The outdoor pull up bar from “Pull-up & Dip”

One of the biggest benefit body weight workouts have to offer is that it can be done most places and you, therefore, don't have to spend time travelling forth and back to the local gym.

If you have read one of my many articles on bodyweight exercises you know that you can basically train your complete body without any equipment, however, if you are serious a pull-up bar is one of the few equipment you need in order to get a strong upper back and shoulders.

Now if you want to keep the flexibility that bodyweight training offers but still want to do pull-ups, rows and dips you run into a dilemma.

Of course, you could buy a doorway pull-up bar or a power tower and you would then be able to do your pull-ups at home. But what if you would like to exercise outside? In the local park, at the beach or you would like to do rows and dips?

In that case, you would like a outdoor pull up bar that you easily could bring anywhere and which easily could be assembled anywhere and make you able to do both pull-ups, dips and rows.

In short what you want is the portable Pull-up bar from “Pullup&Dip” that we will review in this article.

Some fast info:

The review:

Even though it’s rather irrelevant I have to admit that the box itself gave a very nice first impression and as you know you only get the chance to meet someone for the first time once so better make it a good impression.

So instead of a grey anonymous box, you get a fresh looking box that gives a good feeling.

After opening you are presented with two notes, both of them in German which is ok for me as I understand German and I expect for other countries an English version will be presented.

Both notes are about feedback. One directly to “Pullup&Dip” and another to Amazon where you are rewarded with a voucher.

Sometimes when you receive a product that you need to assemble it can look a bit chaotic when you open the box but this is not the case with this outdoor pull up bar. It’s easy to understand each piece function and what their functions are even without opening the manual.

Besides the actual outdoor pull up bar, you get a manual and a drill template for the piece you can mount at a permanent location. Screws for that piece is also included.

The user manual is in German and English. It has a very easy to understand installation guide and even an exercise guide which is very basic and probably not the best way to learn proper form for the different exercises but at least it gives you an idea of what you can do.

After opening all the bags I wanted to try to put the portable parts into my normal gym back and they more and less fit inside. The only part sticking out a bit is the side-arm.

In total, it weighs around 11kg which is ok but not recommended to carry around for longer walks. If so a backpack might be better than a hand held back.

Outdoor mounting

Without looking at the manual at all I went directly to my nearest park to try to mount the outdoor pull up bar. And I have to say it went very smooth. The mounting is more or less self-explanatory.

1. You start with the protection mat around the tree and secure it with the velcro tape
2. Next is the outdoor adaptor that is mounted with the tension belt and this is probably the most difficult part, especially if you haven't worked with a tension belt before. Depending on the thickness the easiest way is to put everything together on the ground and then lift the outdoor adaptor to the wanted position and then tighten the tension belt. All this took me 3min the first time but after that, it’s like 30 seconds.
3. From here it’s very easy. The side arm is easily mounted in the outdoor adaptor. Either pointing up or down.
4. Next, you easily add the arms and you are ready to go.

So in total it took me around 5min the first time without reading the manual and now after a couple of times it takes me around 1-2min

Working out on the outdoor pull up bar

If you have read my review on portable pull-up bars you know that there are some criteria that I think is important for a pull-up bar:

• Stability - if you feel insecure when working out you will spend more time focusing on the insecureness than the actual workout.
• Rows - Many people are not that strong in pull-ups so rows is a good way to build up strength, therefore the bar should be possible to adjust in height so rows are possible.
• Variety - Being able to hold different grips is a big benefit when working on pull-ups and if you are even able to do dips it’s just great. However, the variety should never have an impact on the quality. First of all, we want a stable pull-up bar.

I have to admit that I’m happy about most criteria in the outdoor pull up bar.

For the stability, there is not much to say. You have to tighten the tension belt well but when that is done it feels extremely stable.

I tried to mount it on different subjects like trees of different size and light poles. Even when adding some kipping to the pull-ups I still felt very secure.

The actual construction of the device is rock solid so nothing to worry about there.

When you want to do rows you need to adjust the pull-up bar to a fitting height and that is easy. If your strength is limited you want to do rows where the bar is on the same level as your belly button and you then place your feet somewhere between the bar and the tree/pole where the pull-up & dip bar is mounted. If you are stronger you need to have the bar lower, meaning somewhere around your hips and your feet have to travel further away than the tree/pole. The easiest way for me was to find a smaller tree so I could place my feet on both sides.

The variety is also great. Besides from the normal pull-ups, chin-ups and the possibility of holding width, close and hammer grip there are some other great things you can do.

As the stability is good you actually have the possibility to do negative pull ups where you jump on the way up and then lower yourself as slowly as possible. With many doorway pull-ups, this is not possible as they will jump off the door trim.

The rows I already mentioned and also dips but once again I would like to celebrate the possibility of being able to do these exercises with the same device as they are fantastic exercises that will help you a lot to reach your fitness goals.

Indoor mounting:

To be honest I haven't mounted the indoor adaptor from “Pullup&Dip” yet but then again it’s just an adaptor so not much can go wrong. With the easy to follow drill template and the included screws, it should be very easy to mount.

Conclusion:

So the question is if you should spend the around 250 USD which absolutely is a lot of money.

People who shouldn't buy it:

• If you already have a ton of fitness equipment in the garage that you never use it’s not another peace that you need. Focus on finding a good workout program that works for you would be a better priority.

People who should consider the outdoor pull up bar:

• If flexibility is your main priority you have everything here - workout where ever and when ever.

• If you want quality - I have tried many types of pull-up bars and I have to admit that this is the most stable portable pull-up bar I have ever tried. You simply know that it will hold forever and you will be able to do hours of hours of hard workout with the device and you will never have to worry about the stability and durability.

Final words:

Even though I have my own gym and access to both pull-up bars and dip bars I know for sure that I will have a lot of joy out of my outdoor pull up bar from “Pullup & Dip” as I simply love to get outside and exercise.

As already mentioned I have never experienced such a high-quality portable pull-up bar that at the same time works for dips and rows as well.