It is quite difficult to overestimate such types of equipment as horizontal bars or parallel bars, because with their help you can pump up almost all muscle groups.
In addition, in order to perform a couple of exercises on the horizontal bar, you don’t have to go to an expensive gym; similar structures can be found on almost any children’s or citywide sports ground.
Experienced athletes know that proper technique is often more important than the number of repetitions or weights used. When working on a horizontal bar or uneven bars, competent execution also depends on reducing the risk of possible injuries.
How to properly do push-ups on poles and a horizontal bar to pump up muscles: features of the technique
There are 2 main types of push-ups - face and back to the bar. In the first case, the pole is in front of the eyes, the body is pulled up until the chest touches the bar, fixed for 2 seconds and slowly lowered without jerking.
The second option involves turning your back, where during the push-up process the body is pulled up until the horizontal bar crosses the lumbar region.
When performing these elements, various types of grips can be used:
- Narrow - the distance between the hands is less than the distance between the extreme points of the shoulder joints. In this case, the main load falls on the triceps and thoracic muscles.
- Normal - hands are fixed at shoulder width. The abs tense, as well as the muscles responsible for maintaining balance.
- Wide – the range between the palms is greater than the width of the athlete’s shoulder joints. The latissimus dorsi muscles are pumped.
The grip can also be classified by type: straight and reverse. With the first, the palms are turned away from you, with the second - towards you.
Four reasons to choose a horizontal bar
- This is one of the most famous sports equipment: you can find it in many yards, or you can make it yourself at home or on the street. In addition, horizontal bars are also sold in sports stores, and they are quite affordable.
- The horizontal bar is quite compact, so you can place it even in a small apartment - this will allow you to exercise exactly when you have time.
- Thanks to regular exercise, you will be able to see results within a month - provided that you just do the exercises every day. If you add sports nutrition to this, your biceps will become sculpted faster.
- Compared to other sports equipment “for home use,” training on the horizontal bar is considered the most effective.
Sample exercise program
Push-ups and pull-ups are a great example of how easy it is to build muscle on the horizontal bar. This element can be used to work the muscles of the back, arms and abs.
When pumping your back, you need to perform lifts without jerking, smoothly. Exercises are done according to the classical method, maintaining the same speed of lifting and lowering. A medium straight grip should be accompanied by tension in the abdominal muscles. You need to pull yourself up high so that the bar touches your chest, your legs can be crossed, and at the lowest peak point your arms can be completely straightened. At the top, try to bring your shoulder blades together.
To pump the latissimus muscles (wings), you need to lock in with a wide reverse grip. At the very beginning of the lift, it is advisable to retract your shoulders. The element is performed smoothly, without jerking.
The biceps brachii muscle on the horizontal bar is pumped with a reverse grip with a narrow setting. Starting position – hanging with outstretched arms. During the pull-up, the back arches and the chin reaches the bar (ideally, the chest touches the hands in the grip). Additionally, the biceps can be worked with a medium position in a reverse grip. On inhalation - rise, on exhalation - return to IP.
Important! Triceps dips actively pump up the triceps muscle. When performing the element, use a neutral grip (palms facing each other).
Technique:
- IP – emphasis on fully straightened arms.
- The back and neck are in a straight line, the legs can be crossed.
- As you inhale, carefully and smoothly lower yourself, moving your elbows back.
- As you exhale, rise up just as slowly.
At the first painful sensation, you should interrupt the activity. The size of the amplitude affects the load exerted not only on the muscles, but also on the joints, so warming up is mandatory before working with parallel bars or a horizontal bar.
To pump up the chest muscles, you need to work with a medium straight or mixed (one palm facing you, the other away from you) grip. The minimum number of sets is 3 times. Smooth rise as you inhale and lower as you exhale.
You can also train your deltoids well on the horizontal bar. A narrow straight grip contributes to maximum load on this area. The deeper the pull-ups, the better the results. The serratus muscles are also worked out.
All exercises are performed 10-15 times in 3-5 rounds, depending on the physical fitness of the athlete.
Best Bodyweight Triceps Exercises
This exercise perfectly loads the entire triceps as a whole. If you want to put more stress on the lateral head, your elbows should be spread out to the sides, your hand position should be narrow, and your fingers should form a triangle. The further your hands are from the body, the more intensely the long head begins to work. To make it more difficult, you need to place your hands closer to the body, and to make the movement easier and relieve stress on the joints, it is better to perform it on an inclined bench.
