Out of all the possible exercises that you could do at home, getting a doorway pull up bar and doing pull ups and chin ups each day is one of the most beneficial exercises to build strength and muscle. Even the god of iron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, recently said this is the one exercise that people should be doing more often in a recent Reddit AMA.
Not only are pull up bars a great exercise for your back, but they also hit your arms, your shoulders, and help tone up all these areas. Even though they are relatively inexpensive, here are a few things you need to know before you begin shopping for a door frame pull up bar.
- There are a few different kinds of bars that will fit in your door.
- Not all bars will fit in your doorway, some of them attach to the wall.
- Your doorway can only hold so much, you will need to learn about weight limits.
- Possible workouts for building strength with a doorway pull up bar.
- Installation of your doorway pull up bar.
- Finding the best pull up bar for you.
Our Best Pull Up Bar List
| Picture | Name | Weight Limit | Rating | Price | Purchase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Ultimate Body Press Wall Mounted | 220 Pounds | 4.4 | $$ | Click Here |
 | Iron Gym Total Upper Body | 300 Pounds | 4.1 | $ | Click Here |
 | Ultimate Body Press Joist Mounted | 300 Pounds | 4.4 | $$ | Click Here |
 | Maximum Muscle Trainer Wall Mounted | 300 Pounds | 4.0 | $$ | Click Here |
 | Perfect Fitness Multi-Gym | 220 Pounds | 4.2 | $ | Click Here |
 | Big Mike's Fitness Delux Doorway | 300 Pounds | 4.2 | $ | Click Here |
Two Different Doorway Pull Up Bar Types
There are two different types of pull up bars that fit in your door frame. They are as follows:
Over The Door Pull Up Bars
These are my favorite types of pull up bars. They use the door frame as leverage and are kept in place with your weight. Essentially, once you get your bar, you assemble it. You can then hook it over the door frame and when you jump up on it, your weight keeps the bar from moving. I like these because after you are done using them, you can simply take them off your door frame and store them until you are ready to do more pull ups.
If you decide to buy one, they will take maybe 10 minutes to assemble, so you can get to your workout right away, super easy!
Telescopic Pull Up Bars
When I was growing up, these were the most common. Just like their name, they look like a telescope and the way they work is that you twist them into place between your door frame and it is held there by the friction between the pads and the inner wall of the frame. When you buy one of these, they are already put together and all you need to do is put it inside the frame. You will not need to put any screws or alter your frame in any way.
Some of these telescopic pull up bars will come with cups that you can place on your door that will help keep the bar in place. These are not my favorite, but are often cheaper than an over the door style. I say this because more than once, when I was younger, had these pop out of the door and down to the floor I fell.
The one big pro of this bar is that you can use them for all sorts of exercises. They are great for chin ups and pull ups, but can also be put closer to the floor so you can do body weight rows, and even dips. Incorporating more than one exercise with one piece of equipment is always good. More bang for your buck!
Different Types of Pull Up Bars to Consider
While doorway pull up bars are probably the most common household piece of gym equipment, there are certainly other models you might consider if you are in the process of building a home gym.
Wall Mounted Pull Up Bars – For Your Home Gym
Most gyms will have at least one of these, but if you are building out a home gym, then a wall mounted pull up bar is a perfect choice. These pull up bars will need a sturdy wall, such as concrete, brick, or a heavy dry wall. They screw in and are extremely sturdy. Remember to give yourself enough room to actually do your pull up and mount it up high, just a little above your vertical reach.
Also keep in mind not to mount these in your dry wall without finding the studs first. If you do not have a stud finder, go buy one! Mounting these without finding your studs, you are possibly going to be left with a falling apart wall the first time you use it.
Ceiling Pull Up Bars
I have actually never seen one of these in my life, but if you need to save some space, you can always buy a pull up bar that mounts on your ceiling. There are a few types of these. One of them is meant to mount to the studs and screws in, while the other is perfect for a basement where the studs are exposed and will go in between them. Both are a cheap choice that works well to conserve space.
Standing Pull Up Bar/Dip Unit
My current gym has one of these and I absolutely love them. Free standing pull up bars can be placed anywhere (they are heavy though, so hopefully you do not want to move them around much), and can be used for more than one exercise. I personally use the one I have access to for chin ups, pull ups, dips, and a few different ab exercises.
Gym Equipment With Bars Included
You may have noticed at the gym, that some pieces of gym equipment have a pull up bar included on them. At my own gym, there is a pull up bar on the cable machine, and also in the power rack. If you are building your own gym, you may want to get a power rack that has a bar, but if you are going to the gym, DO NOT BE THAT GUY who takes the power rack and does pull ups.
There is a guy who will curl, do pull ups and sit ups in the power rack for hours at my gym. No one likes this guy. NO ONE. Do not be this guy.
Weight Limits on Door Pull Up Bars – Are You Light Enough?
If you are looking at leverage doorway bars, then you will be able to weigh more without an problem. Since their design hangs over the actual frame of the door and does not rely on friction to keep the bar from falling off, they will generally have a weight limit of about 300 pounds. This is typically for a newer frame and if you live in an older house, you may not be able to put this much pressure on your door. The lighter you are the better, but again, doing pull ups are a great way to lose some extra pounds this summer.
If telescopic chin up bars are more your style, then you should know they have a max weight limit of just below 250 pounds. If you are over 200 pounds, they will typically start to bend slightly but should not break. If your doorway is not very wide, these bars will not bend at all because there is less leverage. If you are close to this weight limit, I would suggest going for a leverage type chin up bar.
