Exercise – Assisted Typewriter Pull-ups

The Typewriter Pull-up is a wide grip pull-up variation from the calisthenics world. It’s absolutely great for building non-traditional pulling strength by targeting the upper back and arms. It offers several degrees of difficultly depending on how wide the hands are.

One of the best progressions to work towards the full Typewriter Pull-up is the low bar, leg-assisted typewriter. We suggest using an access rail to keep your feet on the ground. Grab the bar with a wide grip while the feet are on the ground. We’ll keep the legs grounded to assist by taking the weight off our arms. Pull your body towards one hand. When you’re as close as possible to that hand, slowly transition laterally to the other hand.

As you work towards the full typewriter pull-up, a few assisted typewriter progressions include:

• On a low bar, set your feet further to pour more weight onto the arms
• You can also place your feet onto an object off the ground to place more weight onto the arms
• Slow the transition as you “glide” from hand to hand
• Practice both high and low typewriters. Low typewriters have your collarbones below the bar, high is above the bar.