The pull-up is one of the most popular and fundamental upper body exercises out there. The exercise’s simplicity and flexibility make it very popular among weightlifters. As a result, there is considerable interest in everything about performing pull-ups. In this case, you may be interested in getting a pull-up bar for your home gym and need to know the best diameter for the bar. This article will come to your aid as it will discuss the best diameter for a pull-up bar and offer tips on how to use your pull-up bar.
It is essential to get the correct diameter for your pull-up bar as it can make or mar your pull-ups. The most essential aspect of the pull-up is a solid grip on the bar to pull yourself up and down. As a result, properly using the pull-up bar can be challenging if you can not produce enough grip. And it will be difficult to produce sufficient grip if your bar is too big or too small for your palms. That said, pull-up bars are in three categories based on their thickness.
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Thin pull-up bars
At 0.8 to 1-inch diameters, thin pull-up bars are not very popular because most people find them a bit discomforting. As a result of the low demand, most stores do not sell them, and many gyms do not have them. Despite this low demand, thin pull-up bars have their benefits, one of which is that it lets you completely wrap your palms around the bar, resulting in a stronger and more solid grip. Furthermore, the thin pull-up bar facilitates mind and muscle connection because your palms completely go around the bar. Because of the complete grip, your forearms will do less work, allowing you to focus on the muscles you are working out. Consistently doing this will develop your mind and muscle connection, resulting in more gains.
💡 Quick Tip: If you want a portable pull-up bar that you can easily attach to a pole outside, check out the Pull-Up and Dip Bar
Pull-Up and Dip Bar
In addition, thin pull-up bars are more suitable for persons with smaller hands, catering to the diversity of human biology. It can be uncomfortable when persons with smaller hands use thicker pull-up bars. Furthermore, using thicker bars may shift the exercise’s focus to your wrist and forearms rather than your lats and back. The same experience happens to people with regular-sized palms using thicker pull-up bars. Another benefit of thinner pull-up bars is the ease of performing static holds. Static holds are very challenging and require considerable strength. Because thinner bars put less focus on your wrists and forearms, it is easier to hold onto the bars for longer.
Nevertheless, thin pull-up bars are unpopular for a reason. The smaller surface area makes it dig into your palms as you put all of your body weight on it, resulting in piercing pain and making it very uncomfortable on your palms. Nevertheless, you can mitigate this pain by using gloves like the Mechanix Fingerless Covert Gloves.
Standard pull-up bars
As the name implies, standard pull-up bars are the more common and what you are likely to find at your local gym or gym store. At about 1.2 to 1.8 inches, the standard bar fits perfectly into most palms. The bar is ideal for beginners and regular gym-goers as most people can use them with minimal discomfort. Furthermore, the bar is standard across calisthenics competition, so more people train with them, resulting in more demand for them. With the standard pull-up bar, you can expect a homogenized workout routine for both pull-ups and chin-ups. A homogenized workout routine results in better and aesthetically pleasing gains as it distributes the focus equally among your wrists, forearms, shoulders, and back.
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Furthermore, the mind-muscle connection is also present with the standard bar, as you are not expending more focus than necessary on your wrists and forearms. In addition, it is easier to scale up your workouts with the standard pull-up bar because it enables quick and consistent development across all the targeted muscle groups. Because the bar is standard, improving your general physique is easier, as it focuses on no specific body parts regardless of the exercise you do with it.
💡 Quick Tip: If your pull-up bar comes with weight pegs and you intend to get some weights to put there, try the Rubber Coated Dumbbells
Rubber Coated Dumbbells
Thick bars
Thick bars are what you get when you modify your standard bar to become thicker. This is because thick bars are scarce, if they exist at all. The general diameter for a thick bar is 2 inches, and the most common way to get bars this thick is by using contraptions like foam grips or Fat Gripz like the Fat Gripz Pro. However, this solution is only temporary as the foam will eventually thin out as it is designed to provide comfort rather than thickness. Nevertheless, while they work, they can give your bars the girth you need to perform your exercises on a thick pull-up bar.
While most people using standard bars are not looking to improve their grip strength, thick pull-up bars will help you develop considerable grip strength. Excellent grip strength is essential in weightlifting and calisthenics, and it can significantly improve your general strength training. It is easy to see how thicker bars help develop your grip as you need to grip harder to keep yourself from falling off the bar. An offshoot of this benefit is that a thick pull-up bar will help you build your forearms. This is as the wider grip will recruit your forearms to keep hold.
Based on the above, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to picking the best diameter for your pull-up bar. What determines the best diameter is your goal. As a result, you should go for thinner diameters if you have small hands or thicker bars if you want to train your grip and forearms. Otherwise, the best diameter for you is the standard bar.
