Pull-Ups

How to Do Pull-Ups

1. Hang from a bar with an overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder width
2. Engage your lats and pull your chest up toward the bar
3. Lead with your chest, not your chin
4. Pull until your chin clears the bar
5. Lower yourself slowly to a full dead hang

Form Tips

• Start from a dead hang with shoulders engaged
• Think about pulling your elbows down to your pockets
• Keep your core tight to prevent swinging
• Don't use kipping or momentum for strict pull-ups
• Full range of motion: dead hang to chin over bar

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Using momentum and kipping without intent
• Not going through full range of motion
• Craning the neck to get chin over bar
• Letting shoulders shrug up at the bottom
• Grip too wide or too narrow

Benefits of Pull-Ups

• Best bodyweight exercise for back development
• Builds impressive pulling strength
• Strengthens grip and forearms
• Improves posture by strengthening upper back
• Compound movement working multiple muscle groups

Variations

Alternatives to Pull-Ups

10 movements that train the same primary muscle, closest substitutes first — same kind of training, then variations of the movement itself, then a similar difficulty.

1. 1

   Drag Curl

   An intermediate compound strength exercise that works the biceps, using a barbell.

   intermediate Barbell
2. 2

   Reverse Barbell Preacher Curls

   An intermediate isolation strength exercise that works the biceps, using an E-Z curl bar.

   intermediate E-Z Curl Bar
3. 3

   Standing Dumbbell Reverse Curl

   An intermediate isolation strength exercise that works the biceps, using dumbbells.

   intermediate Dumbbells
4. 4

   Zottman Curl

   An intermediate isolation strength exercise that works the biceps, using dumbbells.

   intermediate Dumbbells
5. 5

   Zottman Preacher Curl

   An intermediate isolation strength exercise that works the biceps, using dumbbells.

   intermediate Dumbbells
6. 6

   Dumbbell Curls

   Dumbbell curls are the quintessential arm exercise for building bicep strength and size. The unilateral nature of dumbbells helps identify and correct muscle imbalances between arms.

   beginner Dumbbells AI tracked
7. 7

   Dumbbell Prone Incline Curl

   An intermediate isolation strength exercise that works the biceps, using dumbbells.

   intermediate Dumbbells
8. 8

   High Cable Curls

   An intermediate compound strength exercise that works the biceps, using a cable machine.

   intermediate Cable Machine
9. 9

   Lying Cable Curl

   An intermediate isolation strength exercise that works the biceps, using a cable machine.

   intermediate Cable Machine
10. 10

    Lying High Bench Barbell Curl

    An intermediate isolation strength exercise that works the biceps, using a barbell.

    intermediate Barbell