Chisel Your Back

Use our pullup program to get a V-shaped body

The V has a grand lineage. For the Romans, it was a letter and a number, chiseled into marble for millennia. The V is flashed for victory and for peace. V8 juice is good for our bodies, V-8 engines are good for our souls. (Let's ignore V-2 rockets and VH-1.)

But back to that chisel. A V-shaped upper body conveys power in the boardroom as well as on the beach. You get that V by developing the latissimus dorsi, the largest muscle in your back. Pullups can deliver you to V-ness. They require strength, flexibility, and balance; they recruit muscles from your back, shoulders, arms, and core. Whether you call them pullups or chinups, they work.

Last year, I began training Mike, a man in his mid-40s who had never been able to do a pullup, and Zach, a 23-year-old who could easily do 15 repetitions but was dissatisfied with his back size. Each client used the following program, and each achieved his goal.

Get a Grip

Unless you strengthen your grip, it will fail long before your arms, shoulders, or back.

Grab the bar with an overhand grip and hang with your arms straight. Once you can hang for 60 seconds, wrap a towel around the bar. The thickness makes your finger and forearm muscles stretch. Work at this until you can hang for 60 seconds.

Recruit Support

Your core connects your upper- and lower-body musculature. So improving core strength will keep your head, shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles properly aligned throughout the pullup.


On a Smith machine or squat rack, secure a bar 3 to 4 feet above the floor. Lie under the bar and grab it with an overhand grip that's slightly wider than shoulder width. Hang at arm's length with your body in a straight line, and place your lower legs on a Swiss ball. Keeping your body rigid, pull your chest to the bar. Pause, then lower yourself back to the starting position. Perform 12 repetitions.


Boost Endurance

In a deadlift, the weight travels less than 1 foot. In a pullup, your body weight travels about 4 feet. That's tiring. You need to improve your muscular endurance.


Using a step (or a boost from a partner), hoist your chest to the bar. Then lower yourself slowly -- try for a count of 12 before your arms are straight. Complete a set of six to eight repetitions.

Add Weight

As you become proficient at pullups, add weight to your frame to make the critical muscles work harder.


Add 10 percent of your body weight by attaching weight plates to a dip belt. (Or, if you can, hold a dumbbell between your feet.) Once you can do 12 pull-ups, increase the weight by 50 percent.


After performing 12 weighted pullups, remove the weight and do as many unweighted pullups as you can. Working the muscles to failure makes them bigger, building your V. Do this only once every three workouts, or you risk overtraining.


Forget Form

These variations challenge your muscles from unusual angles, spurring the growth that will complete your V.


Place your hands in an underhand grip. Pull your body up to the bar while leaning your torso back and bending your knees. Keep your back arched and pull your head away from the bar. Touch your lower chest to the bar so your body forms a 45-degree angle with the ground. Try to complete 12 repetitions.



Place two towels over the bar at shoulder width. Grab both halves of each towel just below the bar and pull your chest to the bar. Your body travels a longer distance than in a standard pullup because you start lower. As this gets easier, start with your hands halfway down the towel. You won't be able to pull your chest to the bar, but the instability will force you to fight your body's tendency to swing. Aim for 12 reps.

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