The Towel-
Your Portable Pullup Solution
Pullups are one of the ultimate upper body exercises. They develop the pulling muscles of the biceps, upper back, lats, and the gripping muscles of the forearms. What’s even better, they require nothing more than your own bodyweight and something to hang onto, such as a beam, tree branch, or even a pullup bar!
However, trying to find an object to do pullups from can be difficult. You could, of course, buy a doorway mounted pullup bar or pullup/dip station, but not everyone has that kind of money or space. And even if you do, what if you want to exercise outside, in a nearby park, or while traveling?
The towel is the answer. Combined with a DIY suspension trainer (click for a how-to tutorial), you have a portable pullup / dip (not to mention many more exercises) station that weighs and costs next to nothing, that you can use nearly anywhere.
Get a longer towel and roll it up nice and tight. If you just throw the towel, unrolled, over an object, there is a chance it might rip when it bears your weight. You then end up on your butt. Don’t ask me how I know this!
Drape the rolled towel over a beam, strong branch, basketball hoop support, or anything overhead. This portable pullup tool allows you to set up nearly anywhere.
Grab on!
Let your arms straighten, but keep some tension in your shoulders so that your larger shoulder and back muscles are handling your body weight, instead of the easily damaged shoulder joints and ligaments.
When you first start doing towel pullups, you will probably notice that your forearms are your weakest link. Hanging on to a thick, soft, towel, with palms vertical is MUCH more demanding on your grip strength than hanging onto a hard, horizontal bar. Hang in there, your forearms and hands will quickly get stronger over the next few weeks.
Pull up!
The towel pullup allows your wrists to rotate as you pull up. This allows your shoulders, elbows, and wrists to find the most efficient range of motion for the exercise. Normal bar pullups, where the wrists are locked into position, can result in joint overuse injuries. Obviously MANY people have done THOUSANDS of bar pullups over the years without problems. But in my personal experience, bar pullups CAN irritate a sensitive shoulder.
I have had several shoulder overuse injuries due to repetitive throwing and swimming motions. Normal bar pullups used to aggravate these injuries, long after I thought they had healed. With the freedom of motion that the towel pullup allows, my shoulders seem to track much more naturally during the exercise and don’t bother me at all.
An Easier Variation
If you have trouble doing one pullup, here is an easier variation. Wrap the towel around a sturdy vertical object, and pull.
Go slowly, taking 2 seconds to pull up, one second to pause, with muscles flexed, and then 2 seconds to return to full arm extension, under control.
This exercise is a great way for beginners to work on back, bicep, and grip strength and endurance.
Now you can get a great upper body workout no matter where you find yourself. The towel is truly the ultimate portable pullup station!