Lying-up pull-down exercise, for a muscular biceps and back
Pull-ups are one of the most popular exercises for developing the upper body and gaining strength. It is praised by some, and prohibited by others, because sometimes it is considered too difficult, not always to withdraw unanimously! However, it is affordable for everyone, provided that they perform the movement well and train regularly.
Do you want to gain strength and develop your upper body? In the weight room or at home, pull-ups can be the answer! Whatever your place of practice and level, let's find out together how to incorporate it into your training. What muscles are used? What mistakes should be avoided? How do you progress? With François Abraham, Sports Coach at Domyos Fitness Club, we invite you to discover this bodybuilding workout.
What is a weak pull?
Overhead pull-ups are part of multi-joint bodybuilding exercises, which work several muscle groups simultaneously. The pulling motion consists of lifting your body with the sole force of your arms and back. In a weak fist, your palms facing you.
Pull-ups require some arm and back strength, as well as a favorable strength-to-weight ratio. It is mainly performed during weight training sessions. It can be performed with a body weight or with an additional load, depending on the variables and level of intensity required.
Clogged hands: for what purposes?
Pull-ups can be done in the weight room as well as at home with a simple pull-up bar. It was made for you if you want to exercise your arms and back, gain strength and power. Pull-ups also meet certain aesthetic criteria, as they allow you to develop the famous V-back and define the biceps. Anyone can do pull-ups on the back, which
It's also called "chin-up"! Conditions: a minimum of strength, strict implementation of the movement, regular training. Compared to their neighbors, hand pulls, straight pulls are easier and therefore popular with beginners. And if you don't have strong arms, start with some of the beginner-friendly pull-ups described here.
What is the difference between pronation and lying down?
The difference between a fist and a straight fist: placing the hands on the pull-up bar. Depending on the grip you make, the muscle work will be different, even if these two types of pull-ups allow you to work the latissimus dorsi.
In the fist:
● Position: the backs of the hands face up, palms facing out. The grip of the bar is slightly wider than shoulder width.
● Joints: the action of shoulder adduction and elbow flexion.
● Muscles worked: mainly the latissimus dorsi and the lower trapezius muscle (the biceps are less stressed, because they are at a mechanical disadvantage).
In weak grip:
● Position: the back of the hands facing out, palms facing the face. The grip of the tape is equal to the width of the shoulders.
● Joints: shoulder extension and elbow flexion.
● Muscles that work: mainly biceps (not surprising: one of the main functions of the biceps is to extend the forearm).
“No grip is better than the other, the two are complementary. It is up to you to choose the grip you prefer according to your daily session and the desired benefits,” points out François, Domyos Fitness Club coach.
ℹ Note: If you are new to pull-ups, start with straight pull-ups, which are easier to perform.
What muscles do decubitus pulls work?
arm muscles
The lower pull-up engages your arms more than the upper pull-up. It is the biceps brachii, brachialis anterior as well as the suprachiasmatic muscle that participates in this exercise.
back muscles
Like all types of pull-ups, people who are supine allow to develop a back, especially a wide back. Trapezoids are also ordered, especially the middle and lower parts. The main rotator muscle as well as the rhombus are used during the exercise.
How to do pull-ups correctly?
warm up
A short warm-up will allow you to warm up your muscles and prepare them for the efforts that will follow. At the same time, it reduces the risk of infection. Give yourself ten minutes to move your joints, such as your shoulders, elbows, or wrists.
The starting point
➡️ Stand below the drag bar. Place your hands lined up, palms facing you. Your fist is about the width of your shoulders.
➡️ Your shoulders are low, and your arms are not fully tensed (flex them slightly to keep your joints in).
If the bar is too high, take a brace to raise yourself, but don't jump to catch the bar, as this can shock the tendons and joints.
Carry out a supine traction movement
You are now holding on to the penis, your whole body in suspension.
➡️ Pull with your arms, and pull your chest forward, raising your body until your chin is above the level of the bar.
Step back down to control the movement and stop before your arms are fully extended. Again, we don't close the joints.
During the pulling motion, your entire body should be encased, either in the ascending or descending phase.
Breathing in the pull-ups
Exhale on the way up and inhale on the way.
"In this exercise, it is possible to allow apnea, at the end of certain movements, for example, to seek more strength and explosiveness" defines Francois, our expert.
What are the different types of decubitus pulls?
⇾ Narrow grip pull-ups
In a firm grip, your hands should be less than shoulder width apart. This difference allows you to emphasize the internal back muscles (located near the spine). The tighter your hands are, the more these muscles will engage.
Reclining pull-ups in a tight grip in particular allow enhanced action at the trapezius plane and the development of back thickness.
⇾ Wide grip
This variant of supine traction is very exciting to offer. In this exercise, the difficulty increases by one degree. Performing the movement requires some strength. Don't do this variation until you've mastered the basic movement.
In a wide fist, the distance between the hands is greater than shoulder width. You can make a gradual gap with your own hands. The more you spread, the slightly more difficult it gets. Note that you can increase your shoulder width to twice the width of your shoulder width, there is no point in going forward and backward with your hand spacing.
