16 Crazy Pullup Variations (YOU VS. THE BAR!!) – ATHLEAN-X™

Build your pullup strength and an athletic body in 90 days here…

Pullups are definitely one of the best upper body exercises you can do to build a big strong back. Regardless of whether you have access to barbells and dumbbells where you train, you still want to be sure to include the pullup into your back workout routine. That said, this bodyweight exercise can either be really hard or not hard enough depending on your strength.

In this video, I show you not only how to start doing your very first rep of a pullup if you haven’t been able to do one yet as well as 16 pullups variations to challenge you even more. The pull up variations shown here range in difficulty from pretty hard to really difficult. Don’t be discouraged if you can’t do all sixteen of them. Instead, pick the one that you can’t do that well and slowly build up your strength and ability to perform them.

You can use a resistance band to unweight your body by hanging it over the bar and looping it. You can use this technique to help you perform your very first pullup or to perform a few reps of the harder versions of the exercise shown here.

The sixteen pullup variations shown here are all named so that you can easily identify them and compare your results in performing them with a friend. See how many of these they can do and challenge each other to see who can do more reps of those that you both can do.

The key to pullups is to realize that it requires much more than just back strength to be able to perform them. You must have a strong core and an ability to keep your abs contracted and firm to prevent energy leaks from sapping your pullup power. From here, you need lots of stability and strength in your shoulders as well. Your shoulders can provide a stabile base from which you can pull from if they are strong enough to do so.

The goal of this video is not to try and incorporate all 16 versions of the pullup into your next workout. The key is that if you are currently doing pullup after pullup but don’t find them very challenging anymore, you will want to try and up the intensity of the exercise and pick some new versions of it for your back workout.

When you are ready to take your back gains to the next level, be sure to head to and get the ATHLEAN-X Training Program. Most that do this program not only see significant gains in their athletic physique and development but will also notice a major uptick in the number of pullups they can perform compared to what they can do now.

For more videos on how to strengthen your back and do more pullups, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at

source