power tower reviews

In this post, you’ll learn how to have an effective power tower workout. You will learn:

  • Lots of exercises you can do with the power tower (beginner to advanced level)
  • Suggestions on how to use the equipment the right way to get results.
  • Workout plans
  • And other tips to get better workouts at home.

So, if you want to know how to use the power tower the right way, you’ll love this guide.

Power Tower Exercises

power tower workout and exercises

With the power tower’s help, you can do the most beneficial bodyweight exercises to strengthen your upper body. These are almost the same exercises that people do at calisthenics parks.

Many people are skeptical about if bodyweight training alone is enough to build strength and muscles. I think that misconception comes from that false belief that we need to lift weights to get a fabulous physique.

In a nutshell, that’s not true. The muscles gain if they frequently get a new impact that they need to adapt to. That means you need to modify your workout from time to time by switching to advanced exercises or doing more reps and sets.

The muscle fibers don’t care about if the resistance comes from lifting weights or body weight. They will gain in power and size if they get the right impact.

I also have to mention that these exercises are more natural to muscles and joints. Hence, the risk of injuries is lower than lifting.

Also, they are compound exercises meaning multiple muscle groups are activated during the movement. That leads to a balanced physique and better functional strength.

Now, let’s check out what type of calisthenics exercises you can do with the power tower. I grouped them based on the stations of the pull-up dip station.


Pull-ups and Chin-Ups

Typically, power towers come with a straight chin-up bar that is angled towards the floor at the end. Therefore, we can do pull-ups and chin-ups with wider or closer grips. The better towers are equipped with multi-grip pull-up bars or monkey bars, which offer far more ways to exercise and target different muscle groups.

Standard pull-ups and chin-ups target the back muscles (lats, lower back), but the shoulders, core, biceps, and forearms are also incredibly engaged to perform the moves. With standard, narrow, and close grip, we can target specific muscle groups better.

There are many chin-ups and pull-up variations, which you can learn from the following video. In the beginning, you will learn the progression that helps to make your first correct pull-up. Then, more advanced drills are presented.

Keep in mind that some exercises are unsafe to do with a power tower.


Advice:

  • Beginners can fix a resistance band to the pull-up bar and put it under their feet for help.
  • Advanced athletes can use a weight vest for extra resistance or do single arm pull or chin-ups to gain their back muscles.
  • Muscle-ups and other high-level calisthenics moves require a heavy-duty power tower that is fixed to the floor.
  • If the tower is high enough, you can attach gymnastic rings for a varied workout.
best power tower reviews

Hanging leg raises

While a power tower is equipped with a vertical knee raise station (VKR), the pull-up bar can be used for many effective ab exercises. Hanging leg and knee lifts work the entire core. Of course, performing these moves are more challenging since controlling the movement is more complicated.

From the following video, you can learn many hanging ab exercises from easy to hard.


Hints:

  • Attach ab straps/sling straps to the bar that helps to control the movement.
  • By twisting your torso to the sides, you can target your obliques (side abs) better.
  • Use ankle weights for additional resistance.

Chest and Triceps Dip

The dip is a compound exercise that engages mainly the triceps, chest, and shoulders, but almost all the upper body muscles are engaged.

To do triceps dip, we should keep our torso as vertical as possible. This way, more load is put on the triceps than the chest. By leaning forward, there is an additional load on the chest muscles (chest dips).

Within the next video, you can learn some dip variations. The activities are presented with parallel bars, but you’ll get some ideas.


Tips:

  • For hardness use, a weighted vest, cling a weight plate on a belt or hold a dumbbell with your feet.
  • If you find it hard to do a clean dip, you should do bench dips when you place your feet on the floor. Some power towers come with adjustable dip bars.
  • Fix a resistance band to the dip bars, loop them under your knees for support. It helps to learn the correct form.
  • Use the dip station for inverted bodyweight rows, which is a progression exercise for pull-ups.
  • Advanced sportsmen can place make their conditioning harder by setting their body weight to the sides.

Push Up Station

The push-up bars help us to go deeper, and that means a longer range of motion. We can get better stretching and contraction, which leads to significant muscle development.

Push-ups mainly work the chest muscles and triceps, but the core, back, and shoulders are activated.

There are a lot of push up variations we can do with the power tower. You can learn some from the following video.


