Safe and inexpensive pullups at home?

[LiteraryMatcha]

Hi everyone. I hope you're all doing well and preparing to celebrate Easter/Semana Santa/Ostara/ Local Equivalent (or just vibing).

As the title states, I'm looking for suggestions/advice about this.
I workout exclusively at home/outdoors with minimal equipment, and I really want to avoid paying for a gym only to use the calisthenics bars there.

I am training to do pullups and so far I can do up to 5 when I use towels with a knot using a door, or when straight up climbing a door, but the doors where I live (and/or the doorframes) aren't very sturdy and I worry that overstraining them will break them. I also don't have the freedom to install anything permanently (drilling in the wall/roof) and I lack space to install a proper standing one.

I thought of looking for outdoors calisthenics/parkour parks in the area, or even the classic monkey bars in kid parks, but unfortunately there's nothing nearby that wouldn't require a significant car trip (which defeats the purpose of it). Also, the local trees are not really sturdy, or are too high or too thin to withstand an adult's weight (I also feel bad for the poor trees having to withstand my decisions ).

I know there are portable bars at home especially designed for this, and many are relatively inexpensive, but I wonder about the safety of it, both for the doors and my own risk of injury.

At the moment I am focusing on pullup alternatives (already stated in Darebee and some YT channels) but I really enjoy the feeling and achievement of doing pullups, and being able to try variations eventually. So if you have personal experience with specific portable/removable pullup bars at home, I would appreciate some guidance or advice. There are way too many types and my sanity is slowly slipping away from me .

I would appreciate tips, suggestions and anything else you can think of. Ta.

edit: the bold text is aimed to help do a quick scan of the post and help people with specific issues like ADD/ADHD or dyslexia hopefully read this post easily, or so I hope.

 

[Set Monje]

I use one of those L shaped ones that goes against the door frame/header and my only issues is it's a bit low for me, so I have to fold my legs to do dead hangs, and it scuffs up the paint a bit.
I do like having the little bars for doing neutral grip pulls ups, those are a staple of my Wednesdays now.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

I have one of these: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01HQRBNTG
and also one of these: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0C1SRDF4W

I LOVE the door frame one. It cannot be used for kipping. But for everything else it is safe. (I cannot do full pull-ups yet. But I have used my door frame pull-up bar for band-assisted pull-ups, negative pull-ups (including jumping from the floor up to the bar), and hangs. It can be removed and hung back up within seconds. (Which was necessary for me to do a lot since the only doorway I had I could put it in was that of a shared bathroom.) This model has a nice range of grip positions, all with a super comfy foam covering. I used it lots and it did no damage to the doorway trim.

Alas, in my current apartment, every single doorway has super tall and thick fancy trim, and my door frame pull-up bar won't fit over it.
So I purchased the free-standing bar.

My free-standing bar is not as nice or as stable as the door frame bar. (There are nicer models out there. But not for the price. And my budget was limited.) The dip bars are a nice addition (which door frame bars don't have). But the pull-up grip positions are limited on my free-standing bar. There is no option for parallel grip, and my preferred overhand grip width is unavailable as it's pretty much exactly where the support bars are. Wide and slightly narrow grips are the only options available to me. The dip and wide-grip handles are both hard plastic, and I find the wide grip handles difficult to hold onto. The narrow grip area is foam covered, but it's not as comfy as the foam on my door frame bar.

The free-standing bar is adjustable in height and provides options which are both higher and lower than a door frame bar. But I keep mine set at the lowest possible height since the unit is the most stable when it's set low, and jumping up to a high bar does not feel safe to me. With the door frame bar I could use a foot stool to get myself up to the bar, yet have the stool positioned such that it was not in the way of my descent. This is not the case with the free-standing bar. Any kind of height assist I use for mounting the bar needs to be placed directly under my descent path. Since I then need to bend my knees to descend anyway, I keep the bar in its safest position, which also means I only need to jump a few inches to get my chin above it.

I 100% recommend the door frame model I have, if your door trim is of a standard modern size. If you have oversized trim like I do in my current place, however, it won't fit.

The cheepo free-standing bar I have is okay if you can make space for it. It is definitely not as stable, or as versatile or as nice to use as my door frame bar. But it does work if one is careful.

Note: By "door frame bar" I'm talking about the kind that hooks over the top of a doorway trim, not the shower rod style tension bars. (See link at the top of this post for photos.) I've not heard great things about the tension bars. (I've not tried that kind myself.)

 

[LiteraryMatcha]

Thanks @Set Monje and @Laura Rainbow Dragon . Your experience and feedback are very helpful to help me decide.

I do like having the little bars for doing neutral grip pulls ups, (...)

What do you mean by little bars? Are they like mini free-standing bars? If they are, would you recommend them?

The cheepo free-standing bar I have is okay if you can make space for it. It is definitely not as stable, or as versatile or as nice to use as my door frame bar. But it does work if one is careful.

Now, this level of detail regarding the comparison between the free-standing bar and the doorframe bar was exactly the answer I was subconsciously looking for.
I appreciate both your inputs a lot. I guess I might get a doorframe one after making some measurements and checking the potential wear and tear it might cause. I'm not particularly heavy or lightweight, so perhaps it should be alright.
I do notice both of you suggested one of those "fancy" frame door pullup bars, and not the simple bar that gets fit within the door space (it is a literal simple bar that gets adjusted into the door frame -where one passes through- by adjusting the width). I was worried the latter would be too flimsy, and the lack of mention makes me feel inclined to avoid it.
Again, thanks a bunch!

