1. Lie Down to Pull Up
To perform the lying pull up, make sure that you have a solid base to work from, and a solidly-in-place bar about 2 or 3 feet from the floor. Lie down, face up, under the bar, with the bar at about the position of your chest. Grip the bar palms out, and pull up until your chest touches the bar. Keep your body straight or arch your back slightly to avoid unnecessary and negative strain. Feel this one out and listen to your body, but keep your torso tight. Support yourself on your heels. Proper posture is important to working the muscles adequately.
2. Palms In or Out?
Some define pull ups as the "palm out" variation at the bar, while chin ups are defined as the "palm in" variation. There are competing claims as to the relative effectiveness of each. The best bet, as in all workouts, is to maintain a variety in your approach. This helps you to avoid overworking any 1 part of your body, and it keeps your interest up in your routine. So compromise and do half with palms in and half with palms out.
3. Multi-Muscle Workout
This exercise helps you develop your forearms, biceps, triceps, shoulders, pectoralis (front of upper chest) and latissimus dorsi and rhomboids (upper and middle back), while augmenting the strength of your abs as well, if you focus on tightening them with each pull.
4. Beginner Variation
As this is one of the group called body weight exercises, the point is to have you use your bodyweight as the resistant force, rather than dumbbells or barbells. With this in mind, you can modify how much of your body's weight you move during this exercise. As a beginning attempt, lie down under the bar, bend your knees and plant your feet near your buttocks. The closer your feet are to the bar, the easier it is for you to do a greater number of reps.
5. Advanced Variation
Inasmuch as foot position determines body weight moved, you can bring your workout to an advanced stage by putting your legs straight out, or by setting up a stool or chair onto which you can put your feet. In either version, the weight of your body rests on your heels, and you should keep your toes pointing straight up. Thus when fully extended and, moreso, with your feet raised, you get a much more solid and challenging workout for the time you put into it.
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