Workout and muscle mass gain. How to pump up on the horizontal bar and uneven bars. Increasing muscle mass using a horizontal bar

If you love training on the horizontal bar in the fresh air, and at the same time want to develop not only strength and endurance, but also pump up muscles, this article is for you. Let's see if there are pull-ups for weight, thanks to which you can significantly increase your muscle mass.

Is it possible to pump up on the horizontal bar?

To achieve muscle growth, you need to work hard. And yes, it is quite possible to achieve such a result on the horizontal bar if the training scheme is appropriate. The only thing that is important to immediately understand is which muscle groups the horizontal bar will help pump up.

When you pull yourself up, your biceps, shoulders, back muscles, and abs work. Grip strength, that is, the muscles of the forearm, is also well trained. Your legs are resting as if they were at a resort. You can even imitate walking while hanging - your legs will still not swing. But the abs tense well at such moments, especially the lower part.

From the back, the latissimus, trapezius, teres and rhomboid muscles swing.

In addition, pull-ups, as well as simply hanging on a horizontal bar, are considered very beneficial for health. This position allows you to naturally straighten your spine. While you are hanging, gravity is pulling your body down. The entire back is stretched, the vertebrae are in the correct position.

By working out on the horizontal bar, you can both pump up the muscles of your back, abs and arms, and improve your own spine.

How to gain weight using a horizontal bar?

The answer to this question is very simple, and, in fact, is no different from gaining weight in the gym - you need to work with weights. How to do this, what weights to work with - we will analyze in detail in the next paragraph using specific examples. To achieve a good result, you need a well-thought-out training scheme.

Just like in the gym, you need to exercise correctly on the horizontal bar. It is advisable that the program be compiled by a qualified specialist, and not by a nameless trainer from the nearest basement “rocking room”. An inexperienced coach “points his finger at the sky.” His program may be effective, or it may be a failure. The optimal result will be achieved by an individual training scheme tailored specifically to you.

Of course, there are general principles of weight gain that will be useful to everyone:

  • In order to increase muscle mass on the horizontal bar, you need to perform 4-6 sets of exercises, 6-8 repetitions. The last repetition should be practically a failure. If you can easily do more, add weight. You should not do 10 or more repetitions. A high-repetition program will help you increase your endurance and lose weight, but it won't help you gain weight.
  • - as much as your body requires, since you work “to failure.” But no more than 3 minutes. Between exercises - exactly the same.

If you adhere to strict time limits, you will not be able to fully complete the second and subsequent approaches. For example, 1 minute is too short a period to restore strength and muscles after a full approach.

Technical points

Pull-ups must be performed using correct technique. Let's remember once again what it is:

  1. If you are hanging on a horizontal bar, it is advisable not to swing from side to side.
  2. All movements occur due to muscles, and not due to inertia or jerking. Even if you decide to work “in the negative,” there is no point in lifting yourself over the bar using a jerk.
  3. You should breathe so that you rise as you exhale, and as you inhale you go down. It is physiologically correct to make an effort while exhaling.
  4. If you start to sway during the exercise, which happens, do not continue the pull-up until your body stops swaying.
  5. Each hand position on the horizontal bar is designed to load a specific muscle group. Therefore, your task is to understand well what exactly you are pumping and try to work the right muscles while performing the exercise. For example, you can pump your biceps on the horizontal bar, or you can pump your back. By training your biceps, your total mass will not increase significantly. It's just a fairly small muscle. But by building up the large back muscles, this can be achieved. Therefore, focus specifically on the latissimus dorsi muscles. The biceps should be loaded last (that is, at the end of the workout).

Mass training program

First, let's look at the exercises that you will need to perform in order to achieve significant muscle growth.

Wide grip pull-ups

This exercise is aimed at developing the latissimus muscles:

  1. Find the nearest horizontal bar. It is desirable that it be high enough. The scheme for working with weights implies a horizontal bar that is not too high, but not too low. It is important that your feet do not touch the ground, but that you can easily descend without jumping.
  2. Grab the bar with a wide overhand grip.
  3. Using the strength of your back muscles, pull your elbows toward your body, bringing your chin above the bar. Hold at the top for 1 second, slowly lower back down.

