How to do Pull-ups with Healthy Posture

Our company’s deepest goal is to support people in being more sturdy in the world. Posture is a key ingredient for this, as is fitness. It’s commendable when people take on a fitness regimen of any kind; the companion undertaking needs to be to learn how to do your regimen with good form.

People often sway their backs while doing pull-ups, especially towards the end of a set. This distorts your spine, loads your discs, and leads to a very unhappy back.
 

Monisha is wearing our Gokhale Spinetracker™ wearable device on her spine. The app (above, right) shows a visual representation of what is happening to your discs in real time. There is extra stress on the discs because of where the bending is happening.

The healthy way to do pull-ups involves engaging your internal obliques to keep your spinal alignment intact. This makes pull-ups more challenging for your arm and abdominal muscles while preserving your back health.

Here, the discs are happy! The vertebrae are nicely stacked, and you can see that L5-S1 is the only place where there is significant curve in the lumbar spine.

Do you do pull-ups as part of your workout regimen? Are you successful in preventing lumbar sway?