Muscles worked
Pull-ups mainly train your lats, which pull your elbows down towards your sides. The muscles between your shoulder blades, the back of your shoulders and your biceps help, and your forearms work hard to hold on. Your abs keep your body still. Grip changes the balance: an underhand grip, as in chin-ups, gives your biceps more to do, and many people manage a few more reps that way.
Common mistakes
- Your shoulders stay up by your ears. Starting from a slack hang lets your arms take over. Begin each rep by pulling your shoulder blades down, so your body rises a little without your arms bending, then pull the rest of the way.
- Your chin strains towards the bar. Pushing your chin forward does not make the rep any longer, it just strains your neck. Pull your chest towards the bar and keep your head in line with your body.
- Every set goes to total failure. The last reps often become half reps and your form falls apart. Finish each set with one or two reps left and do more sets instead. The guide to reps in reserve explains how to judge it.
Variations and alternatives
- Assisted pull-ups while you cannot yet lift your own bodyweight, since you choose how much help you get.
- Chin-ups, with an underhand grip, to give your biceps more work.
- The wide grip lat pulldown trains a similar movement with a weight you choose.
- The inverted row is an easier bodyweight pull that builds strength in your back and grip.
Sets and reps
How you programme them depends on how many you can do. If you can do none, or only the odd one, train assisted pull-ups or lat pulldowns at 6 to 12 reps and try one unassisted rep early in the session. If you can do 3 to 5, do several short sets of two to four reps with plenty of rest rather than one all-out set. The guide to sets and reps has more.
At 6 to 12 reps you are in a good range for building muscle. Past 12 with good form, you can hang a plate from a dip belt and train strength at 3 to 6 reps. Endurance sets of 12 to 20 suit those already strong at the exercise. Add reps first and then weight, or reduce the help on the machine one step at a time. Both are progressive overload.