Advice:

  • Advanced athletes can use a weight vest, do decline push-ups, or do single-arm push-ups.
  • Beginners can use the dip handles of the power tower (if they are adjustable) for incline push-ups.

Vertical Knee Raises

The vertical knee raise works the entire core but particularly beneficial for those who want to shape their lower abs to get that v-cut look. Since the power tower has elbow pads and a backrest, it’s much easier to perform the ab exercises within the VKR than hanging from a bar.

Most people use the power tower for standard leg lifts, but by twisting the torso to the sides, we can really target the obliques.

From this video, you can learn some powerful core exercises you can do with the VKR station to shape your abdominals. Here is the detailed guide for the power tower ab workout.


Tip:

  • For hardness, use ankle weights or rubber bands.
  • Beginners can start with single-leg raises to acquire the proper technique.

How to use a power tower – Workout plans for home

We can do two types of power tower workouts: a full-body or split training.

Full-body Workout

This means that we strengthen each of the major muscles on the same day with 1-2 exercises doing 3-4 sets 2-3 times a week. This type of workout plan helps beginners get used to strength training or have short conditioning.

3-day beginner power tower workout routine (Monday-Wednesday-Friday):

  • Push-ups: 3-4×12-20 repetitions
  • Dips: 3-4×8-10 repetitions
  • Pull-ups: 3-4×6-12
  • Vertical knee raises: 3-4×12-20
  • Bodyweight squat: 4×15-20

Split workout

The split training means we strengthen 1-3 muscle groups on a given day. But, we do 2-3 activities for a given muscle group and with that, more sets. A split plan is better for those who are familiar with bodyweight training.

Here is an example 2-day split calisthenics workout:

Monday-Thursday:

Chest/back/abs

  • Push-ups: 3×12-20××
  • Decline push-ups: 3×8-12
  • Wide grip pull-ups: 4×6-12
  • Close-grip pull-ups: 3×6-12
  • Leg raises: 4×10-20
  • Knee raises to the sides: 3×12-15

Tuesday/Friday

Legs/shoulders/arms

  • Bodyweight squat: 4×15-20
  • Lunges: 4×12-15
  • Pike push-up: 4×8-12
  • Triceps dips: 4×8-12
  • Close grip chin-ups: 3×8-12

You can do a power tower workout circuit when you switch from one exercise to another with 1-2 minutes between until you do the required rounds for both routines. You can also find applications such as the MMA Spartan System to use with the power tower.

Note: It’s essential to have a throughout warming up before the power tower workouts.


Additional workout equipment to consider for the home workout?

The power tower fitness equipment gives all the possibilities to have a complete upper body workout, but it can’t be used for the lower body. Plus, it’s always beneficial if we have a versatile workout routine.

That’s why I recommend having a workout bench and a pair of adjustable dumbbells for the home gym as well. With the dumbbells, we can have a versatile chest workout, leg, and arm workout.


FAQ

What power tower workout results can you expect from the power tower training?

calisthenics before after

The power tower exercise benefits are numerous. You can get not just bigger and stronger muscles, but your endurance will also be much better. The drills you can do with the tower are compound moves that build functional strength that you can use in everyday life and any other sports.

However, if you want to lose fat, you need to do cardio as well.

Here is a before and after picture about a guy who does only calisthenics exercises. Moves that you can do with the power tower.

What is the best power tower?

Fitness Reality X-Class power tower

A reliable power tower is stable, has a high weight capacity, and has workout stations that are comfortable to use. We have detailed reviews on the best power towers.

Do power towers build muscle?

Sure. If you regularly modify your workout routine by doing more repetitions and sets and adding more challenging exercises, the muscle fibers need to adapt to the new impact (progressive overload). Hence, they grow. But, for real bodybuilding, you need to lift weights.

What are the benefits of a power tower?

It’s one of the most versatile exercise equipment for home that lets us do the most effective bodyweight exercises. With its help, we can have the best back exercises, a complete core workout, and strengthen the arms and chest. It also doesn’t require much space.

Are power towers good for abs?

Vertical leg lifts are among the best abs exercises to shape your stomach. Since we have to lift the lower body, the resistance is higher compared to common exercises like crunches.

To sum up

I hope you find this power tower workout guide useful, and now you have an idea on how to create your own custom plan. There is no need to overcomplicate things, just strengthen your body’s muscle groups with exercises, reps, and sets that you feel work for you. But, if you still need advice on your pull up tower workout routine, let me know below.