Aim to do 4 sets of 5-6 reps after warming up. To warm up, you can do 5-10 pull-ups without weights, depending on your physical fitness.

Close-grip pull-ups

This is an important exercise for the mid back and biceps. If you pay attention, it’s much easier to pull yourself up this way than in the previous case:

  1. Grasp the horizontal bar with a narrow reverse grip.
  2. Using the strength of your back and arms, lift yourself up so that your chin is above the bar. There is no point in lingering at the top, since in this position there is no maximum muscle tension.
  3. Slowly lower yourself to the starting position.

You need to perform 3-4 sets of 6-8 times with weight.

Parallel grip pull-ups

To do this, you will need a horizontal ladder or a special horizontal bar with parallel handles. This is a very convenient option for pumping the lower part of the latissimus muscles.

  1. Grasp the cross bars of the horizontal ladder. To do this, you need to position yourself facing her side so that your head freely goes above the bars.
  2. Do 4 sets of 6-8 reps, pulling the bars toward your chest.

How to combine exercises for muscle growth

In order to properly pump your back muscles, it is advisable to exercise twice a week with weights.

This is convenient for training with additional weights: pull-ups and dips. However, if you have a weak lower back, it is better to replace the belt with a special weighted vest.

Weight gain strategy

So, the training is over. What to do next?

The scheme is as follows: you need to increase weight every 2 weeks. Ideally, you can add 1–1.5 kg.

Over time, you can buy at least one prefabricated dumbbell weighing up to 25 kg. You can put it in your backpack, putting out extra pancakes. You can use weights that hang on your belt for weights.

The only problem is how to carry the weight to the training site? It’s good if you have everything you need, including a horizontal bar, at home. In extreme cases, a car will do. Or carry everything on yourself to the nearest sports ground. But, we all know, if there is a desire, a solution will be found!

Hello friends! If you start talking to any trainer from the gym, he will persistently convince you that there is no chance of gaining muscle mass without training on machines and without serious weights.

Moreover, you definitely need to go to the gym and take personal training, otherwise you will die as a skinny or fat-assed person. But we all understand that this is an element of marketing, and any coach also wants to eat and earn money. In fact, it is quite possible to pump up on your own, you just need to know some secrets and understand what and how to do.

Although, of course, if we consider the ideal option, the gym will be in the lead, because its main goal is to get the body in order.

One of the long-proven methods of training is working with your own weight on the horizontal bar. Moreover, our grandfathers practiced it and looked great at the same time. So, today, my powerful friends, we will figure out how to gain mass on the horizontal bar and uneven bars. The horizontal bar can be called an almost ideal apparatus for pumping up the upper body.

How to increase muscle mass on the horizontal bar?

Muscle growth is only possible in stressful situations. That is, without the destruction of their fibers, there will be no suitable conditions for restoration and further increase in volume.

The best way to achieve this is to work with additional weights.

Naturally, beginners do not need them. It is enough at the initial stage to learn how to work with your own weight. The first signal that you can introduce various weights into the training process will be the trouble-free execution of 8 to 13 repetitions.

Exercises to gain muscle mass should not be done every day. It is enough to do such training 3 times a week with a break of at least a day. That is, you will approach this simulator every Monday, Wednesday and Friday or Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

By the way, what can be used as additional weight? The simplest and most logical option is a backpack, into which you can put any cargo, from bricks to books from your home library. If you have dumbbells or barbell discs, you can also attach them to your belt using special holding devices.

Another recommendation concerns the time you spend training. You should not hang on the horizontal bar or parallel bars for more than an hour. Otherwise, the efficiency will decrease significantly. Any complex is built based on the following principle: start with large muscle groups and end with small ones.

The first step is to pay attention to the latissimus dorsi muscles, which can be seen both in front and behind.

Selecting a list of exercises for the upper body

The best exercise in this case is this. With this grip, your hands are wider than your shoulders, your fingers point away from you. It is advisable to bend your legs slightly. For the muscles to work correctly, it is best to look up. And very smoothly, without unnecessary jerks, you begin to pull your body up.

During the maximum effort we exhale, in the relaxation phase we inhale. At the top point, the chin is above the bar. We do these pull-ups about 10 times. You should maintain this mode for three approaches and try to achieve complete muscle failure. To increase muscle mass, the breaks between approaches are quite long, about 2 or even 3 minutes. With a short interval, pumping is in progress.

