Pull-Ups without a Bar?

AprilRenewed

I'm starting P90X tonight. I'm psyched. I don't want to wait. My husband will rig me a pull-up bar this weekend, but as of right now, I have nothing. Our basement (where I workout) is finished, so there are no rafters. We have a bench, but it's not put together, and the pieces of it are buried in a back room somewhere.

Any ideas what I can do in place of the bar until my husband's able to put one in for me?

Sidesteal

I'm starting P90X tonight. I'm psyched. I don't want to wait. My husband will rig me a pull-up bar this weekend, but as of right now, I have nothing. Our basement (where I workout) is finished, so there are no rafters. We have a bench, but it's not put together, and the pieces of it are buried in a back room somewhere.

Any ideas what I can do in place of the bar until my husband's able to put one in for me?

Unless you have something to hang off of that will hold you safely and won't damage your fingers, I would just replace the exercise with another movement that targets the lats. If you don't have a lat pulldown in your home then you're probably going to have to do some type of dumbbell row. Initially (I haven't put a ton of thought into this but I'll still suggest it) I'd look into bent over rows with a DB.

AprilRenewed

I'm starting P90X tonight. I'm psyched. I don't want to wait. My husband will rig me a pull-up bar this weekend, but as of right now, I have nothing. Our basement (where I workout) is finished, so there are no rafters. We have a bench, but it's not put together, and the pieces of it are buried in a back room somewhere.

Any ideas what I can do in place of the bar until my husband's able to put one in for me?

Unless you have something to hang off of that will hold you safely and won't damage your fingers, I would just replace the exercise with another movement that targets the lats. If you don't have a lat pulldown in your home then you're probably going to have to do some type of dumbbell row. Initially (I haven't put a ton of thought into this but I'll still suggest it) I'd look into bent over rows with a DB.

Thanks! I will! Hopefully, I'll only have to do this for a week.

rileysowner

Some people use doors. I find them difficult to use mainly because of grip, and I always question if the hinges would hold with regular use. In the short term is might work. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADnoyLFVDcc The other problem I could see in a basement, at least in my basement, is there is not much room (none really) for my head to go when doing a pullup. Notice in the video I linked he pulls his chin above the door, and that is what you want for full range of motion.

AprilRenewed

Some people use doors. I find them difficult to use mainly because of grip, and I always question if the hinges would hold with regular use. In the short term is might work. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADnoyLFVDcc The other problem I could see in a basement, at least in my basement, is there is not much room (none really) for my head to go when doing a pullup. Notice in the video I linked he pulls his chin above the door, and that is what you want for full range of motion.

I'm good on headspace. We have 9' foot ceilings in our basement. I don't want to try the doorframe b/c of grip. My hands sweat too much. It would never work.

RunHardBeStrong

Excerpt taken from Nerd Fitness...I used these methods to help me get in shape to do an unassisted pull up. They definitely work!

"Just because you don’t have access to a gym doesn’t mean you can’t work out your back, you just need to get VERY creative. Try these few things for example:

Get a really thick wooden dowel or pipe, something strong enough to support your weight. Lie it across two of your kitchen chairs, and then lie down underneath it. Make sure its sturdy, and the bar isn’t going to break/move on ya, and pull yourself up.
Use your kitchen table. Or your desk (if it’s in the middle of the room and doesn’t have a back. Be very careful on this one. Lie underneath your table so your head and shoulder are sticking out above it. Grab the table edge with an overhand grip, and pull yourself up (just like it’s explained above). Warning, don’t pull the table over with you, and make sure you’re not gonna break the thing. Obviously this is a pretty crude way to get the job done, but it works.
Don’t forget, you want to stay in balance. Don’t just do push ups at home if you can help it, try to work out your back too. If you don’t have a pull up bar, find a way to do some body weight rows whether it’s between two chairs or under a table. You’re smart, get creative."

ninerbuff

Take 2 chairs and sit between them. Now straighten your body with just your elbows on top of the seats. Slowly lower your body by bringing your hands together, but keep your body straight. Now push up through your elbows. This is a reverse push up which works the back.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cszJcRz5UB0


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

rileysowner

Take 2 chairs and sit between them. Now straighten your body with just your elbows on top of the seats. Slowly lower your body by bringing your hands together, but keep your body straight. Now push up through your elbows. This is a reverse push up which works the back.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cszJcRz5UB0


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Looks good. I would guess a horizontal row would give much the same effect.

Yogi_Carl

Take 2 chairs and sit between them. Now straighten your body with just your elbows on top of the seats. Slowly lower your body by bringing your hands together, but keep your body straight. Now push up through your elbows. This is a reverse push up which works the back.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cszJcRz5UB0


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Looks good. I would guess a horizontal row would give much the same effect.

This one is good if your grip is weak or you have a bicep strain as it doesnt use the arms into the pulling movement.

99clmsntgr

The Nerd Fitness guy recommends body-weight rows as an alternative/starter pull-up by putting your feet under a table then hanging from the edge. Even if you can do "real" pull-ups, I would imagine this would be a similar, good workout.

Check out what he labels as "level 2" here: http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/04/25/do-a-pull-up/
Video of his table-top inverted rows here: http://youtu.be/OYUxXMGVuuU


Door-frame pull-up bars really aren't that expensive, even cheaper if you can get a 10% or 20% coupon for Sports Authority or some similar big box...

april_mesk

check this out. It may help and love that it is portable!



http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=work+horse+for+pull+up&qpvt=work+horse+for+pull+up&FORM=IGRE#view=detail&id=F0D2D8E862B30CFA7647355BEEE01C74AC3B2593&selectedIndex=51

TR0berts

You can also get a resistance band and do the modification(s) shown in the P90X videos.

april_mesk

sorry just Google work horse for pull ups - you'll see what I was trying to show

StencilChild

you can pick up one of those pull-up bars for like $20 these days, which hooks into a a door frame, OR, you can get exercise bands, hook them to your door when closed, and pull down....they demonstrate it in the video of p90x

rileysowner

Take 2 chairs and sit between them. Now straighten your body with just your elbows on top of the seats. Slowly lower your body by bringing your hands together, but keep your body straight. Now push up through your elbows. This is a reverse push up which works the back.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cszJcRz5UB0


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Looks good. I would guess a horizontal row would give much the same effect.

This one is good if your grip is weak or you have a bicep strain as it doesnt use the arms into the pulling movement.

That is true. One to add to the repertoire.

matt2442

an alternative can be to use resistance bands with the door attachment..youre doing the pull up motion and working the same muscles and it is safe and easy and pretty inexpensive..I just bought the "bodylastics" resistance band kit and you get about 6 bands with a bunch of attachment for about 60 bucks...well worth it!