THE PULLUP IS the apex of all bodyweight exercises. The movement is one of the few you can use to train your back muscles effectively without an external load and one of the most pure expressions of relative strength (how strong you are relative to your height and weight) you can include in your workout.
Whether you’re a pullup master or you’re still working on mastering your first rep, you know that it’s also one of the hardest exercises in all of fitness. You’re working against yourself, since you’re literally lifting all of your bodyweight off the ground and over the bar. That makes form particularly important, especially if your training goals are to build strength and muscle. There’s a lot more to the pullup than just getting your chin to the bar.
“A proper pullup is an exercise in total-body tension,” says MH fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S. To learn how to create that tension and master pullup dynamics, follow along with Samuel and MH senior editor Brett Williams, NASM for the key details.
How to Do a Pullup
Bar Setup
Start by grabbing the bar with both hands, making sure your palms are over the bar. If you can’t reach up and grab the bar, step up to it rather than jumping to grasp it. A wider grip will limit the range of motion you’ll need to work through, while a narrow grip will help to leverage your biceps.
How to Hang
Once you’ve grabbed the bar, you’ll need to get into position to avoid energy leaks. Create tension by squeezing and depressing your shoulder blades, then tighten your abs and squeeze your glutes. Your feet should be slightly in front of your torso, rather than in a straight line down. Shift your elbows forward to externally rotate your shoulders. If you struggle to hold this position, practice hanging with good form for 3 sets of 30 seconds.
How to Do Pullup Reps
- Get into a good hanging position, squeezing your shoulders, abs, and glutes to maintain tension.
- Drive your elbows into your hips to pull yourself up to the bar. Continue until your head is above the bar, pausing briefly at the top.
- Lower back down until your elbows are extended, maintaining control of the position and keeping tension.
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How to Scale Pullups
Use these exercises as pullup regressions to build strength and learn the movements before you hit your first rep—or, to help improve your pullup form to increase your capacity.
Scapular Pullup
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Why: This helps with the starting position of the pullup—the hang, and the initial movement into the reps in the shoulders and upper back.
How to Do It:
- Get into a good hanging position on the bar.
- Once your arms are extended, elevate your neck as much as you can.
- Pause for a count, then lower back down.
Sets and reps: 2 sets of 8 to 10 reps as a warmup; 3 sets of 8 to 10 working sets
Pullup Hold
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Why: Work up to the full version of the pullup by emphasizing the squeeze at the top of the movement, which will contract your lats and mid-back.
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How to Do It:
- Get into a good hanging position on the bar.
- Pull yourself up to the top, squeezing your mid-back muscles (if you can’t pull yourself up, use a box and start at the top).
- Hold the position for as long as your can (aim for 10 seconds, then work up)
Sets and reps: 3 reps of 10 to 12 seconds
Eccentric Pullup
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Why: This exercise will be especially useful if you can’t pull yourself up. You’ll be in the proper position, acclimating your body to the movement.
How to Do It:
- Get into a good hanging position on the bar.
- Pull yourself up to the top, squeezing your mid-back muscles (if you can’t pull yourself up, use a box and start at the top).
- Hold the position for a beat, then lower yourself down slowly. Keep up the full-body tension as you descend.
Sets and reps: 2 to 3 sets of 3 to 4 reps
Pullup Grips
Overhand Grip
This is what most people consider to be ‘pullups,’—and it’s the toughest position in which you can do the exercise, since you’ll be forced to work to twist your elbows forward to create external rotation at the shoulder joint.
Underhand Grip
Otherwise known as a chinup, the underhand grip allows for more biceps recruitment. This makes the task of pulling your body up slightly easier and more comfortable.
Neutral Grip
When your palms face each other, you’ll be in a more comfortable position for your shoulders.
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Pullup Muscles Worked
Yes, the pullup is primarily understood as a back and arm exercise—but if you’re doing the movement the right way, this should be a full-body movement. Your mid-back muscles are essential, and your lats are the primary mover. The forearms and biceps are integral as well, for gripping the bar and assisting that pulling motion. When you’re using proper form, your core muscles (glutes and abs, specifically) will be involved as well as you brace to create tension.
Pullup Benefits
The pullup is a valuable bodyweight exercise that you can use to build strength and muscle, specifically in your back. There are real-world payoffs, too—if you’ve ever done activities like rock climbing or other activities that put you into a hanging position, this is an invaluable exercise.
Common Pullup Mistakes
Pullups in any form are difficult, and pullups with perfect form are even harder. Exercisers can be caught up with finishing reps without enough focus, allowing for sloppy posture and energy leaks (in other words, losing full-body tension). When performing strict pullups, it’s also important to limit momentum and swinging the body and extending the arms fully at the bottom of each rep.
The Butterfly Pullup
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If you’ve ever seen anyone do CrossFit, you might have seen people swinging themselves up and down to the bar. These kipping pullups—also called butterfly pullups—don’t serve the same purpose as strict pullups.
You won’t build strength and muscle doing butterfly pullups. The focus is more on piling up reps quickly, and training gymnastics skills. If you’re not a CrossFitter, stick to strict form pullups.
How to Add Pullups to Your Workouts
Pullups will be the bedrock of your bodyweight workouts. Start by including them in your upper body training with 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 8 reps to start.
