The pullup is an awesome compound muscle exercise which primarily works your pulling muscles. This includes…
- Back muscles (lots of back muscles are worked)
- Biceps
- Forearm muscles
- Grip strength
The pull up is a tough exercise to do if you don’t have much upper body strength to begin with. Women especially have trouble with pullups if they don’t have much previous strength training. In the sections below we’ll address how to make pull ups easier, and also how to make them harder.
Download this video to your iPod (Right click, then select “Save Link as”)
About the Pull Up
Proper pullup form
- Grip the bar with a palms facing out grip, or a palms facing you grip. Either one works...
- Extend your arms all the way, and hang from the bar
- Pull your body up, and make sure your chin goes above the bar
- Slowly drop back down to a hanging position with your arms fully extended (don't cheat!)
Common Pull Up Mistakes
- Full range of motion - This is the most common problem people have with the pullup. Make sure you go all the way down, and all the way up when you do a pullup. Don't short the range of motion at the bottom and hold yourself part of the way up. If you do, you're only cheating yourself of the full benefits of the exercise.
- Latissimus dorsi
- Teres major
- Rhomboids
- Trapezius
- If a pull up is relatively easy for you and you can do 12 or more in one try, it's worth it to increase the difficulty of your pullups to increase your strength gains. There are a few ways to increase the difficulty of your pullup...
- Wear a weighted vest (or bookbag) - A weighted vest is a great choice, as you can switch the weights in and out very easily. The only downside to this is weighted vests are slightly expensive (usually $100+). A good substitute is to use a good book bag and add weight plates to it.
- Wear a weight belt and hang weights - Some gyms will supply these belts. If they do, they will come with a chain hanging from them. Just attach weight plates to the chain as needed.
- Add resistance with bands - Attaching a band to the squat rack, and putting it behind your neck is a great way to add resistance to your pull ups.
Where do I start if I'm a beginner? (weights, reps, sets)
The pullup is a tough exercise if you don't have a good strength training base. However there are two easy ways for beginners to practice the pull up. This will let you learn how to work your way up to a real pull up. Use an assisted pull up machine
- Most commercial gyms have assisted pull up machines. If you are having trouble doing a pull up, start on this machine and try to find a good assistance weight that allows you to do 3 sets of 8. Continue to do them on the assisted machine until you can perform pull ups on your own.
- A good set of stretch bands work well for doing assisted pull ups. Hook them to the top of the squat rack, put your hands on the bar and then put the bands under each of your feet. As with above try do 3 sets of 8, so you can understand the movement of the pull up.
28 Comments »
Trackback responses to this post
- Build Muscle in Just 31 Days… | GymJunkies.com
- How To Do Your First Pull Up Or Chin Up | GymJunkies.com
- The Secret To Doing Your First Pull Up | How To Build More Muscle
- » How to Get Ripped for Free Without a Gym
- The Secret To Doing Your First Pull Up | Thebodybuildingtools.info-Articles Center
- How to Get Ripped for Free Without a Gym | Creditcardsrepairsite.net-Articles Panorama
- muscles of the back
- Weight Training : FitHacks.com
- 7 Laws To Be Fit For Life | GymJunkies.com
- 7 Laws To Be Fit For Life | How To Build More Muscle
- 7 Laws To Be Fit For Life | Thebodybuildingtools.info-Articles Center
- Best Exercises to Look Good Fast | The Art of Manliness
- Bodyweight Exercises For Strength | GymJunkies.com
Hey Vic, great demonstration but you forgot the fifth grip – one handed. Only kidding. I’m not sure that needs to be covered in an article about how to do a pull up.
Keep up the good work.
Dan.
I was always timid doing Pull Ups growing up but once I gave them a shot they are now my favorite exercise. You get so much out of doing pull ups.
I usually avoid doing pull ups but my real insperation is Rocky especially Mr T in Rocky3.
Pull ups are awesome- I’ve been doing them in one form or another for… uh… over 30 years! I have only done curls for a few of those years and Vic is correct: curls are a waste of your time and effort. AND they set you up for injury of the biceps and related tendons. Stick with the compound exercises. I am so glad that Vic is pushing this all-important rule of the iron game.
@ Dan: Man, I wish I could rock the one-arm pull ups! That is an impressive feat, without a doubt.
@ Brad: Pulls are one of my favorites as well. I’ve really been into kipping pull ups lately.
@ Chris: Mr. T. hanging on the ropes from the rafter cranking out pull ups is definitely inspiring. I pity the fool who doesn’t do pull ups!
@ Chris C: Always good to find a comrade in compound movements. I’m going to check out your site right now!
I have have shoulders due to a motorcycle wreck when I was 21. I’ll be 50 in May. I tried to do a pull-up and could not do one. Also I do military press but talk about pain. So on the strenth program what do I do for pull – ups?
bad shoulders i mean
Thanks for the details! Although I’ve been a runner and lifting weights for years, I only just recently actually conquered 2 full unassisted chinups a few weeks ago! Being in the military I was always great at pushups, but pullups/chinups were my nemesis. So my question is what do you really think of kipping? So many of my civilian friends are so CrossFit that many of them think it’s the “best” way. I don’t ever prescribe to any exercise being “The best” for anyone since we’re all so individualized, but I wanted to know your take on it. Does kipping provide any real benefit?
Thanks!
Completely new to exercise I started chin-ups (pull-ups) when a friend at work told me I could buy a bar for home from a local shop. I fixed it to the door frame at home in anticipation of doing say 5, maybe 10…. I couldn’t actually do 1!! I was amazed, how could I be so weak?
Because I see the bar every day I use it every day, at least once and in less than 3 weeks I can now do 2 sets of 5 reps, it’s an amazing exercise and incredible how just a little – maybe 2 mins (max) several times a day – can make such a difference.
Hey vic-
I was wondering how far apart my hands should be when doing pullups– also does the wide grip pullups work the same general muscles, the one where the grips are far apart and slanted 30-40degrees like / \
The difference in muscle involvement from grip width is so minor that it is not worth worrying about. Put the hands where they feel most comfortable. For most people that will be just outside of shoulders width.
thanks a lot vic- the slanted wide grip pullups seem a lot more difficult to me though, but good to know they both work the same muscles
Hey Vic, i was just wondering, which one will cause my biceps and back to grow faster. Body weight pull-ups 3 X Failure, or Weighted pull-ups 5 X 5 ? Thanks Vic!
Good question. The only way to know for sure is to test and track. But my guess would be body weight pull us 3 X failure. Good luck.
If you need to find more information about Pullups this site has everything you need
Pullups