Bodyweight exercises can be challenging, particular trying to do regular push-ups and especially pull-ups. I have never done a full pull-up but I have learned of a exercise that is easier for those of us who have trouble with it. It is called the inverted row. It is a common exercise used for strength training. It works out the scapular retractors, rear deltoid, trapezius, latissimus dorsi, rectus abdominus & obliques muscles.
Here is a sample of how it works below:
You don't need to start with elevating your feet but I'm sure it makes it more challenging as you become stronger.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Bodyweight rows are really best as a replacement for rowing exercises, not pullups. They work the smaller muscles in the back and real shoulders more than the lats (like pullups do). If you can’t do regular pullups I’d say use the assisted machine
Awesome, thanks for the info Damien!
Inverted or “supine” rows can most definitely be used as a progression toward pullups. The trick is not to focus on the muscles being worked but on making the movement progressively more difficult.
People that can’t do a pullup need to focus on doing a pullup, not on working the lats.
Damien@RealWomensFitness:
That is not true.
And the assisted pullup machine is not a good machine to work towards unassisted pullups. Sounds like a paradox I know.
@Sjonnie,
Honestly it does not have to be an either or and many trainees do find success using the machine but a person can use both. For instance you could use and inverted rows progression on one day and the machine or bands another day. What works “better” in strength training is to get away from these false dichotomies that one thing is always best and another thing is useless: This is rarely true.