[quote]Aragorn wrote:
Modi wrote:
GT625 wrote:
Modi wrote:
GT625 wrote:
When you squeeze the bar as hard as you can you’ll cause something called the irradiation effect, which is basically spillover to other muscles are close to the one(s) that are tensed.
In this case squeezing the bar, tensing your forearms, will cause you to recruit your biceps more. So if you want to hit your biceps more squeeze the chin bar; if you want to hit your lats more use a false grip (thumbless) or use straps.
Squeezing the bar as hard as possible will engage more muscles throughout the entire body.
Just look at any PL’ers set up for the squat. They advocate gripping the bar as tightly as possible in order to engage all of the muscles in the back…they certainly aren’t doing this to recruit more biceps or forearm activation.
That’s because they pull the bar DOWN, initiating the lats. You can’t compare a squat to a pull up in this case.
Please elaborate on your point.
I think he just may have proved your point. Puling down is the same motion that pull-ups and lat pulldowns have, it’s just isometric. And yes, the grip squeezing helps in tightness. There’s a noticeable diff. for me.[/quote]
Thanks aragorn, that’s what I was waiting for him to say. It doesn’t really matter whether you are pulling a bar across your back, or pulling down on a pullup/pulldown bar, the action is essentially the same.
For everyone else, think of it this way…if you’ve ever been in a fight, or very close to it, when you clench your fists tightly every muscle in your body tightens up. It’s not just the forearms and biceps. You should immediately feel your lats and rhomboids firing as well.
So when you squeeze the bar, try to squeeze the hell out of it, don’t just hold it and hope it doesn’t slip out of your hand, grip it like you are trying to crush it. Try it and see if you can notice the difference.