Pullups
Also works: Biceps · Middle Back
The pull-up hangs you from a bar with an overhand grip and asks you to pull your chin over it. It is the cleanest measure of upper-body pulling strength relative to your own bodyweight, and unlike a pulldown it cannot be faked — you either clear the bar or you do not.
Own the movement
Set up first, then execute. Every cue below is something you can check on your next set.
Before the first rep
- Grip slightly wider than shoulder-width, thumbs over the bar or around it — whichever lets you squeeze hardest.
- Hang fully at the bottom with your shoulders active, not slack in the sockets.
- Squeeze your glutes and brace your abs so your body is one rigid line.
- Cross your ankles and keep your legs slightly in front of you to stop the swing before it starts.
Every rep
Breathing & tempo — Exhale as you pull, inhale on the way down. Roughly one second up, two seconds down, no pause at the top.
Sets, reps & load
Where to start, and what to change when it stops being hard.
Bodyweight is the starting load and there is no lighter option — which is why the regressions below matter. Ten strict reps is a solid standard for most people; once you can do twelve, add weight with a belt or a dumbbell between your feet rather than chasing higher rep counts.
What goes wrong
The errors that show up most often, and the cue that fixes each one.
Pause for a beat at the bottom of every rep. Your rep count will drop and your back will get stronger faster.
Stop the set at the last strict rep. If you want more volume, add sets or use a band, not momentum.
Keep your neck neutral and let your chest rise toward the bar instead. If the rep needs your chin to reach, it was not a rep.
Spread the volume out. Five sets of three across the week beats one set of eight for building the pattern.
Why bother
Pull-ups load the lats through a long range against your full bodyweight, and they make your trunk work to stop you swinging. That combination is why one clean pull-up is worth more than three sloppy pulldowns.
An overhand grip biases the lats and upper back; the underhand chin-up brings the biceps in and is usually a few reps easier. Both belong in a program — the pull-up is the harder of the two and the better long-term marker.
Where it fits
Early in a back session, before rows and curls have eaten your grip. If you cannot yet do five, treat pull-ups as skill practice: several sets of low reps, often, rather than one set to failure per week.
If this one isn't it
No kit, too hard, or too easy — here's where to go instead.
Same job, different kit
Start here instead
When this gets easy
Asked and answered
I cannot do a single pull-up. Where do I start?
Two things in parallel: band-assisted pull-ups for the full pattern, and slow negatives — jump to the top and take five seconds to lower. Three sessions a week of low-rep work gets most people to their first rep within a couple of months.
Pull-ups or chin-ups?
Chin-ups are easier and let the biceps help, so they are the better place to build volume early. Pull-ups bias the lats and upper back more. Rotate between them rather than picking a side.
Do lat pulldowns build pull-ups?
They help, but they are not a substitute. The pulldown fixes your body and moves the bar; the pull-up moves your body and demands trunk stability. Train both, and test with the pull-up.
Should I go wider to hit the lats more?
Slightly wider than shoulder-width is enough. Very wide grips shorten the range of motion and load the shoulder without adding lat recruitment worth having.