How To: Do Smith machine single palm up inverted pull ups

Learn how to do single palm-up inverted pull ups on a Smith machine. Presented by Real Jock Gay Fitness Health & Life.

Benefits
You get to keep your feet on the floor for this modification of the classic pull-up, but it's plenty hard even so. Positioning the pull-up bar low, using one arm, and angling your body relative to the floor, all mean that you intensively isolate the muscles of your upper back.

Muscles Worked
Back (lats, traps, rhomboids)

Starting Position
Set a bar on a Smith machine at a height midway between your chest and your belly button. Stand facing the bar with your feet shoulder-width apart, and grab the bar with both hands, with your palms facing upward and your elbows bent. Walk your feet under the bar and pull your chest up toward it until you are suspended underneath the bar, with your feet on the floor and your chest near the bar. Drop your left hand to your side, so that you are holding onto the bar with one hand only.

Exercise
1. From the starting position, use only your right hand to lower down from the top of the pull-up position: Straighten your arm to lower your body away from the bar, until your arm is nearly straight. Keep your feet on the floor, your body flat, and your chest parallel to the bar throughout.
2. From the lowered position, pull yourself back up to the bar by bending your elbow again. Maintain your flat body position as you rise back to the starting position.
3. After you have finished the recommended number of reps with your right hand, hold in the top position and switch to your left hand. Repeat the pull-ups with your left hand for another set, keeping your body flat and your shoulders square the entire time.