For pull-ups, the activations ranked in order of peak activation are: Rectus Abdominis, Biceps, Lats, Traps. For anyone who complains about "feeling pull-ups more in the arms than the back" it seems pull-ups ARE more of an arm exercise than a back exercise. But really, they are an abs exercise first and foremost.
Pull-ups strengthen your chest, shoulders, arms, and core
When properly performed, they also engage your abs, including your deep transverse abdominis, making them a great exercise for targeting many of the major muscles in the body.
But having a strong core, and bracing properly for the movement are both important. The pull-up is not just an upper body exercise, and an exercise where you can essentially disregard the rest of your body. The pull-up is a full body exercise. So remember, a strong core absolutely matters.
Because abs are used in both pushing and pulling actions, they can be trained several times per week – just choose different exercises for each session. You could also try splitting your midsection routine into abdominal and core workouts, training abs on pull day and doing core strengthening on push day.
And if you can't do pull-ups, this may be why: Not being able to hold onto the bar through lack of grip strength. A lack of latissimus dorsi (large back muscle), spinal erector (lower back stabilizer muscles), abdominal muscle, and biceps strength. A lack of “mind-to-muscle” connection.
Bad posture could be what's keeping you away from stringing pull-ups together. A flailing body, undeveloped muscles or misalignments in your upper body can all affect your ability to push your chin over the bar. Work on your mobility and movement, and spend some time decoding all the steps and positions of the pull-up.
If done correctly, abs exercises daily can help to bring more strength and stability to your spine. But for that, your posture, choice of exercise, the surface on which you are exercising, and number of reps you are doing matters a lot.
Specifically for bodybuilders is practice getting on stage and flexing the abs, and performing vacuums.
So how often should you train your abs? 2-3 exercises 2-3 times per week is plenty to maximize development without overdoing it. If you are already working out 3 times per week you can just tack 1-2 ab exercises on to the end of your workouts.
Pullups are one of the most challenging workout moves that require serious strength. Think you've seen and done it all when it comes to fitness ? No matter how long you've been working out, there's always room to improve and challenge yourself.
There are no definitive guidelines, but the number of pull-ups that are generally considered strong is 12+ for men and 8+ for women. If you can do this many, you're considered an advanced athlete. However, you are still considered an above-average athlete if you can do more than 8 (for men) or more than 3 (for women).
The average untrained man can perform approximately two to three pull-ups when they are between the stages of adolescence and adulthood, but will be unable to perform more than a single pull-up once they reach the age of over twenty-five years old. This is due to a sedentary lifestyle and increasing body weight.
However, fit and active men should be able to do at least 4 to 8 pull-ups in one set. Fit and active women should be able to do at least 1 to 3 pull-ups in one set. Any number above 8 for men and 3 for women is very good. You are in the highest percentile if you can do 12 to 15 pull-ups or more with good form.
You get that V by developing the latissimus dorsi, the largest muscle in your back. Pullups can deliver you to V-ness. They require strength, flexibility, and balance; they recruit muscles from your back, shoulders, arms, and core. Whether you call them pullups or chinups, they work.
Although you certainly can work out abs every day, in most cases, doing targeted ab exercises every day is usually not ideal. Like all muscle groups, the abdominal muscles need time to rest and recover after exercise in order to repair and rebuild back stronger.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's 6 favourite exercises include the sit-ups. Instead of doing what Arnold did, which was 200 repetitions a day, you can make it more efficient – with weighted sit-up.
You can still build the foundation of six-pack abs while bulking as it's still a muscle group like any other in your body. However, your abs won't be visible until you have a low body fat percent.
While you might get away with just training your core through compound lifts, strengthening your abs is essential as it enables you to move better through certain movements. To maximise your results and for an optimum healthy, fit and functioning body aim to incorporate both types of training into your program.
Not only are defined abs not signs of good health, they can actively contribute to poor health — especially in the long term. “Maintaining a six-pack isn't healthy for your body,” author and personal fitness trainer Leena Mogre told Times of India.
Keeps weight down: As you increase your body weight over the years, you will find your ability to do pull-ups more difficult. This is where most men fail in the pull-up exercise. They likely could do a pull-up if they were not 20-30 pounds overweight.
Why can I do chin-ups but not pull-ups? It's likely because you lack the adequate strength in your lats necessary to pull yourself up to the bar like you can with chin-ups. And this is mostly because the biceps aren't as involved in the pull-up as they are in the chin-up.