Workouts With Your Door Pull Up Bar
Having a pull up bar in your house is the perfect way to exercise with nothing more than your body weight. You will be able to target your chest, your arms, and most importantly, your back! Depending on what type of grip you take when you lift yourself up, you can target specific muscles. For example, doing a pull up, where your palms are facing towards you, will work a lot more biceps. If you are doing a chin up, where your palms are facing away from you, with a wider grip, this will target your back muscles.
If you cannot do a pull up yet, then you may want to read out guide on how to get started here.
If you can do a pull up or chin up and are looking for a workout you can do anytime, try this out and see how you feel!
- 8 Chin Ups (wide grip)
- 8 Pull Ups (neutral grip – your hands are facing each other)
- 8 Pull Ups (narrow grip)
- 8 Chin Ups (narrow grip)
If at any point of doing this workout you cannot get the full 8 reps, a great way to build your strength is doing negatives. Simply jump up as high as you can on the bar, and go as slow as possible on the way down. This puts your muscles under tension for a longer amount of time, which will build your strength.
Best Reasons To Not Buy A Doorway Pull Up Bar
Lets face it, the best pull up bar is not always the one that will fit in your door. Sometimes some of these issues may come up.
Your doorways may not be a standard width. If they are very wide, you are going to have a hard time getting a pull up bar to fit. They do make a wide door pull up bar, but if you weigh over 200 pounds, these are going to bend in the middle which makes it harder to get your workout in.
Other times, there is literally no space around your door frame to place your pull up bar. There needs to be a lip to leverage the bar if you decide against a telescopic unit, and if you do not have this, you will not be able to use your bar.
And last but not least, what if there is no room on the other side? If there is not, there will be no way to put your bar into the doorway, also a no go.
You Will Not Be Able To Perform Advanced Pull Ups
If you are a beginner, you do not need to worry about this, but if you are more advanced, or are into crazy chin ups, then you should know that you will not be able to perform all types of these exercises.
No CrossFit Shenanigans
Love it or hate it, CrossFit has some pretty insane movements. One of these is called Kipping and is a technique to do pull ups.
The way it works is that you swing and push yourself away from the bar in order to use this momentum to push you up to a chin up position. These are done fast and are certainly not an optimal way to work out your biceps or back. While I think this is a terrible way to exercise, it is still very popular.
If you want to do these, you will NOT be able to use a doorway pull up bar. As soon as you start doing one of these, you will swing yourself, push yourself away from the bar, and the bar will literally come off the door, and you will fall to the ground in utter failure. This holds true for leverage pull up bars but if you use a telescopic bar, you might be able to get away with it. However, being that the telescopic bars are held into place by friction alone, swinging around like an orangutan is a great way to damage your doorway and possible yourself.
No Muscle Ups Either!
While advanced, muscle ups are probably one of the most awesome pull ups you can work up to. The way these work is that once you pull up to your chest, you switch the grip and boost yourself above the bar so your wrists are holding you up. You then lower yourself back down, and back into the hanging position. Watch this video for a perfect example of how to do a muscle up if you have never done one before.
Possible Damage Concerns With Doorway Pull Up Bars
While it is very rare, it is possible that both telescopic chin up bars and leverage pull up bars can cause damage to your door. This does not happen often and from what I can find, typically only happens when the house is very old or not built properly.
If you have thin walls, this could be a problem, but the vast majority of problems it that the door trim is weak or damaged.
Think about it, with a leveraged unit, these hang on the tip on the back of your door frame. When you jump on it, it creates pressure on the lip of the frame, and could cause this lip to crack or fall out of the dry wall it is attached to.
To lower the chances of this happening if you are living in an old house, place a soft cushion like material between the bar and the door frame. This should help even out the pressure against the trim of the door. I like to use an old pair of gym socks or a dish towel.
Telescopic Bar Problems
With some telescopic bars, you need to screw in cups to your frame to hold the bar in place. If you need to do this, then you will need to cause some damage to the frame by drilling or screwing in holes. This can be pretty ugly if you decide to remove them. If not, you will have to look at the cups on your door frame every time you walk past. While not the worst thing in the world, this may be news for concern.
If you buy a unit that does not require you to screw in caps, they can still cause a bit of damage to the frame. You are required to twist them into place and are held there by friction. This means it is going to be a very tight fit and can dent, and cause marks on the frame. In extreme cases, it might even crack! Be careful if the frame is old but if you have a new house, you should not have that many issues and these are relatively safe to use. From my experience, you are more likely to hurt yourself by falling than by hurting your door frame.
How To Install A Doorway Pull Up Bar
When your pull up bar gets to your house, open it up. For a leverage type, these are incredible easy. Read the instructions and quickly put it together. This should take maybe 10 minutes if you are slow. After it is put together, put it through the door, and hook it over the lip on the other side. It should just sit there once you have hooked it on that lip. After that, all you need to do is start doing pull ups!
To install a telescopic doorway bar you can squeeze it into the doorway, or chose to use the cups that come with it. If you use the cups, simply screw them into your doorway, and place the bar inside of them. Then you are ready to lift yourself up!
The Best Pull Up Bar Conclusion
The best pull up bar you can possible buy is going to be the bar that you actually USE! This is your life, take control of it. Doing pull ups and chin ups are a great way to start gaining strength and muscle and will only aid you as time goes on. You can do this, you just have to start on your journey and see where it takes you.
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