The wider your grip, the more stress is placed on the muscles on the outside of your back, especially the broad back muscles. Wide handle straight pull-ups will make you gain volume in width and develop the shape of your V-shaped back.
⇾ pull out extra weight
Weighted withdrawals are also an interesting variable for progression. Once you master the basic movement, you can add an extra load to your body weight with a heavy vest. Add the required weight according to the desired difficulty, then make your move in the same way as the classic pull-up.
⇾ Focus on one arm
Here we will try to strengthen his arms one by one. The principle is simple: shift your body weight to one side to make one arm stretch more than the other. Of course, switch sides to work evenly. Target? You finally succeed in doing one-arm pull-ups!
What mistakes should be avoided?
❌ Make a pendulum movement
If your body swings back and forth with each pull, like a pendulum, you won't have the correct posture. Sheathing plays a major role in the proper execution of the movement. Your entire body should be wrapped and lifted as one mass. Your body must constantly maintain its vertical axis. A successful pull-up requires engaging the deep, stable core muscles. So be careful not to arch your back too much and swing your legs, for fear of poor postures that can be painful.
Lack of control over proportions
The traction movement is divided into two stages: the ascending stage and the descending stage. They are just as important to each other. Descent control makes it possible to highlight the muscle work, especially at the level of the biceps, but also to avoid damage to the level of tendons and joints.
❌ Lock joints
A golden rule in bodybuilding: the joint should not be closed. During the pulling motion, once back down, keep your elbows open and your arms slightly in tension. If you relax all your muscles and allow yourself to hang, it will be very painful for your tendons and joints at the level of the elbow and upper body.
How do you progress in a recumbent pull?
To advance in the lying down stretch, there is nothing better than changing the exercises to draw the muscles differently for better development.
⇾ Cup Pulls
Here, the pulling motion remains the same, with the difference that your hands will be in the pronation, that is, the backs of the hands facing you. As mentioned earlier, upper pull-ups allow you to focus more on your lower abs and trapezius muscles, making it a very complementary exercise for high-up pull-ups.
⇾ isometric work
Do equal scales mean anything to you? It is a constant contraction of the muscle and the voluntary maintenance of this contraction, without movement of the joints. In bodybuilding, the desired gains when working with balance scales are not the increase in size, but the increase in the strength of contracted muscles.
As you pull down, you can add isometric pauses between repetitions. Once you reach the top of the bar, hold this position for 5 seconds by tensing the muscles, before going down.
⇾ eccentric action
Now let's move on to eccentric work. Here, we will focus on the transition from contraction to muscle elongation, i.e. to the passive phase. In the case of traction, if we take the biceps as an example, the rise corresponds to the concentric phase and the descent corresponds to the eccentric phase.
Focusing on the eccentric part of the movement is focusing on the regression phase. So we will ask the muscle to produce force while it is being stretched, not while it is being shortened. If traction is poor, slow down the descending phase, between 5 and 8 seconds, while controlling your movement well.
⇾ Pulling the chest with the high pulley in the supine state
This exercise is ideal for those who want to progress and strengthen their muscles, but also for beginners. Regardless of your starting point, this pullup will strengthen your back and biceps. Thus it is a starting point and a progression point, depending on your level.
Sit on the machine and place your hands on the crossbar, shoulder width apart, in a lying position. By tensing your back muscles and bending your elbows, pull the bar toward your chest, then return to the starting position.
⇾ Curl Bar
Barbell curls are an isolation exercise that focuses on the biceps. It really touches the biceps brachii (the short and long part) as well as the brachialis. The stronger the biceps, the easier the lying down pulling movements will be.
Get a tape to hold, hands. The spacing of the hands is slightly higher than the shoulders. You stand with your feet apart and your knees slightly bent for more stability. The goal is to raise the bar from your thighs to your chest, bend your forearms, and keep your elbows along with your body. Then return to the starting position by lowering the bar.
⇾ oblique knot
Here again, the biceps are in the spotlight! To perform this isolation exercise, tilt the barbell bench to 45 degrees and use a pair of dumbbells. Lie on the bench and keep your head slightly elevated. Your feet are flat on the ground. You are now bending your elbows by contracting the biceps to bring the dumbbells toward you. Then come back down, always keeping your elbows slightly bent.
Tape curl or pull: which one to choose?
Pull-ups are part of a multi-joint exercise, in which you will engage several muscles and joints during the same movement. In particular, you work out a range of upper body muscles, including the arms and back. curl exercise
It is an isolation exercise, aimed at working out a specific muscle: the biceps. If you become more effective with curls or sloping curls, it's undoubtedly thanks to your biceps. If you're getting better and better at pull-ups, it's likely to come from other muscles, such as those in your back or shoulders. So these two exercises have different functions. No one is better than the other in any way,
They are complementary. If you're looking to focus your efforts on your biceps, consider curling instead. If you want to work the upper body in a more global way, it is better to choose it towards pull-ups.