Pull-ups for the beginner!

Easy tips to help you do a pull-up for the first time.

Among the most challenging of all exercises is the pull-up. It is a popular exercise that targets muscles of your arm as well as back. Youngsters often do it to increase their height, though there s nothing to suggest that doing them can actually help in that aspect. Requiring just a bar placed at a moderate height, pull-ups are a complete exercise which targets the lats (upper back muscle) and other muscles of the upper body. Also, try these 5 bodyweight exercises to get defined and toned shoulders.

Pull-ups are a compound exercise, which means that they target many muscles at once. Among the parts that are targeted are your biceps, triceps, deltoid, abs and Latissimus dorsi which are the broadest muscle in our back. However, if you have never tried pull-ups it can be difficult for you to lift your entire body weight. While, it gets easy and perfect with practice, if you are a beginner you can try doing the half pull-ups. Here's how you can do it.

• If you are facing difficulty doing a standard pull-up, you can try doing half pull-ups where you can stand on a chair or on an elevated level so that it is easier for you to pull your bodyweight above the bar.
• Now put your shoulders in the packed position and hold it there for the entire set .
• Grab the bar with your palms facing away from you.
• With your feet still on the chair/stool, start the pullup making sure your elbows move outward to the side parallel to the pullup bar rather than forward.
• Now keep your upper body motionless in this position as you bend your knees until your feet are not on the chair/stool any longer.
• Hold the bar for as long as you can. Keep the shoulders in the packed position. If you find your shoulders up beside your ears that means you are not yet strong enough to do the dead hang. Here are expert tips for stronger biceps.

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