? I’ve always been able to measure my basic level of fitness by the number of pull-ups I’ve been able to do. There’s something so pleasantly basic about it. It’s just you and a bar, with nowhere to hide. They’re hideous at first – nothing on Earth is quite as embarrassing as grunting and straining and failing to manage even a single feeble pull-up in a busy gym – but it is worth persevering. Every trainer I’ve spoken to has singled out the pull-up as an essential exercise. Plus, once you’re good at them, you can start experimenting. You can widen your grip to focus on your back, or narrow your grip to focus on your arms. I was taught to start with negative pull-ups – starting at the top of the bar and slowly lowering yourself down in increasingly controlled movements.
Best and worst bit If you’re new to them, pull-ups are evil incarnate. Do more than 10 of them, and there’ll be no stopping you.
Is it worth it? Free, effective and impressive, so yes.
