The Pull Up Mate is one of the most versatile free standing, portable, pull-up bars on the market. At under £120 it is a much more cost effective option than other “Power tower” alternatives.
We would therefore recommend buying the Gravity Fitness Portable Pull Up Rack instead.
Pull Up Mate has recently stepped up in an attempt to fill the void left by a lack of freestanding pull up bars on the market, offering their own Pull Up Mate Portable Bar, in addition to other equipment such as their Parallettes and Dip Bars.
But is Pull Up Mate a good recommended choice for a free standing pull up bar?
Let’s find out in this review.
Pull Up Mate Review
The Pull Up Mate’s key strengths are without a doubt its versatility and transportability.
Designed to be assembled and dismantled easily, the bar can simply be stored away in its bag when not in use and brought out only when required. At only 15kgs, it’s also fantastic for taking outside or to a friends house to workout together.
As you can see, the design is modern and sleek looking and has even recently been re-designed for greater stability and to look better than ever.
The key USP of the bar is the range of exercises the user can do with it, since it’s got a much wider grip than other bars and can be used in 3 different ways; standard, fully extended, or flipped over.
This allows you to do a huge range of exercises, such as:
- Pull-ups
- Straight bar Dips
- Horizontal Rows
- Front / Back levers
- Knee tucks, Leg raises and ‘Windscreen wipers’
- Inclined push-ups
- ….etc
Check out their latest 2019 Pull Up Mate video below to see the bar in action, and get some workout inspiration:
….so what about weaknesses?
Well with any portable bar you’ve got to expect a minor trade-off for stability.
True, you can weigh the bar down with sandbags, but then you’ve suddenly lost the benefit of having something portable and easy to assemble and dismantle!
Now if your form is neat, then this won’t matter as much, but if you’re a beginner and your form is slightly shakey or you use a lot of momentum for certain exercises, then a bit of movement in the bar won’t help you.
Who would I NOT recommend the Pull Up Mate too?
Although you can make your own judgment from the above review, there are two groups of people I’m definitely not going to recommend the Pull Up Mate too.
They are:
1. Those over 17 stone / 100Kgs
Simply put Pull Up Mate states the bar has a maximum user weight of 110kgs (17 stone for us English folk), so to anyone over that weight limit I don’t think the bar would be ideal for you.
This weight limit seems to be quite a common limit for free-standing bars, so if this is a problem for you then I’d recommend checking out the Mirafit Power Rack which can withstand up to 250kgs.
Sure, there’s most likely a bit of wiggle room on that weight limit, since these companies would rather be safe than sorry when it comes to having a liability on their hands, but think about the types of exercise you would be doing on the bar and how you’d feel if it broke on you? Not sure I’d risk it personally!
2. ‘Crossfit swingers’
(No, not those kind of swingers!), I’m talking about those who train a lot of exercises with an exaggerated kipping motion to perform pull ups or muscle ups.
From experience, there doesn’t seem to be a single free standing pull up bar which deals with a heavy swinging motion well, so if that’s your style then I’ve not got a great home recommendation.
At a non-commercial level, a wall mounted bar would be a much more solid option, but since they are fixed to a wall they offer much less room to the user, so that doesn’t help either.
Fixed bars that you find in the park or a frame in the gym is your only option here.
How much does the Pull Up Mate cost
The Pull Up Mate should set you back around £140.
In terms of what they offer, there are a couple of options for buying the Pull Up Mate:
1. The Pull Up Mate including a storage bag and close-grip dip bar attachments
2. The Pull Up Mate including a storage bag (slightly cheaper)
Of course, we recommend clicking the links above to check the latest price on Amazon.
Shop direct from Gravity Fitness
Founder of www.calisthenics-101.co.uk. Training calisthenics since 2012.
Currently working on: 30 second one-arm handstand, muscle-up 360, straddle planche.