The Muscle Building POWER of the Close Grip

The close grip pull up is an under appreciated variation that can be a great alternative to the wide grip pull up and the chin up. The wide grip pull up is an amazing back strengthener, but it can be rough on the shoulders for some. The chin up is a superb arm developer, but the movement can feel unnatural due to the underhand grip in the hang position. Enter the close grip pull up! This movement is awesome because it still strains the heck out of your back but crushes your arms without the issues associated with either the wide grip pull up or the chin up. Many will find this variation comfortable and effective, plus it builds the brachioradialis like nothing I've done before.

[romisthenics]

After watching the video and performing the close grip pullup in today in my training, I am absolutely it love and am hooked! I am 6'4" and traditional straight bar pullups and chin ups are a nightmare on my elbows, biceps, and forearms. Especially the wider I go. Somehow, I have never performed this particular pullup grip. Not a single ounce of pain and I was very strong on them. I do a lot of pullups on rings or a suspension system or with my Kensui Swissies in a neutral grip to not get the pain and keep the wide grip stuff to a lower volume. Blown away how effective and pain free these close grips were. Going to have my clients with the same pains and problems try this grip. That over hand screws me up when I am shoulder width or wider. Crazy back and bicep pump, especially being long and tall and getting chest to bar reps, WOW. All these years of training, and i have never tired that grip, back in the Marine Corps getting 20 pullups would have been way easier and pain free if I did that grip instead of banging out 20 in the horrible chin up grip or wider grip. Can't wait to tag you in my Instagram and YouTube posts I do on this exercise man! Thank you for another GEM. (left a similar comment on insta)

[slitheringthief]

The only Youtuber I’ve ever seen who goes from point A to point B in a straight line. 🎉

[GymGarageMan]

Awesome work man! Started doing these at 12 still doing them at 52!!!

[IanEstabrook]

Can’t come to bed baby - new KBoges video just dropped.

[zzz]

I remember when I commented a couple months ago that I hit my first pull up.. Im at 4 sets of 8 pull ups now thanks to your vids ! These videos are so helpful. Thank you so much

[radercalisthenics]

Absolutely invaluable information here, and I couldn't agree more. I hardly ever do wide-grip pull-ups for the exact reasons you mentioned, and although chin-ups are my favorite pulling exercise, the elbow issues you mentioned are quite relevant and have forced me to do them much less often. As usual, your video content has come at exactly the right time for me, and thanks for prescribing my pull choices for today!

[rustyblade]

Started doing these due to elbow pain. My elbow pain just vanished. Like, over night. No joke. This video came just at the right time. Thanks alot

[picsbyshrey]

My top recommendation whenever anyone asks for a fitness channel is this one, regardless of the person's needs. Getting this kind of concise and crisp wisdom drilled in weekly will do more than enough for themselves internally than what they could ever find externally.

[Bigbyyby]

Today I did more than 15 close-grip pull-ups for the first time
I'm at least 220 lbs. I started calisthenics 4 years ago and haven't looked back!! Thanks to channels like yours I worked hard on form and consistency! Also 2 shoulders injury. I'm more athletic now in my 30s than I was as 300 lineman in high school football. I used to think I was to big to be doing pullups or any handstands but really it was my personal weird shame tactic that I used on myself. I'm now more ethuastic about life, how I treat the people around me. The body the mind the soul converge into pure potential. Anything is possible!

[itbmcmxiv]

I was put onto your channel by Old School Calisthenics, Andorian dude and everything you guys share is super valuable and really inspires me to keep up my workouts. I've never been a fan of going to gyms... working out outside in a park really works for me and the basic exercises; push ups, pull ups, chin ups and dips are all you need! Thanks for sharing your knowledge, to those who can think for themselves, we can achieve a great physique by just implementing your advice into our daily workouts 🤙💪

[AlexM-vhpu]

I am glad you brought this up. I have been aware of this for many years. The chin- up has always has been equated as the alternative to bicep curls in the calisthenics world. Close grip pull ups have always hit my biceps way more without the constant strain on my shoulders. Other than straight bar pull ups, the only other ones I are perform are parallel grip or rings.

[mjs]

I’ve been preaching these to my friends forever. Glad to see a guy if your caliber reinforce the value of these

[atrain]

Always short & concise ! And most of all… Great info !

[marvinkika]

The close grip principle can also be applied to other exercises. For example close grip push ups, dips (on rings or those v-shaped bars) and even pistol squats (keeping both knees together can drastically increase stability and can improve the muscle building potential of the exercise). In all cases, the close grip increases stability, range of motion and decreases joint stress

[MirkoKaragöz]

Yes You so right! Btw, awesome background nature🌱🙏

[Kunreal]

The comment regarding the pulling technique at the end - so good. I'm currently doing your how to double my pull ups routine and found my elbows to be irritated. And since i rarely ever felt my lats doing pull ups and after binge wachting all your videos, i figured i might be to arm focused while pulling. So I tried what you said, keeping a high chest, squeezing my shoulder blades and limiting my ROM at the top (altough id really like to get that bar to my chest :D, maybe i'll get there someday) and voila, yesterday for the first time, I really felt my lats and had no pain in my elbows. Thank you Kyle!

[ShaniIqbal-swmu]

Tried close grip today because wider was really pissing me off, fell in love with the movement straight away then way after I finished training I watched this video. Good content Fr

[therealmarcbresser]

Doing mostly wide grip, thx will try to include close grip pull ups!

[djj]

Truly appreciate your consideration in always basing your tutorials with solid foundation & examples of using strict form for consistency with advancement!
🔥💪🏾🕉

[j-efaw]

Ive watched several of your videos and what you say covers much of what I’ve learned through the years.

Im at an intermediate calisthenic level. I can front lever, and 1 arm pu, and do a couple similar skills. When it comes to weights I have been adding pounds every week or so but none of my calisthenic skills have improved in a year. My bodyweight pull strength has actually regressed. I been looking at how I can overcome these plateaus and Im a bit confused how to proceed.

In January I adopted a HIT style of training. Only 2x a week of hard training pushing near failure each set. This seems to be very effective especially for muscle building as those last few reps stimulate the muscles the most. Taking the rest of the week to recover also seems to be helping me but Im still not seeing as much progress as I would expect. Ive also been learning about GTG and other teachings from Pavel Tsatsouline. They sound great but now Im confused.

Do these training styles contradict each other? Ive seen you cover both so Im curious of your opinion. How would you approach my plateau problem in terms of programming; High intensity vs High frequency? My body seems to be a slow recoverer.

I appreciate your videos. They really simplify how complex fitness can appear to be.