The bodyweight row or Australian pull-up places you “down under” the bar in a horizontal position to hit your muscles from a different angle than the traditional pull-up.
By hanging below a bar that is set just above waist height with your heels in contact with the ground, you’ll wind up at an angle that’s almost like an upside-down push-up.
From this position, brace your entire body as you pull your chest toward the bar and be careful not to bend your hips or shrug your shoulders. Pause briefly when your chest is an inch or two from the bar, then lower back down with control.
Because it is a different plane of motion, this exercise works the muscles from a different angle than standard pull-ups or chin-ups, placing additional emphasis on the muscles of the mid-back, as well as the biceps, abs and upper-back.
Using the Australian for Beginners
If you aren’t strong enough to do a pull-up, this is a great way to start to build toward your first rep. Once you can do 3 sets of 10 Aussies without struggling, it won’t be long before a pull-up is within your grasp.
Trainer Tip:
The higher up the bar, the better the leverage, so if performing an Aussie on a waist-height bar is too difficult for you, then start with a bar that’s closer to chest height instead.
Using the Australian in a Superset
The Australian pull-up is a great exercise to use in a superset with push-ups, since they work opposite muscle groups. You will get a great pump from doing this and it also allows you to keep your heart rate up. Due to the fact that you’re allowing certain muscles to rest while you are using others, you can maintain that elevated heart rate without burning out your muscles too quickly.
The Australian pull-up can also be used in a superset after the standard kind if you are trying to increase your reps on pull-ups.
Plyometric Australian Pull-up
As you progress with this exercise, you can turn the Australian pull-up into a plyometric movement by switching from a wide grip to a narrow grip on alternating reps. You can also switch back and forth from overhand and underhand grips in an explosive fashion to further increase the difficultly of this exercise.
Watch the video below for more about Australian pull-ups:
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Hey, I saw your blog linked on the Primal Blueprint forum, just want to say it's an amazing presentation of bodyweight exercise. I really appreciate the “level up” sets you do, which is really nice for us folk who are out of shape.
Thanks Meg! Keep up what you're doing and you won't be out of shape for long!
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Thats awesome stuff man! I cant wait to try this. Truth is Vegas doesn’t have playgrounds like other states do we got them plastic playgrounds and well they isn’t much to do. I will try and figure out a way. Thanks man for the vids. Please keep them coming. 🙂
Hey Griselda, I’m glad you found this post inspiring. I’m sure you can find some way to do this exercise – get creative!
your site is amazing and helpful for me! im working my way to a pull up
Hey Mal – I just took a look at your blog. Nice arms! I bet you’ll be doing pull-ups pretty soon.
Also, make sure you check out my article on learning to do a pull-up if you haven’t already. Here’s the link: http://alkavadlo.com.gridhosted.co.uk/2010/09/learning-to-do-a-pull-up/
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i’ve just made a comment on your latest post (never too old to work out) asking for advice as i am not able to do an unassisted pull up (didn’t mention i can do some reps with one foot on a chair) but then one post led me to another and finally this one… i think i can start with the australian pull up!, right?
You sure can, Maria! Go get ’em!
I try this with the swing arm down on the perfect pull up, but it sucks because your heels slide and the bar will hit the door frame and make noise and scratch it. A fixed bar (or maybe a set of high paralletes) is far superior I think, like the kind he is using in the video.
You can also try using a suspension training hanging from your doorway pull-up bar.
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Cool site! I’m an Australian but have never heard this called an “australian pull-up” before. Just wondering where the name came from?
Thanks, James! I’m not exactly sure how the term “Australian Pull-up” came about, but I think it’s got a good ring to it.
…maybe because it’s done “down under” the bar?? Just a guess…
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Hey Al! Just a quick question about the leverage. You said the higher up the better the leverage, does this mean higher is easier or harder?
He means higher is easier. I have been doing them so that my shoulders are level with my feet when my arms are at a dead hang, but I’m going to elevate my feet just enough so that my shoulders and feet are level with my elbows at half flexion. That way the discrepancy between the level of the shoulder and feet is even at both the top and the bottom of the rep.