One-arm push-ups are a fairly popular exercise and this is not surprising, because thanks to this option, the load on the muscles increases significantly. But to make it even more effective, you should place your feet on any height. But only experienced athletes will like this solution; to make the exercise easier and relieve stress on the joint, you can do push-ups from a bench.
Concentrated push-ups are quite rare in sports practice. Usually, it is performed with two hands, but since this article is devoted to the best exercises, in order to load the muscles to the maximum, it must be performed with one hand. In order not to injure the joint again and to avoid sticking your face into the ground, you should help yourself slightly with your other hand. Also, as a change, this exercise can be performed on a low horizontal bar, then the grip will be straight.
One of Arnold and Lee Priest's favorite exercises, it puts the most stress on the long head. To perform the exercise correctly, you need to press your elbows straight and try not to spread them, and also do the maximum range of motion (put your head further under the bar). Be sure to include it in your training program if you want to make your arms wider.
You can do push-ups from a bench in different ways, and this option is proof of that. The position of the brush plays a key role here. If you place your hand with your fingers towards you, then the medial bundle will be loaded to a greater extent. When the hand is rotated 180 degrees, the load shifts to the lateral head.
House push-ups, or as they are also called “pike” push-ups, do not load the joints as much as some of the previous ones.
If we talk about efficiency, the higher your legs are, the more difficult the movement will be. The elbows should not move apart so that the shoulders and chest are less involved in the work. With the right technique, you can achieve good results. What to do if there is nothing nearby except a regular horizontal bar? Is it possible to train triceps on the horizontal bar? After all, the horizontal bar is designed exclusively for pull-ups (not counting pre exercises), where only pulling muscles work! Even here there are some good exercises that train the triceps on the horizontal bar!
You've probably seen this exercise before, it's called "Korean push-ups." It is very problematic to perform, especially if your gluteal muscles predominate. It loads the medial bundle well, but to do this you need to grab the bar with a grip towards you.
And the last exercise is push-ups from the horizontal bar. At first glance, it may seem that there is nothing complicated about it, but if you straighten your body lengthwise, the load will change and the movement becomes much harder to perform.
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Tips for increasing efficiency
Before doing push-ups, you need to draw up a program and take into account all the nuances of performing the elements. When developing a plan, the following points must be taken into account:
- Frequency of trainings. It is optimal to exercise 2-3 times every 7 days.
- Number of approaches. The effect will be achieved when performing 3-5 rounds of 10-15 repetitions each.
- Degree of load. Gradual progression will not allow the muscles to adapt.
- Nutrition. A protein diet and sports supplements will improve the structure of muscle tissue.
- Technique for performing elements.
- Equipment. Gloves, weights and hand bands will help protect your palms and diversify your exercises.
Don't forget about the mandatory warm-up. The muscles should be warmed up and the pulse should be 120-140 beats per minute.
What muscles can be pumped up by working out on the horizontal bar?
If you set your goals high, you can beat 99 percent of the guys in the gym. Be prepared for the fact that this will not happen quickly, but also not as slowly as it could be. You need to work for this.
After reading this article, you will learn how you can pump up, spending a minimum of time on it. If you are serious about building muscle, you need stellar results to get them read the article.
If you choose a horizontal bar, what muscles to pump up on it, I will tell you.
Note!
First, let me clarify what muscle growth is. Muscle tissue consists of individual muscle fibers. Proper muscle training damages these fibers. In order for there to be growth, you need to sleep and eat, after which the muscle fibers are restored and expanded.
Without exercise, muscles have no reason to grow unless you start actively exercising.
To see results, you need to train three to four times a week. If you do this many workouts per week, you will definitely achieve high results. The amount of weight you can lift during exercise should increase slightly over time. If you don't increase weight, you will never gain the muscle mass you want.
Therefore, even on the horizontal bar, over time, it makes sense to start training with weights.
A little theory
Hypertrophy means an increase in muscle size
If you want to specifically train to increase muscle mass, the exercises will be somewhat different from strength training, which primarily focuses on strength
The idea is to train for 10 weeks doing one rep before increasing the number of reps. Always start with 8-12 reps for your first workout cycle before moving on. The main thing in pumping muscles is intensity, but before that you need to make sure that the exercises are performed correctly.
Let's say you can do 10 reps on the horizontal bar. You can physically do 5 sets of 11 repetitions, but you don’t want to. But, depending on your capabilities, these 5 sets of 10 times will represent 50% of the intensity of the effort.
If you do 50% effort intensity every workout, do you think you will ever grow? It is worth agreeing that it is unlikely. It's too easy. The body simply does not receive those high loads that force it to adapt and grow.
