How To Do Pull-Ups Without A Bar? 5 Best Exercises To Strengthen Back Muscles

Pull-ups are a great exercise to get strong, but not everyone has the luxury of having a bar in their home.

The good news is that there are several great bodyweight exercises you can do to condition your back muscles and strengthen your upper body without needing a pull-up bar.

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Exercises To Strengthen Back Muscles And Do Pull-Ups Without A Bar

Here's a look at five such exercises:

1) Banded Pull-up

One of the best options for beginners is to use a band that's similar to your shoulder width or hip width. If you’re a beginner, there’s no need to use a bigger band, as it'll be too difficult for you. Start with an elastic band that can provide enough resistance for you as you pull up and down.

You can make your own band if needed by tying two resistance bands together so that they fit around your upper body (one on each side). Alternatively, if you have access to a gym or fitness centre, they'll likely have various types of resistance bands available for sale or rental.

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2) Inverted Row

Inverted rows are a great alternative to pull-ups, especially if you don’t have access to a bar or the equipment needed to do them. They target the same muscles as pull-ups and can be used for a variety of different workouts.

To perform inverted rows, you'll need an elevated surface that' sturdy enough for your body weight. That might be a table, desk, or even a chair — anything that allows you to hang from your hands with your feet off the ground.

Once properly positioned, straighten out your arms so that they're locked out in front of you at shoulder height and slightly wider than shoulder width (keeping them slightly bent will make it easier on your elbows).

Lower yourself till your chest touches the surface below it before pulling yourself back up by bending at the elbows and flexing the back muscles until reaching full extension again.

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3) Door Hang

If you're light enough, you can get away with doing door hangs on the top of your door. The exercise is simple: just place your hands nicely and firmly on top of a solid door, and hang for as long as you can.

Door hangs, or any hangs for that matter, offer a linear progression to the world of pull-ups and the myriad variations you can try.

You can build strength in your back and get used to the anti-gravity nature of pull-ups. You'll likely have to use straps or even a partner for this one unless your arms are huge.

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4) Low Row

Low rows are a great exercise to work your back muscles, especially if you’re not able to do barbell rows due to space limitations or other reasons.

How to do low rows:

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent.
• Bend at the waist such that your upper body is parallel to the floor.
• Keep your legs straight and arms hanging in front of you at all times throughout this exercise.
• Keeping your elbows close to your sides, pull one dumbbell towards the side of your chest by bending at the elbow.
• Keep up with this motion for 8-12 reps on each arm (16 total).

Benefits of Low Rows:

This movement strengthens several muscle groups, including those in both shoulders as well as along both sides of the back muscles.

It's also known as an excellent way for beginners to learn how to properly perform back exercises before progressing onto more challenging variations like deadlifts or power cleans, for example.

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5) Bent Over Row

This exercise is performed by bending at the waist, keeping back straight, and picking up a barbell with both hands. You can also use dumbbells for this exercise.

Here's how it's done:

• Bend over at the waist, and slightly lower your torso forward so that your upper body is almost parallel to the floor.
• Raise your arms in front of you till they're close to perpendicular with your body (like doing a reverse crunch).
• While keeping arms straight, pull down on the weight as far as possible while squeezing the shoulder blades together.
• Repeat till the required number of repetitions have been completed.
• It may be helpful to think about bringing your chest towards your thighs rather than pulling downwards on a bar or weights with arms alone.

That will help avoid injury to lower back muscles which connect to ribs and vertebrae rather than being anchored directly into the pelvis, like quadriceps are anchored into tibia bones.

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Takeaway

Pull-ups are one of the most common exercises for strengthening back muscles. However, not everyone has access to a pull-up bar or wants to invest in one.

The good news is that there're plenty of other options out there that can help you get those upper body gains without spending a fortune on equipment.