By Jeff & Martha Ellis

As firefighters, we’re big on inexpensive tools that facilitate physical training. In many cases, you don’t need equipment at all, just gravity and an imagination—and those are free.

There’s one piece of equipment, however, that provides a multitude of options when strength training and conditioning without requiring you to take a rig out of service to pay for it: a simple pull-up bar.

Buy It or Build It
To obtain a pull-up bar, you can either buy one or build one. Several varieties are available at sporting goods stores or online, including permanent, wall-mounted bars; temporary, tension-mounted bars that you can mount inside a door jamb; or bars that hang from an overhang.

You can also build one out of wood or, if you’re really clever, welded steel. If you’re not sure how to get started, do a search online for specs.

Chin-Up or Pull-Up?
The pull-up bar can work several different muscle groups depending on how you use it. For example, your grip on the bar determines whether you’re doing a chin-up or a pull-up. Overhand, with your palms facing away from you, is a pull-up. Underhand, with your palms facing toward you, is a chin-up. People usually perform one better than the other. This is due to the fact that by simply reversing your grip, you completely change the muscle groups being used.

Chin-ups tend to work the biceps and are usually easier for people to do for that reason. Pull-ups put more emphasis on the triceps. Because the triceps tend to be smaller and less developed, the pull-up can be more challenging until that strength is developed.

Hands & Legs
Another factor that influences which muscle groups you work: the spacing of your grip. Your hands can be placed anywhere from a couple of inches apart to a couple of feet apart depending on your wingspan. Even minor adjustments to your grip can shift the working muscle group, giving you a broad range of strengthening options.

You can also adjust the relationship of your body to the bar to work different muscle groups. If you can, hook your legs over an object adjacent to the bar. This will allow you to pull up from a more horizontal position, so you can work on increasing the pulling strength in your chest, arms and shoulders.

Get Stronger or Lose Weight
Actually doing a pull-up can be an accomplishment in itself. Considering that your success will be predicated on your strength-vs.-mass ratio, you have two choices in how you can realize improvement in doing pull-ups: Get stronger or lose weight.

But how do you get stronger through the pull-up motion if you’re unable to do even one? Just as you would with any other lift or strengthening exercise, start with less weight. To accomplish that, you can
1. Use a spotter;
2. Spot yourself;
3. Incorporate negatives; use eccentric muscle contraction to work through the range of motion and strengthen the necessary muscle groups.

When using a spotter during pull-ups, it’s best to simply bend your legs and rest your ankles in the spotter’s hands. The spotter won’t need to do much else, other than make some resistance available to you.

As you try to pull up, press your feet into the spotter’s hands only enough to help you continue moving. The idea is to allow the spotter to offset just enough of your weight to make the pull-up attainable and facilitate repetition.
Spotting yourself can be accomplished by placing a chair, step or bench under the pull-up bar. You can either do a jumping pull-up, which is more tiring than it may sound, or you can continually rest your feet on the temporary platform to provide your own level of assistance.

We prefer to use the chair as a platform. To do this, first place the chair under the bar, with the back of the chair just slightly in front of you. Place your feet on the back of the chair to slightly offset your weight through the pull-up. This will provide an element of instability that will keep you from pushing too hard with your feet and not getting the optimum benefit of the exercise.

Eccentric vs. Concentric
Any time you perform an eccentric exercise, you can work the given muscle considerably harder than if you were doing a concentric exercise. An eccentric muscle contraction is simply contracting the muscle as it elongates rather than as it shortens. (A basic example is the bicep curl.)

The eccentric contraction takes place as you lower the weight, the concentric as you raise the weight up into the curled position. Your muscle can handle more weight eccentrically, but the exercise typically results in greater damage to the muscle. Remember: Always allow yourself more recovery time based on the extent of muscle soreness you experience 24–36 hours post exercise.

Eccentric Pull-Ups
To best accomplish the negative, or eccentric, exercise on the pull-up bar, jump up or have someone lift you up into position with your chin over the bar. Hold the position for as long as you can. As you feel your muscles starting to weaken, slowly lower yourself back to the ground. Repeat this several times, but don’t overdo it. You’ll be quite sore the following day, so let your arms and shoulders heal for a couple of days and then repeat the exercise. You can do eccentric pull-ups after completing a set of regular pull-ups, as well, to expedite the strengthening process and increase your reps.

Remember: Once you put your pull-up bar in place, don’t let it become a towel rack. Grab a rep or two whenever you pass by. You’ll start to realize big gains in a short period of time if you just keep after it.

A Final Note
Getting a good workout doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Keep exploring your relationship with gravity and how you can resist it. It’s free and always available. Note: If you struggle with finding ways to fatigue your muscles without spending a ton of money, drop us a line. We’ve got a toolbox full of ideas.

Division Chief Martha Ellis has been a firefighter with the Salt Lake City Fire Department (SLCFD) for more than 15 years, serving as a firefighter, an engineer, a media technician, an ARFF training officer, an airport fire marshal and currently the fire marshal for Salt Lake City. She has won the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge Women’s Division five times, and held the world record for 8 consecutive years. She also works as a certified fitness coordinator for the SLCFD.

Captain Jeff Ellis of the Murray (Utah) Fire Department (MFD) has served for more than 25 years as a firefighter, an engineer, a hazmat technician and a shift training captain. He’s been a certified fitness coordinator for the department since 1996. As a competitor in the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge, he has won two overall world championships, three Over 40 world championships and helped MFD take the team trophy. He has been active in teaching all aspects of firefighting, including swiftwater rescue and fitness and nutrition in the fire service.

E-mail your fitness-related questions or comments to Jeff and Martha at fit2serve@gmail.com.