The weighted pull-up will offer you the same benefits as the basic bodyweight exercise, but you can better suit your strength level. This leads to more strength and size in your back, arms, and abs.
When performed properly, weighted pull-ups offer added intensity to activated core muscles. 2. Weighted pull-ups can help you achieve defined back muscles. Weighted pull-ups intensify the activation of your back muscles—such as your rhomboids and trapezius muscles—giving your back muscles more definition.
Increased Back Size (Hypertrophy)
Weighted pull-ups, for individuals who can successfully perform 10-15 strict pull-ups, may be a necessary exercise progression to bring about the needed muscle damage and overloading to force a muscle to adapt and grow.
Weighted chin-ups work the lats, biceps, and forearms. It is primarily a lat exercise, but because the hands are in a supinated (underhand) position, the biceps are in an advantageous position to contribute to the movement.
Weighting a pull up allows you to add additional mechanical tension to the muscles, which is the basis for muscular growth and provides a way of training more effectively for strength and size. It's also a way of providing variety to your training.
Weighted Pull-ups are great because they are causing the muscles involved in a pull up to work at a higher intensity. This will over time force your body to adapt to that intensity by building more quality muscle while increasing strength, power and muscle endurance.
Pullups use your lats and biceps primarily, while also recruiting your deltoids, rhomboids, and core. These are the muscles you'll need to strengthen.
In addition to working your back, pull-ups strengthen and sculpt your shoulders, forearms, and chest (pecs). 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.
“The muscles that are targeted when performing chin/pull-ups include all of the major pulling muscles on your back. This includes your lats, trapezius, rhomboids, erector spinae, teres major, and your arms (in particular the biceps),” says Stark.
The pronated (overhand) grip is the best for targeting your back muscles. Particularly the lats. The pull-up elicits the most significant activation of the lats compared to any other back exercise.
The Cons of Pull-Ups
The first con is that they can be difficult to do. Others cons: If you're new to exercise or don't have a lot of upper body strength, you may find pull-ups very challenging. They can be dangerous if not done properly.
If you're just looking to build muscles in your arms, back and shoulders, then you can use a pull-up bar to get all kinds of ripped. Although the best way to maximize the effects of pull-ups is to incorporate them into a more comprehensive upper body routine.
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.
Start with 5-8 reps of body weight pullups, then perform around 3-5 reps with 25lbs. Deciding the amount of weight. The amount of weight you should use depends on a few factors. If you are training for strength you should pick a weight that you can perform for 3-5 reps for 3 sets.
If you can do more than 12 bodyweight pull-ups, start with a very light weight and perform two to four weighted sets of roughly eight repetitions. Focus on working up to 12 or more quality reps before adding additional weight.
An overhand grip pull-up is the hardest to do, because it places more of the workload on your lats. The wider your grip, the less help your lats get from other muscles, making a rep harder.
If you're seeking to build a wider back, then the primary muscle that you're going to want to develop are the lats, as growing this muscle will help effectively add the width to your back that you're after.
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.
That title belongs to the Horizontal Pull. Horizontal Pulls include any exercise where you perform a rowing movement horizontally (Pull-Ups are considered a vertical pull). They include Single-Arm Rows and Inverted Rows, which develop the major back muscles—your lats, traps and rhomboids.
Manage your volume. The first part of how to do weighted chin ups is to build in recovery and rest. If you do pull-ups three times a week starting with three sets and building to five it is plenty. You should see significant gains with your weighted pull up progression training in a few months.