Dr. Alan interviewed about the benefits of pull-ups
Doctor Alan was recently interviewed for an article that was featured in the Epoch Times Better Life section, about the benefits of doing pull-ups. Written by Conan Milner, link below for the full article…
“Why you should start doing pull-ups”
Grab a bar above your head and pull your chin over it. The pull-up sounds simple, yet for a majority of adults, it’s an impossible task.
The last time most of us tried to do a pull-up was during the mandatory fitness tests of high school gym class. Self-conscious teens watched as a few fit peers cranked out an endless supply of pull-ups with a rhythm as smooth as walking. In comparison, many kids could barely make one. Several struggled just to hang from the bar.
Life’s pull-up challenge typically ends there. Unless you’re in an action movie or military training, there is little demand in the modern world for this movement. And if you have a humiliating history with pull-ups, there’s little desire to subject yourself to them ever again.
But trainers, physical therapists, and other health professionals say we’re missing out on one of the best exercises available.
Alan Snyder, a doctor of physical therapy at Breakaway Physical Therapy in Manhattan, says that when we’re crunched for time, the pull-up offers the most fitness bang for the buck.
“Doing the hang part of the pull-up is really good for building shoulder stability,” Snyder said. “In physical therapy, just being able to hang is so good for decompression of your spine and shoulder. But when you get into the actual pull-up, that’s when you’re building strength.”
What makes the pull-up so effective at building strength is that it’s a compound exercise, meaning that it works several muscles at once. It’s like a whole-body workout in a single move.
“There aren’t a lot of exercises out there where you can build so many muscles all together,” Snyder said.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/why-you-should-start-doing-pull-ups_3096676.html