Often on sports grounds you can find horizontal bars with different height levels. If you see a low bar in front of you: approximately at chest level or even slightly lower, in this case you can try doing push-ups.

Here you will also need to take a wide grip and tuck your knees. Jump up and hold your body with outstretched arms. This is the starting position, and in the bottom position you need to bend your elbows to a right angle and straighten your body again. It is quite possible to perform the same exercise on the uneven bars, grabbing two parallel bars. We tighten our legs and do about 10 repetitions.

If you lean slightly forward, the vector in this case will shift to the pectoral muscles, which is also very useful for pumping the upper body. You can't do push-ups too deep.

This is because using additional weights will seriously increase the load on your shoulder joints. And this is fraught with injury. With the right approach to this exercise, your chest will simply burn and demand mercy.

Don't forget that in this case you need a fairly long break between sets, about 2-3 minutes.

Specific close-grip pull-ups will help you work your biceps. The palms should literally touch each other, but at the same time we do not move the elbows to the side, they are parallel and also practically pressed against one another. You can't lean back. Make sure that the load is distributed only on your biceps.

A simpler option for working out the biceps would be to do pull-ups on a low bar. In this position, your feet are on the ground. Place them so that there is good support in the heel area. We also take a narrow grip, bring our elbows together and pull our body towards the beam. You can do this option as a warm-up or warm-up, and finish with the above biceps exercise.

Now we move on to pumping the triceps, that is, the very muscle that forms the main volume of your arm. To do this, you need the lowest crossbar, which is located at a distance of approximately 30-40 centimeters from the ground. Take it with a medium straight grip, palms facing away from you. The back is straight, the lower back is slightly arched.

In no case should your elbows be spread to the sides; we try to press them as close to ourselves as possible. You should feel your triceps working. If it is very difficult to do this from a low crossbar, then try leaning on a higher one.

By the way, this is an excellent “springboard” for progress in your training.

Of course, it is important for any man to have broad shoulders. Muscles such as deltoids are responsible for the beauty of this part of the body. To make them strong and embossed, we don’t need a horizontal bar. But you can work out great with the weights that you took with you.

The ideal option in this case would be a backpack. It must be hung on the forearm of one hand. We spread our legs wider than our shoulders, the second hand is placed on the belt to maintain balance.

Now, with the hand in which you have the backpack, you need to move it to the side, while it itself is slightly bent. In this case, the elbow not only moves to the side, but is also located about 2 centimeters higher than the fist.

Otherwise, you will not use the target muscles. Instead of a backpack, you can use a dumbbell or expander. And we also remember that we work for 3-4 approaches until complete muscle failure.

Training legs

The next exercise is called Spartan Squats. Many people laugh at workout athletes, emphasizing the fact that usually only their core is developed, but their legs remain thin and disproportionate in comparison with the rest of the body.

Indeed, without pumping up your quads, hamstrings, calf muscles and others, it is impossible to look truly harmonious.

To perform a Spartan squat, you will need a support to rest your hand on. The leg on the side of the hand with which we hold onto the crossbar will also be the supporting one. We bend the other leg under ourselves.

You should actually squat down on one leg while maintaining your balance. When you reach a certain skill, you can perform this load without holding yourself with your hand. Once you've loaded one side of your body, don't forget about the other half.

When you lower, you can slightly move your chest forward and down. I assure you that this is a very powerful exercise for working the legs and gluteal muscles.

It is very important here to do full crunches to load all the abdominal muscles.

We start by lifting bent legs; when you can do them 10 to 15 times without problems, move on to the next stage.

In this case, you will reach the bar with straight legs. Please note that we are not using the force of inertia, that is, we are not swinging. It is the abdominal muscles that work. When you do this without extra effort, then you will have to use additional weights on your legs. But this exercise will allow you to achieve just perfect abs in the abdominal area.

If you want to really work out your abs, then be sure to taxi to this resource:

Food for mass

Kachata! I want to give you one more piece of advice! If you want to gain real mass, then you can't do without changing your nutrition plan. What I mean? If you still continue to eat dumplings with mayonnaise, skipping breakfast and throwing on pasties before bed, then you will not see any mass or relief.

