Nick Fitness Question #59 – Are there alternatives to wide grip pull ups?

Hey what’s up guys, Nick from Fit Futures here with yet another answer to yet another question.

Today’s question is ‘Nick, my friend loves wide grip pull-ups but I just do not feel comfortable performing them myself, what are my alternatives?’. Well your alternatives are just to try another variation. Listen the pull-up is a tremendous exercise for building strength in the upper body especially the back and the upper arms, however we can manipulate the grip so obviously the wider grip would increase the moment of the arm at the shoulder, which makes it a little bit difficult. Maybe that’s contributing to some of the discomfort and displeasure that you are experiencing while you’re performing the activity.

So what do I suggest? Tuck the elbows in and go to a narrow grip or a closed grip that will get more of the hip through the bicep, or just relieving a bit of the stress on the shoulder and you’ll still absolutely be working the back. That is actually my variation of choice because when I go into that wider stance, I don’t feel as though I’m comfortable while performing that activity.

So there you go, give it a try guys and if you like that answer to that question there’s plenty more where that came from.

I’ll catch you next time.