 

[Set Monje]

The little 4.1 in handles that you can hold on to for neutral grip pull ups

 

[broli]

If you buy some free-standing bar then you can put some weight discs on it, some have an apposite bar, to keep it stable without drilling.

Sometimes there are random outdoor bars in the area they may fit very good (or bad) at it.

 

[LiteraryMatcha]

If you buy some free-standing bar then you can put some weight discs on it, some have an apposite bar, to keep it stable without drilling.
View attachment 9096

Sometimes there are random outdoor bars in the area they may fit very good (or bad) at it.

Ta! That's a brilliant idea. Very kind of you.
@Laura Rainbow Dragon you probably know this but I'm @ you because if I remember correctly, you said that yours was not as stable as you'd like.
Hopefully this serves as brainstorming.

Going back to your advice @broli , (thanks again) I will get one of these (and the weights) eventually, probably mid term, when I have a bit more space and budget.

So far I've bought a very simple attachable one -telescope pullup bar/doorway tension bar - (one simpler than the ones showed above in previous comments), because I realised the measurements of my door casing were <1cm, so not safe or compatible with any or most doorframe bars.
This will have to do for now.

I've also seen some exercises from a Calisthenics yt channel that recommends a floor bound easy exercise to exercise the back without a pullup bar. I assume it's not as intense or effective perhaps, but a good alternative nonetheless.
@neilarey I hope you don't mind me @ you. I just wanted to show you the video l, so you can assess if it's a good alternative to perhaps add to the darebee database for pullup alternatives.

Some people don't have tables (or are flimsy thin or small 1kea ones) or the chairs owned aren't stable enough. I have also realised that in some countries or areas the existence of monkey bars is zero (which makes me sad for the kids living there but ah well).

Iwas wondering if adding an exercise that only requires the floor (even if it's not as effective) would provide some sense of control.

Have a good day everyone.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

@Laura Rainbow Dragon you probably know this but I'm @ you because if I remember correctly, you said that yours was not as stable as you'd like.
Hopefully this serves as brainstorming.

My freestanding bar is the one pictured in the link I posted above. It does not have pins for stacking weight disks on it like the model @broli posted. I don't own any weight disks in any case. Potentially I could pull my bar further away from the wall and balance heavy totes on the back floor bars. But I don't want the thing to take up any more space than it already does, or to put my heavy totes behind the bar rack where their contents would be a hassle to access. The setup I have now works in any case. I just need to be careful.

So far I've bought a very simple attachable one -telescope pullup bar/doorway tension bar - (one simpler than the ones showed above in previous comments), because I realised the measurements of my door casing were <1cm, so not safe or compatible with any or most doorframe bars.

The L-shaped doorway bars do not require thick casings. They're meant to go over thin trim. The model I have comes with a little metal safety hook you wedge into place behind the trim, so the bar cannot slip off it. But the structure of the bar grips the door frame front-to-back when you put weight on it, in any case.

 

[LiteraryMatcha]

My freestanding bar is the one pictured in the link I posted above. It does not have pins for stacking weight

@Laura Rainbow Dragon Sorry, my bad. You're right. I didn't realise, and I also didn't click back on the links you provided to confirm before suggesting. Big lapsus from me.

The L-shaped doorway bars do not require thick casings. They're meant to go over thin trim. The model I have comes with a little metal safety hook you wedge into place behind the trim, so the bar cannot slip off it. But the structure of the bar grips the door frame front-to-back when you put weight on it, in any case

I think I named the door casing incorrectly. What I meant is that the thin trim is less than 1cm (front or back) and no local doorframe bars are compatible with this. They're all min 1-2.5cm. I also don't own where I live and I have zero freedom to put anything semi-permanent either (safety hooks or even removable wall hanging hooks for other purposes).

Anyway, I'll wait until I receive this one I got and go from there.

Thanks everyone for your input and advice.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

I also don't own where I live and I have zero freedom to put anything semi-permanent either (safety hooks or even removable wall hanging hooks for other purposes).

The safety hook I mentioned leaves no mark that your landlord would ever notice. It is a flat piece of metal bent into an S shape. The pointy end wedges down between the trim and the door frame. Then the middle piece lies flat across the top of the trim. Then the other end of the S sticks up. The top bar of the pull-up unit lies on top of the middle portion of the S, between the wall and the end that sticks up.

It's a pretty small thing, as you can see above.

But obviously you know what you're dealing with in your own situation much better than I.

I would worry about the tension bars marking your door frame, however. I discussed that style of bar with others here when I was trying to decide what to do when I discovered my door trim is all too tall and wide. Folks did not recommend it.

Have you checked out our Full Pull thread in the Playground? I've tried to pull together all of DAREBEE's pull-ups training resources (there are a lot of them!) in the first few posts of that thread.

 

[LiteraryMatcha]

The safety hook I mentioned leaves no mark that your landlord would ever notice. It is a flat piece of metal bent into an S shape. The pointy end wedges down between the trim and the door frame. Then the middle piece lies flat across the top of the trim. Then the other end of the S sticks up. The top bar of the pull-up unit lies on top of the middle portion of the S, between the wall and the end that sticks up.

Thanks for taking the time to explain further and taking pictures.
It is very helpful for anyone in a similar situation.

I have checked it, and after some deliberation, unfortunately this isn't compatible with german doors and the way they are built, as well as materials.
The trim is extremely thin and apparently only attached to the wall by a few tiny nails. I've read multiple reports of people trying this before getting the door completely broken and having to pay quite a lot of money to fix it/to the landlord. Local rules are quite strict too.

That being said, anyone with a similar problem might come here and read your advice and get a breakthrough moment (because I hadn't thought of what you suggested before).

Also, thank you for all of the resources. They are absolutely helpful!