We remember that 70% of working on body beauty is determined by nutrition, and only the remaining percentage will concern the training plan.

The diet should be balanced, that is, include a complete set of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Moreover, you should pay special attention to proteins, because they are the main element for building our muscles.

The optimal ratio is two grams of pure protein per kilogram of weight. We must not forget about carbohydrates, but they should be slow, that is, those on which your body will spend a lot of energy processing and at the same time not seriously increase the level of insulin in the blood, which is ultimately responsible for the feeling of hunger.

Lists of slow carbohydrates can be found on specialized websites.

Some recommendations also apply to fats. Try to avoid large amounts of animal fats. Give preference to either plant-based or complex ones, such as Omega-3 or Omega-6, which are found in seafood or flaxseed oil.

When adjusting your diet, remember one more thing: maintain a drinking regime. Water helps regulate many important metabolic processes in the body and is responsible for many other processes.

Briefly, that’s all for today regarding the question of how to gain muscle mass on horizontal bars. I wish you to constantly change, because whoever does not change does not move forward.

Looking forward to seeing you again. Let's develop together!

Hello, dear friend! There is an opinion that you can only get fit and gain weight by doing strength training. However, this is far from the only way; quite decent results can be achieved by practicing on the horizontal bar and uneven bars. The great advantage of this type of training is that it can be done outdoors, in the gym, at the stadium, on the sports ground, and even at home (if you have a horizontal bar).

What muscle groups can be pumped up?

By doing mass exercises on the horizontal bar, you can work out all muscle groups located in the upper body. The horizontal bar is designed for pull-ups, and the parallel bars are for push-ups, respectively. During pull-ups, the biceps, latissimus dorsi, and rear deltoids are loaded. During push-ups - triceps, pectoral muscles, anterior deltoids. To achieve maximum effect and results, various types of pull-ups and push-ups are combined, which are performed with different grips and hand positions.

The advantage of this method over the gym is that by working out on the horizontal bar and parallel bars, you can stretch your muscles well, but this can be problematic with exercise machines. As far as is well known, muscles grow when they are maximally stretched and slightly torn. Here the weight of a person (his body) acts as an ideal burden.

Preparing muscles for loads

An obligatory and necessary stage of training is warming up the muscles. Warm-up includes:

  1. stretch marks
  2. jogging
  3. wide movements of hands
  4. jumping rope
  5. warming up fingers
  6. exercises similar to exercises (warm-up of arms, legs, head)

You should spend about ten minutes warming up, performing all exercises calmly and smoothly. If you do not warm up before the main workouts, there is a risk of serious injury.

Exercises on the horizontal bar and parallel bars for gaining mass

The program contains two types of training that alternate with each other. You can do it every 1-2 days, but it’s better every other day to achieve the best effect.

I recommend doing 3-4 sets per exercise for the back, shoulders, arms and pectoral muscles. For the press, you can do 3 approaches. Each exercise should be done 15 repetitions maximum. If you do more, it will affect the development of endurance, and not the gain of mass. If 15 repetitions are easy for you, you should use a weighting device - a belt or weights on your legs.

This program is designed for those who already know how to do pull-ups on the horizontal bar and do push-ups on the uneven bars. If you have not yet reached this level, then you should start small.

How to start developing muscles

The very first and basic exercise: grab a horizontal bar and hang on it for several minutes. Then hang again, but only this time begin to slowly contract the muscles and stretch upward. And stopping at the top point, stay in this position for as long as possible. After that, start slowly going down. When you go down, straighten your spine as much as possible, hang a little and jump off carefully.

I also advise you to do push-ups and pump up your abs at home, this will allow you to stay in shape when you won’t be able to exercise on the horizontal bar and uneven bars, and if you’re already doing this, then building up will be much easier and faster.

If your body has not yet adapted to the loads that lead to weight gain, you need to gradually increase the intensity of your training in proportion to muscle development. For example, do a warm-up (as described above) and do pull-ups on the horizontal bar as many times as possible for you at this stage. Then rest for a couple of minutes and do some pull-ups again. Rest again and do the third approach. At the very beginning of training, you should not expect outstanding results from yourself, and in the absence of such, in no case should you be upset or engage in self-flagellation. Everything takes time.

