Ultimate Body Press Elevated Doorway Pull Up Bar
Ultimate Body Press Elevated Doorway Pull Up Bar Review Facts
Ultimate Body Press is a fitness maker and supplier that has invented a dizzying inventory of mountable bars and multi-use body strength developer stations.
What do we mean by the “dizzying Inventory”? A quick search on the Ultimate Body Press website yields these contraptions (a partial list):
- Ceiling mounted pull up bar, which hangs from joists or rafters and offers two grip settings;
- 4 grip padded wall mount bar, with long forward facing handles;
- Extra ergonomic pull-up bar, made specifically for homes with exposed ceiling joists
- A white powder-coated bar, to match most drywall, that can hang from a 9-foot ceiling or a wall (there’s an 8-foot version as well)
- Curved bars for both indoor and outdoor use, and, finally:
The Ultimate Body Press Elevated XL Pull Up Bar, the focus of this review and, unfortunately, a product that has slightly different names depending on which retail or review website you are visiting. The model number for the product we are describing is PLB-XL if you want to find it to purchase online. We’ll go over the features, pros, and cons, and versatile applications of this bar to help you decide if it’s the bodyweight tool of your dreams.
Editor's Pros & Cons
Pros
Clever curved handle design gives you greater range of motion, less chance of hitting your head on the ceiling
The bar sits a full 10 inches from the wall and mounts with no screws or brackets
Wall/door contact surfaces are padded and will not cause damage
Adjustable length bar fits doorways up to 36 inches wide, molding up to 3.5 inches
Mounting bar crosses over pull up handle, with carriage bolts, creating ultimate stability and strength
The foam comfort padding is high density, will last a long time and won't absorb odor from hand sweat
Takes almost no time to remove and place on the floor, where you can use it for crunches and more
Cons
Cost is slightly higher than a more traditional pull-up bar
MUST be used with secure molding--will rip out from thin decorative molding and cause damage
The bar is quite heavy, and padding at contact points is surprisingly thin--watch for indentations in wall
But Why A Pull Up Bar?
We've explored this question before, and many of you already know the answer (or perhaps you have your own reason for using a pull-up bar). But it's important enough that it bears repeating, and it is relevant to anyone who is committed enough to fitness to spend time visiting our site.
Strength training should be a part of any fitness regimen. In practice, we suppose it always is. If you walk or hike, your legs are getting a bit stronger each time. Your trunk muscles and glutes, too, face the resistance of keeping you upright as you move forward. Many people have spent years as cardio devotees, never lifting weights and wondering why their physiques never developed into what they saw in their heads. Things like hill training on treadmills helped. So did elliptical machines that had moving handles. The push/pull motion provides progressive resistance for the user's arms, shoulders, back, and chest. And of course, rowing machines give you a complete body boost and maybe the best way to get stronger without lifting.
But at some point, we all realized the need to get stronger through dedicated resistance training. If you run, being strong all over your body helps with stride length, endurance, hill climbing, and just generally not feeling like a stale pretzel for two days after a long slow distance run. Your muscles and joints work together, as does your skeletal system. Doing exercises--like pull-ups--that work for several large muscle groups at once is an effective way to enhance that connection. If you have a strong back, your legs will thank you for it.
This brings us back to pull up bars and to the Ultimate Body Press Elevated Doorway bar in particular. It is a low-cost, low-maintenance, effective way to build your strength a little each day (don't forget rest days). And the Elevated Doorway bar helps you with a greater range of motion and quick repositioning. Once you install it, the bar will be there every day, encouraging you to act on your desire to build your muscles and mobility. Whether you pursue strength gains for the sake of lifting heavyweight, or as cross-training for a team sport, the Ultimate Body Press Elevates Doorway bar is a great tool to have in your regimen. It is nearly unbreakable and has no moving parts, which is sometimes the greatest advantage of all.
Strength training should be a part of any fitness regimen. In practice, we suppose it always is. If you walk or hike, your legs are getting a bit stronger each time. Your trunk muscles and glutes, too, face the resistance of keeping you upright as you move forward. Many people have spent years as cardio devotees, never lifting weights and wondering why their physiques never developed into what they saw in their heads. Things like hill training on treadmills helped. So did elliptical machines that had moving handles. The push/pull motion provides progressive resistance for the user's arms, shoulders, back, and chest. And of course, rowing machines give you a complete body boost and maybe the best way to get stronger without lifting.
But at some point, we all realized the need to get stronger through dedicated resistance training. If you run, being strong all over your body helps with stride length, endurance, hill climbing, and just generally not feeling like a stale pretzel for two days after a long slow distance run. Your muscles and joints work together, as does your skeletal system. Doing exercises--like pull-ups--that work for several large muscle groups at once is an effective way to enhance that connection. If you have a strong back, your legs will thank you for it.
This brings us back to pull up bars and to the Ultimate Body Press Elevated Doorway bar in particular. It is a low-cost, low-maintenance, effective way to build your strength a little each day (don't forget rest days). And the Elevated Doorway bar helps you with a greater range of motion and quick repositioning. Once you install it, the bar will be there every day, encouraging you to act on your desire to build your muscles and mobility. Whether you pursue strength gains for the sake of lifting heavyweight, or as cross-training for a team sport, the Ultimate Body Press Elevates Doorway bar is a great tool to have in your regimen. It is nearly unbreakable and has no moving parts, which is sometimes the greatest advantage of all.
