Pull-ups

Pull-up handles

There is no better arm, shoulder and back strengthening exercise than pull-ups. If you want strong biceps, shoulders and lats (the muscles that flair out on the sides like a Cobra) and all other muscles involved in pulling then pull-ups are the exercise for you. Just as with any exercise, proper form is imperative for maximum results and injury free performance. Make sure you know what you are doing before attempting pull-ups. See Power to the People for instruction in employing muscle tension, proper skeletal alignment, how to keep joints tight, etc. Power to the People does not address pull-ups directly but does give theory and technique applicable to all strength training exercises.

I made my pull-up handles with 2-6" nipples, 2-36" chain (more than long enough), 2 snap links and 2 eye screws. The eye screws are somewhere between 1/4 an 3/8 inch and a couple of inches long. I located the beams in my basement ceiling, drilled holes slightly smaller than the diameter of the eye screws and screwed them in using vice-grips. My ceiling is 7'-8" high and gives me ample room, a good foot, between my knees and the floor with my knees bent. I made sure that each one is more than strong enough to hold my full body weight. (Falling on your knees while doing pull-ups would be counter productive.)

Of course you can just use a pull-up bar. I have one. I like to just hang from it to stretch my back to promote disk health.

If you are not able to do dead hang pull-ups at your current strength to body weight ratio a good way to get started is to squat on a bench and use your legs to help push yourself up while pulling with your arms.

If you have extra body weight (i.e. fat) start losing it. Eat more protein and less carbs, drink more water and less soda, beer, etc. You may also want to start doing some aerobic exercise to lose weight along with proper nutrition. Start out easy, make it a gradual progression over time and never do aerobics before strength training (save your energy for the really demanding stuff). Get adequate rest. Keep at it, realize it takes time and don't get discouraged.

Now do it!