If you happen to be a fitness-conscious individual, you must be well aware of the importance of pull ups in a fitness regimen. Fitness experts consider this form of exercise as indispensable for strengthening the back muscles. The latissimus dorsi and adjoining muscles are especially benefited from this exercise. For those of you who are new to the concept of pull-ups, here is some useful information on the role of this exercise in strength training. The pull up exercise, as the name suggests, involves the activity of pulling yourself upwards using strength of your shoulder and upper-body muscles. Pull ups are always performed on a designated pull up bar and they go a long way towards:

• strengthening your shoulder muscles
• building biceps and triceps
• improving your grip
• increasing your forearm strength
• developing your lat or 'wing' muscles, along with your pectoral muscles
• increasing and improving the overall strength of your upper-body.

Pull up bars come in a variety of types. One of them happens to be a ready-to-use pull up bar with rubber suction cups at the ends. It can be fitted in the frame of your door and is mainly popular because of its low price and ease of availability. However, if you are serious about pull ups, I would strongly suggest (and this comes from personal experience) that you do NOT fall prey to these so-called 'low-cost wonder bars'. It is always better to spare an hour or two in making your own homemade pull up bar. Such a piece of exercise equipment can be much more reliable, effective and equally cheap. Here is a step-by-step explanation on the procedure to construct a pull up bar. This procedure should make your task of making a pull-up bar much easier. How You Can Build a Pull Up Bar This is all you need for a homemade chin up bar:

• one 40-inch long plumbing pipe
• two L-shaped end joints
• two mounting brackets or plates
• screws
• one 1 foot x 4 feet thick wooden plank
• one roll of towel grip.

Procedure:

1. To begin with, make sure that the plumbing pipe is strong, sturdy and threaded at both ends.
2. Attach the L-shaped end joints to the ends of the pipe. Though threading them seems the most logical thing to do, it is advisable to also bind them to the pipe with a strong adhesive.
3. Next up are the mounting plates. Attach them to the other end of the L-shaped end joints. Once again, bind them with an adhesive in addition to threading them. Pipe cement is considered as one of the best materials in strengthening the threadings.
4. How and where you wish to install your pull up bar will determine whether you require the wooden plank or not.
5. If you wish to mount the pull up bar on a wall, then the wooden plank won't be needed. In this case, you simply need to drill a few holes into the wall and screw in the mounting plates appropriately.
6. However, if you wish to install the pull up bar on your ceiling then it is advisable that you make use of a wooden plank for additional support, especially if it happens to be a wooden ceiling.
7. Screw the wooden plank into the ceiling and make sure that it is fixed firmly. The next step in the process is to screw the mounting plates into the wooden plank. Make sure that all the screws are tightly fixed before you move on to the next step.
8. Now unfurl the roll of towel grip, apply a layer of adhesive on its backing surface, and wrap it uniformly onto the plumbing pipe. Leave it to dry for a sufficient amount of time before you test the pull up bar.
9. It is advisable to paint the pull-up bar in order to protect it against rusting.

Making a homemade pull up bar was never this easy! All it will cost is around $20 and a couple of hours of your time. Exercise well and be healthy!