A pull up bar is a simple piece of equipment that can be attached to the doorway of your house for pulling exercises. Any sturdy tree branch, existing railings by the stairs or basically any horizontal bar on which you can hang from can also be improvised pull up bars.

Pull ups are basically upper body exercises performed with the body suspended, arms extended with palms doing an overhand grip on the fixed bar. Pull ups differ from chin ups in that the latter uses an underhand grip. Pull ups workout the lats while chin ups target the biceps more specifically. Pull ups are also easier to do. Both exercises, however, are essential in building muscle, developing grappling or gripping strength and in promoting overall shoulder health and balance.

The most basic pull up exercise is done by hanging from the pull up bar before pulling the body directly upwards without kicking or swinging and using only the power from your upper body. As a beginner, it will be difficult to do even a single correct pull up. As you get begin to develop and strengthen the muscles in your upper back and get more used to this kind of exercise, you should be able to do at least six pull ups. This is the minimum number of pull ups you can do to gain any benefit from it.

A weighted pull up is one where you add weights to your body to make the pull ups more challenging. For example, you can put a weighted belt around your waist or grasp a dumbbell with your feet. If this is beyond your league, you can simply fill a backpack with books, making it heavier is you progress in your exercise.

Muscle up is done by lifting yourself up to chest level explosively before pushing yourself up some more. You then rest on straightened arms on the bar. Rest for a second before lowering yourself back down.

A one-handed pull up or one-arm pull up requires a great amount of strength and is thus recommended for those looking to intensify their pull up bar routines. To build yourself up for this exercise, you can begin with ordinary pull ups but vary it by rocking yourself from side to side alternately using each arm. Another method is to try doing pull ups with your free hand as you hold on to the forearm of your other side.

An Australian pull-up (also known by such names as supine row, reverse push-up, inclined pull-up or inverted row), is done with the user lying on the ground under a bar positioned 2 to 3 feet off the floor. Face up, the user then grasps the bar with extended arms and pulls his chest up to the bar, holding the body in a rigid plank position with the heels remaining on the floor.

Pull up bar exercises are, by their very nature, challenging. To make sure that you don't strain any muscle or suffer any injury, do warm up exercises for five minutes and stretching exercises for at least 10 minutes before starting your routine.