The Rundown
The bar is priced about neck and neck with similar products we have seen. What makes it different is Ultimate Body Press and their laser focus on steel bars that mount to walls, ceilings, and even floors, where they function as multi gyms. That focus, for example, is why the Elevated Doorway has an ergonomically curved handle. The cross-bolted construction is very stable and will never let you down. Steel tubing is a thick diameter, but still lets you a comfortable grip in one of three possible positions. The grip options are another way this product offers versatility. You can also change the position in the doorway or place the whole frame on the floor, letting you do dips, sit-ups, several types of crunches, and angled push-ups to hammer down on your back and lower chest muscles. All exercises are supported with the cross member construction and made comfortable with the long-lasting foam-padded hand grips. Ultimate Body Press has been doing this for a while, and it shows. The designers thought of everything and everyone.
Ultimate Body Press suggests pairing the frame with resistance bands or even gymnastic rings to get even more versatile use out of their product. What a great and under-explored idea that is. You can purchase the bands or rings from Ultimate Body Press, or use any brand of your choosing. They will mount easily to the frame and support your body weight through any aerial or pulling routine, putting a miniature TRX suspension system in your home without taking up even part of a room.
Ultimate Body Press suggests pairing the frame with resistance bands or even gymnastic rings to get even more versatile use out of their product. What a great and under-explored idea that is. You can purchase the bands or rings from Ultimate Body Press, or use any brand of your choosing. They will mount easily to the frame and support your body weight through any aerial or pulling routine, putting a miniature TRX suspension system in your home without taking up even part of a room.
A Few More Details
There really aren't that many technical specs you can quote about doorway pull up bars. They are lengths of steel tubing with some kind of mounting piece, either via screws, pressure, or a lip that crosses the frame and secures above wooden trim or molding. The best ones will have padded hand grips and at least two choices for grip, but you can get an effective workout from a plain steel rod if you know what you are doing. To help you in your purchase decision, here is a summary of the objective information we were able to dig up about the Ultimate Body Press Elevated Doorway Pull Up Bar.
The universal sized bar expands and shortens to fit doorways as narrow as 24 inches, or as wide as 36 inches. Crown molding, wooden nailed crown molding, is essential for mounting. The steel bar will fit molding that is up to 3.5 inches thick. There is no minimum thickness for the molding, but it's rare to find crown molding thinner than 3 inches. Just make certain your crown molding isn't the vinyl, plastic, or faux wood type. Those materials may be thinner than the minimum, and they also just aren't designed to support both the steel frame and your body weight. Hanging the elevated doorway bar on that kind of molding will cause damage and could even injure you.
Since there are no mounting screws, you can take the frame to the floor in a few seconds. Exercises you can do include sit-ups, dips, rows, push-ups, and of course pull-ups/chin-ups. One thing you can't do, since the crown molding is necessary, is to hang the frame lower in the doorway. On some similar models, you can do that and get yourself a dip workout with a full range of motion and a natural wrist position. You can't do either of those with the frame on the floor and your legs straight out in front of you.
Your body weight is what holds the bar in place during use. It pulls in the opposite direction of the bar that goes over the crown molding, and that bar is reinforced by being bolted to the bottom bar. Honestly, it sounds like it doesn't work. But many happy reviewers and a lack of disaster stories involving ripped up doorways and falling fitness buffs show that the system works quite well.
Finally, Ultimate Body Press offers a money-back guarantee on this and other home gym products.
The universal sized bar expands and shortens to fit doorways as narrow as 24 inches, or as wide as 36 inches. Crown molding, wooden nailed crown molding, is essential for mounting. The steel bar will fit molding that is up to 3.5 inches thick. There is no minimum thickness for the molding, but it's rare to find crown molding thinner than 3 inches. Just make certain your crown molding isn't the vinyl, plastic, or faux wood type. Those materials may be thinner than the minimum, and they also just aren't designed to support both the steel frame and your body weight. Hanging the elevated doorway bar on that kind of molding will cause damage and could even injure you.
Since there are no mounting screws, you can take the frame to the floor in a few seconds. Exercises you can do include sit-ups, dips, rows, push-ups, and of course pull-ups/chin-ups. One thing you can't do, since the crown molding is necessary, is to hang the frame lower in the doorway. On some similar models, you can do that and get yourself a dip workout with a full range of motion and a natural wrist position. You can't do either of those with the frame on the floor and your legs straight out in front of you.
Your body weight is what holds the bar in place during use. It pulls in the opposite direction of the bar that goes over the crown molding, and that bar is reinforced by being bolted to the bottom bar. Honestly, it sounds like it doesn't work. But many happy reviewers and a lack of disaster stories involving ripped up doorways and falling fitness buffs show that the system works quite well.
Finally, Ultimate Body Press offers a money-back guarantee on this and other home gym products.
The Final Word
We couldn't find or think of many cons or negative things about the Ultimate Body Press Elevated doorway bar. The extra horizontal and vertical clearances are a point of difference. Some reviewers said the pads that make contact with the wall leave a bit to be desired, but that just means you should check the wall periodically to make sure indentations aren't forming. That's a snap, thanks to the easy bolt-free installation. You do have to assemble the whole unit when it ships, but the user's manual makes that easy.
Because of its durability, simplicity, and versatile use, we have given the elevated doorway bar a 10 out of 10 and are confident in recommending it to anyone who wants to use the exercises it offers to get a simple and effective strength workout several times a week.
Because of its durability, simplicity, and versatile use, we have given the elevated doorway bar a 10 out of 10 and are confident in recommending it to anyone who wants to use the exercises it offers to get a simple and effective strength workout several times a week.
$107.95See Deal
See Deal