There's a whole category of pulling training that almost never shows up in people's programs and its absence is quietly holding them back more than they think.

Most people who train pulling movements have a routine they stick to: pull-ups, rows, maybe a little variation in grip width. 

They find the version they're strongest at and naturally focus on that variation in order to feel a sense of progress.

But there's an entire category of pulling that the vast majority of trainees never touch and it has the potential to genuinely transform your grip, your back development, and your functional strength.

That category is vertical grip pulling.

Let's dive in.

Horizontal vs. Vertical: What's the Difference?

Standard pull ups and chin ups use a horizontal grip: your hands are always oriented across a horizontal bar. 

A vertical grip means your pinkie fingers are pointing downwards and the demands for the grip are far greater.

The most accessible tools for vertical grip pulling are a rope and a simple towel. The rope is an ancient training implement used by wrestlers, military personnel and firefighters for good reason. 

Here's Why Vertical Grip Produces Different Results

1. The grip engagement is in a different league.

Vertical grip tools, especially ropes and towels, are substantially thicker than a standard bar. Thicker implements force your hand to work harder just to hold on, and this increased demand produces measurably higher central nervous system activation.

Your body is simply recruiting more to keep you connected to the implement. That CNS demand is part of why rope training tires you out faster, but also why it builds grip strength so well.

2. The narrow elbow position changes what gets trained.

When you grip a rope or double-up a towel, your hands end up close together and arms only in a narrow distance. This narrow position does something that wider grip pulling often fails to do: it creates a strong lat connection from the very start of the movement. 

Many people who struggle to "feel" their back in pull-ups find that a close, neutral grip solves the problem immediately. The geometry simply promotes better engagement of the latissimus dorsi.

That narrow position also brings the chest into the picture in a way that surprises most people.

The pec muscles act as stabilizers during close-grip pulling, and the pressing-together quality of the movement mirrors the kind of functional pulling you'd use in wrestling or grappling.

3. The instability of the rope activates the core.

Unlike a fixed bar, a rope moves. It sways and responds to your body's shifts. Your core has to work continuously to stabilize the movement, producing dynamic contractions throughout the set. 

This is not a minor bonus, it's one of the reasons rope climbing has been a conditioning staple for combat athletes for centuries. You're not just doing a pull-up; you're doing a full-body exercise.

4. The arm development is distinctly different.

The neutral, vertical grip position shifts the rotational angle of your forearm in a way that strongly emphasizes the brachioradialis, the outer forearm muscle, along with the brachialis.

Many people also feel their biceps contract a lot more with rope climbs than with standard chin ups.

Combined with the thick grip stimulus, this produces arm and forearm development that regular pull-up variations simply can't match.

The Massive Cost of Specializing Too Much, Too Early

Here's why you cannot focus on the same variations and neglect any pulling variation. We fell into exactly this trap ourselves in the beginning. 

I was repeatedly gravitating toward the pulling variations where I was already strongest and was using added weight as the primary measure of progress. 

For me the strongest exercise was the chin up where I eventually worked up to an extra 50 kg (110 lbs) of added load.

On paper, that sounds impressive. In practice, what happened over 1 to 2 years was pretty bad: the lats and certain portions of the biceps became overly strong and increasingly dominant, while the other pulling muscles lagged behind. 

That's the danger of optimizing for 1 or 2 variations and stacking weight on them indefinitely. Replicate that pattern across a couple of different exercises and your entire body ends up structurally imbalanced.

This leads to injuries, postural issues, bad performance and just lots of wasted energy & time. 

Variation is actually a tool and the mechanism by which you ensure the whole body develops evenly and in a balanced way. That's why the pulling training of Movement 20XX Method and even Athlete 20XX Method are extremely versatile.

The "Grip First" Principle

Most lifters in the gym specifically avoid lifts that are hard for the grip because then they cannot fully develop their target muscles due to their weak grip. Or they use straps to make it easier.

In reality, your grip is often the limiting factor:
Weak grip = weak performance
Grip failure = real-world failure

This is why in Iron King Method we emphasize a different philosophy:

Grip First.

You prioritize grip engagement, not avoid it.

Because this is what happens when your grip becomes strong: Your real functional pulling strength increases substantially, your weal world capability increases and this increases your confidence.

Then, in Movement 20XX Method we focus on variety.

The key point is not to replace standard pull-ups. Those still matter. The mistake is relying on only one method and assuming it’s enough.

If you expand your approach and include more variety such as vertical grip pulling, you start developing strength that is more applicable outside controlled environments and just more confident in your strength.

And that’s the difference between training for numbers/looks and training for real capability. 

And most importantly: Train your body holistically, not as isolated parts.

That’s where real strength is built.

If you want structured systems that integrate these principles:

Movement 20XX Method: for adaptable, movement-based training.

Iron King Method: for developing raw, functional power with a “grip first” approach.

Stay strong.