Therefore, using a horizontal bar, muscles will grow only if you take this point into account.
Always remember that building muscle is the body's defense mechanism. Unless there is sufficient cause, i.e. intensity, there is no reason for the body to produce an adaptive response to increase muscle size.
It's like a tan. Intense sunlight is necessary for the body to create a tan, which is a way of protecting your skin from the sun's rays.
The most important!
If the light isn't intense enough, you can sit 16 hours a day for 30 days and it won't bother you at all. The protective mechanism of building more muscle mass is only caused by intense training.
You can be in the gym for 3 hours, twice a day, 365 days a year, but if the intensity of the effort is low, you will not achieve the desired result.
How muscles grow
Did you know that muscle growth occurs during rest periods between workouts, not during the workout itself?
You can find out which muscles grow during training on the horizontal bar from photographs, the main thing is to take into account all of the above so that their growth actually occurs.
If you don't rest enough between workouts and work those same muscles too quickly, you actually stop the process. This excessive enthusiasm will definitely not work in your favor.
The muscles working on the horizontal bar will not grow as actively as they could. You have to relax! If you tear muscle fibers, they will not heal.
Tear your muscles in the gym, then rest and let muscle growth take its course if you want optimal results.
Main conclusions
Exercises on uneven bars and horizontal bars, with the right approach, are quite capable of replacing a full trip to the gym:
- The horizontal bar and parallel bars are universal equipment that allows you to pump up most muscles.
- The main elements performed on them are pull-ups and push-ups.
- The exercises differ in the type of grip and hand placement.
- Warming up is mandatory, since such exercises are associated with increased injury.
A competent training plan will allow you to pump up not only the muscles of your arms, but also your back, abs, and shoulder girdle.
Training program
The top contains exercises that will maximally hammer your shoulders and other muscles during a long workout. Since there are not so many translators there, you will need to make a choice:
- do not work for very long with a couple of exercises;
- or take long breaks, but complete the entire workout.
To be as fair as possible (to suit everyone), exercises should be performed at 75% of your maximum reps. In more practical terms, you can pump your shoulders on the horizontal bar from 7 to 10 repetitions.
- Even if you are an experienced athlete and just want to swing, then this will be enough for you;
- if you want some unimaginable strength or functionality, then you need to constantly increase the load.
The parallel bars can be distributed for 10 to 12 repetitions. During intense training, the rest time should be 60 seconds, and for long periods – 120 seconds. Do the exercises themselves in any order. Leave the most difficult ones for you until the end, so that the muscles are already sufficiently warmed up.
Also, in a short workout, try to complete two circles, with a break between them of about 2-3 minutes.
As for the days, it’s ambiguous here. If you have previously trained a lot on the horizontal bar and uneven bars, then you can do this every day and rest on the weekends. If you previously only had experience in the gym or nowhere at all, then every other day. Muscles must adapt to specific loads and exercises. Chest pressing and carrying dumbbells are not the same as doing pull-ups.
How to pump up biceps on the horizontal bar - recommendations
- Use different types of grip: parallel, reverse, narrow. This will provide the muscles with full load.
- Perform the exercises in four approaches: in the first, do the maximum number of repetitions, in the second, reduce the number of repetitions by half. The third approach is identical to the first, and the fourth is identical to the second. This technique will allow you to work your muscles quickly and thoroughly. The break between the first and second approach should be two minutes, between the second and third - three, between the third and fourth you can rest for a minute.
- After completing the exercises on the bar, rest for about a minute, regain your breathing, and then do as many push-ups as you can.
- Beginners should start training according to a 1:1 scheme - that is, after a day of training, take a day off. After a week, switch to a different scheme: train for three days, rest for one. Please note that muscles become more prominent during the rest period. If you feel discomfort, it is better to skip the workout.
- Before starting classes, do not forget to warm up, otherwise the risk of muscle injuries significantly increases.
- For the result to be noticeable, try not to perform inert movements, watch the work of the biceps. In this case, all movements should be as smooth as possible, without jerking or swaying.
- Proper breathing also plays an important role: you should inhale air when lowering, but exhale when going up.
- Increase the load (number of repetitions in each approach) gradually as the muscles get used to the previous one. If you perform more than four sets of twelve repetitions, you should use weights in the form of a belt or backpack. Please note that in each approach with such training there should be at least six repetitions.
- To restore muscles and increase their definition, do not forget about proper nutrition: increase the amount of protein (you can use protein supplements for this), provide a sufficient amount of energy (this can be done with the help of gainers).