Here are a few basic exercises that will help you gain weight on the horizontal bar:

1) Wide-grip chest pull-ups

Grab the horizontal bar with a straight, wide grip, and while inhaling, pull yourself up to a position where your chest is at the same level as the horizontal bar itself, while your elbows are fixed and in the same place. After holding this position for a fraction of a second, slowly and at the exit, lower yourself to the starting position.

2) Pull-ups

Grasp the bars with your hands with a regular grip so that your palms face each other. At the same time, throw your legs back onto the bars, fixing them with your feet. After this, hang on your straight arms and begin to pull yourself up as high as possible, keeping your back straight.

3) Dips

Get into exactly the same position as described in the previous exercise and do push-ups as if you were on the floor. At the same time, try to keep your back straight, and you can even bend lower so that the amplitude of muscle contraction is maximum.

4) Close grip pull-ups

Grab the bar of the horizontal bar so that the maximum distance between your palms is approximately 10 centimeters. At the same time, the hands are closed into a fist. And pull yourself up to a position where your wrists touch your chest. With a direct grip, the maximum load is placed on the biceps, and with a reverse grip, the maximum load is placed on the muscles of the forearm.

5) Wide grip pull-ups with rear bar

A very powerful exercise for developing the shoulder muscles and latissimus dorsi. You need to grab the crossbar with a straight, wide grip and pull yourself up so that in the raised position your head is in front of, not behind the crossbar, and the horizontal bar touches the stove from behind.

Also, do not forget to eat well and nutritiously so that your muscles can take the necessary amount of proteins and amino acids for growth. Good luck!

Pull-ups are rightfully one of the most beloved and universal exercises. But is it possible to increase muscle mass by doing pull-ups? Of course you can. The pull-up bar is a great way to do this.

But in this case it is important to consider some points. First, don't focus on quantity and neglect quality. So, for example, five correctly performed exercises will be more effective than twenty quick lifts of the body onto the bar. Although pull-ups on the horizontal bar require more repetitions.

Pull-ups on the horizontal bar for weight - exercise technique

Muscles are especially sensitive to the development of mass and strength indicators during the first training sessions. Therefore, during this period you should not feel sorry for yourself, but work hard. It should also be recalled that when doing pull-ups with different grips, different muscles are pumped.

A straight grip allows you to reduce the load on your arms and pump up your back. The reverse grip transfers most of the load, on the contrary, to the arms, removing it from the back and chest. To experiment, you can try a mixed grip, when one hand is with the palm facing you, the other away from you, or change the grip width. With a wider grip, the back muscles work stronger.

As we have already noted, in order to build muscle mass, you need to perform a certain number of repetitions. What to do if you don't do enough pull-ups? Try training with the following system, which shows how to increase your pull-ups on the horizontal bar.

  • To begin, do one pull-up on the bar. Once you reach the top point, pulling yourself up, you need to stay in this position. Try to hang as long as possible, and if you go down, jerk up again and hang.
    The essence of this method is to show willpower and perseverance. After a few seconds, you will begin to sway to the sides, sweat will pour out, your arms and biceps will ache from tension, and this is normal.
  • Once you can hold and hang at the top for about a minute, you can begin to pull yourself up. At the same time, try to go down only halfway, and not all the way down, and then up again. Do this as many times as you can. Don't give up, try again and again to pull yourself up. If you run out of strength, just hang.
  • And the final stage is to perform full pull-ups. Do as many pull-ups as you can. If after some time you begin to decline again, you need to repeat this entire system from the beginning, only then will you be able to achieve an increase in pull-ups on the horizontal bar.

Pull-ups on the horizontal bar - reminder

Give your muscles a rest. If you feel that your strength has not yet recovered, you can skip a day of training or train in a soft mode - this is the key to regularity.

Do not exercise if you are injured or feel sick. A few days of absence is not as bad as the risk of harming your health for several months.

Follow proper pull-up technique. It is more important to perform pull-ups efficiently, albeit fewer times.

Exercises on the horizontal bar for weight

When performing pull-ups, you cannot help yourself by swinging your legs or wobbling your pelvis. Only the muscles of the arms and back should work; try to feel how each muscle contracts. Pull-up includes two phases - positive and negative. The positive phase is when you lift your body up. The negative phase is when you go down.

