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How To Do Pull-Ups At Home When You Don't Have a
Pull-Up Bar
By Nick Nilsson
So you're training at home and you don't have a place to put a chin-up bar. Or you don't have a power rack with a chin-up bar on it.
No problem!
I've got a couple of simple items that are going to totally change the way you look at hardware stores…
What are those items?
C-clamps…
Your basic woodworking C-clamps, available at any hardware store in the world.
All you have to do is clamp those onto something solid in your house (or outside) and you've got yourself a couple of chin-up handles! I have two clamps (the size I use is 4 inch - it gives you the perfect size handle for gripping on) attached to a rafter in my basement.
It's a simple matter of clamping those on somewhere high up then doing pull-ups on them!
If you're worried about damaging the surface with the clamps, just slide a couple of smaller pieces of wood in between the clamping surfaces to spread out the load.
This setup is not only cheap and easy but very versatile. Because you can clamp on anywhere you like, you can change the grip width very easily. You can start with close grip chins then move a clamp out further and do neutral-grip wide-grip pull-ups.
You can set the clamps on two different rafters and do regular wide-grip pull-ups. Heck, you can shift the clamps around to almost any position and do a HUGE variety of mixed-grip pull-ups. The options are many.
At this point, I'm sure you're thinking "sounds great, but are they solid?"
Definitely.
I weigh about 200 lbs and once solidly clamped on, mine did not budge the slightest bit. And this was with me TRYING to pull them loose. I even did pull-ups on just ONE clamp and it didn't budge.
So if you train at home and have been looking for a pull-up solution, head over to the hardware store a.s.a.p. and go grab your C-clamps!
For pictures and video of the C-clamp pull-ups in action (multiple variations of pull-up exercises), click on the following link:
http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue62-clamps.htm
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On a side note, you can also use those C-clamps to anchor training bands. I use the clamps when I'm doing bench presses adding band resistance (great training explosiveness out of the bottom). The rack I have doesn't have posts for attaching bands so I put the clamps onto the bottom base rails and tie the bands onto those. It's quick and easy and really works well!
Here's a link to the bands I use:
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About the Author:
Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 17 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Muscle Explosion! 28 Days To Maximum Mass", and several others all available at ( http://www.fitness-ebooks.com ).