So if you want to do pull-up on the horizontal bar for weight, then follow the following technique:

  1. Perform a pull-up by lifting your body quickly and lowering it slowly (about one second to rise and three seconds to fall).
  2. The number of approaches and repetitions during training should not be increased.
  3. Focus on the negative phase of the pull-up, tensing the muscles as much as possible.
  4. Take a break of at least three minutes between sets.
  5. After doing pull-ups on the horizontal bar for weight, the muscles need to rest and replenish the energy spent. A quality protein shake after a workout can't hurt.

If you do pull-ups on the horizontal bar for strength, then another technique is applicable here:

  1. Perform a pull-up by lifting your body slowly and lowering it quickly (about three seconds up and one second down).
  2. The number of approaches and repetitions during training needs to be increased.
  3. Focus on the positive phase of the pull-up, tensing your muscles as you lift your body up.
  4. Take a break of no more than two minutes between sets.

The weight pull-up program is designed for 15 days. Perform five approaches every day, resting on the 6th and 11th days.

So, pull-ups on the horizontal bar can be either with an emphasis on strength or on mass. It all depends on your goals and efforts, practice and achieve success!

Today we will look at weight training exercises on the horizontal bar and their benefits. Working with your own weight is always less dangerous than using sports equipment and equipment. In addition, pull-ups are suitable for every person, even an unprepared beginner, for whom it is still only in plans.

How to gain weight while working out on the horizontal bar?

For many athletes who train on horizontal bars, gaining mass is a difficult task. It is necessary to perform special exercises on the horizontal bar for muscle mass, since ordinary ones develop strength and endurance. Additionally, you need to change your training program and diet.

It is necessary to understand the implementation of other additional weight, since without it, exercises on the horizontal bar for mass will be ineffective.

You can use a backpack with heavy objects or a homemade vest with pockets filled with sand. Much depends on financial capabilities and intelligence.

With diet and rest, everything is more complicated. If you train well on the horizontal bar, but eat poorly and get little rest, you will not gain weight. We will not delve into the topic, but we note that you need to eat well and preferably up to five to six times, focusing on carbohydrate and protein foods. For the best effect, you should pay attention to special sports nutrition. - a topic for a separate conversation

Best moves

As for exercises on the horizontal bar to gain muscle mass, everything is simple: pull-ups with a narrow and wide grip are considered the best. In both cases, all muscles are used, but some work more and others less. When doing pull-ups with a narrow grip, the arms are loaded more, while a wide grip shifts the load onto the back muscles. The second option is considered classic, as it works the back better - give it preference.

There are other basic exercises on the horizontal bar and uneven bars for mass, but you should not be scattered and waste energy. Focus on wide-grip pull-ups and classic dips. The latter work well on the chest and triceps, making the physique even stronger.

You can try an underhand grip to shift the load to the biceps, but the back muscles will also work well. On our website you will find other exercises on the horizontal bar for the back that will help you effectively pump up your lats and trapezius.

How to create a program for gaining weight on the horizontal bar?

A set of exercises on the horizontal bar and uneven bars for gaining weight can be different - there are many options. Here is one of the options for a four-day program, from which you can build on and create new programs:

  1. On the first day we do pull-ups with weights. We attach a belt with weight to the belt and fix the pancakes with our feet. Pull yourself up with a wide grip, slowly lowering yourself down. Do 3-4 sets for the maximum number of repetitions. Next, you can do several approaches on the uneven bars.
  2. Day two: close-grip pull-ups. Make sure your elbows are parallel and not spread out to the sides. The second exercise is pull-ups with a wide grip behind the head. Rise until your ears are level with the bar. Keep your back straight and do everything smoothly. Both movements - 3-4 sets of 8 repetitions.
  3. Pull-ups with incomplete straightening of the arms at the elbows. Try to rise to the level of the load and fix your torso at the top point for a few seconds (3 sets maximum). The next exercise is dips.
  4. Alternate pull-ups on one arm. The exercise is not easy to do right away, so if it doesn’t work out, just do regular pull-ups.

A set of exercises on the horizontal bar for weight: video

When creating a set of exercises on the horizontal bar and parallel bars to gain mass, we recommend alternating exercises to use all the muscles of the upper body. The main principle is to perform several approaches with a small number of repetitions - no more than eight.