Weighted Pull Ups
Also works: Biceps · Middle Back
A strict pull-up performed with extra load hung from a dip belt, held between the feet, or worn in a vest. It is what happens after bodyweight sets stop being hard: instead of drifting into sets of twenty, you add 5 kg and go back to sets of five. This is the heaviest strength work available for the lats.
Own the movement
Set up first, then execute. Every cue below is something you can check on your next set.
Before the first rep
- Load the dip belt on the floor, step into it, and set the chain length so the plate hangs just below your hips and clear of your knees.
- For lighter loads, pinch a dumbbell between crossed ankles or wear a vest — a belt below about 5 kg swings more than it is worth.
- Take a pronated grip at roughly shoulder width, thumbs wrapped, and step off rather than jumping up with plates hanging.
- Let the plate settle and stop swinging before the first rep.
- Lean back around 20-30 degrees, chest up, ribs down, glutes squeezed to lock the load to your body.
Every rep
Breathing & tempo — Big breath at the dead hang, brace, exhale through the top of the pull, inhale on the descent. One to two seconds up, a beat at the top, two to three seconds down.
Before you load it
- Check the belt chain and carabiner before every set. A plate dropping from head height onto your feet is the realistic injury here, not a shoulder strain.
- Never drop from the bar with weight attached. Lower to a dead hang, get your feet onto a box, and unload before letting go.
Sets, reps & load
Where to start, and what to change when it stops being hard.
Start at 5 kg once you own eight strict bodyweight reps, and progress in 2.5 kg steps whenever every set hits the top of the range. A single at +25% of bodyweight is a strong intermediate marker; +50% for a rep is advanced. Total load matters, so recalculate targets if your bodyweight shifts.
What goes wrong
The errors that show up most often, and the cue that fixes each one.
Earn eight clean dead-hang reps with the chest to the bar first. If range shrinks the moment the belt goes on, take the weight off and rebuild the pattern.
Use a box or the rack pins to reach the bar, then step off deliberately. The jerk of a jump start with 20 kg swinging is where shoulders get tweaked.
Move in 2.5 kg steps and only after you have hit the top of the rep range on every set. Micro-plates matter more here than on any barbell lift because your bodyweight is already the bulk of the load.
Use chalk, and add a set of heavy dead hangs at the end of the session. Straps are legitimate on your top sets if grip is the only thing ending them, but train the grip separately rather than strapping every set.
Why bother
A pull-up is unusual among bodyweight movements because you can load it precisely. Once you can do ten clean reps, adding reps stops building strength and starts building tolerance for reps. Adding 5 kg to a belt puts you straight back into the 3-6 range where the lats and the elbow flexors actually get stronger.
It also exposes the weak link honestly. Hanging weight from your hips makes the descent longer and heavier, so grip, mid-back and the bottom of the range all get tested at once. Most people find their first sticking point is not the lats — it is the first five centimetres out of a dead hang, which is exactly the range a kipping or half-range pull-up never trains.
Where it fits
First exercise of a pulling day, after a warm-up of two or three bodyweight sets. Three to five working sets of 3-6 reps, once or twice a week. Follow it with rowing volume rather than more vertical pulling — a second heavy overhead pull in the same session mostly buys elbow tendon irritation.
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Asked and answered
When should I start adding weight instead of reps?
When you can do eight to ten strict dead-hang reps with the chest touching. Past that point, extra reps mostly train local endurance. Adding 5 kg and returning to sets of five keeps you in the range where the lats get stronger, and strength is what carries back over to every other pulling movement you do.
Dip belt, weight vest or dumbbell between the feet?
Belt for anything above about 10 kg — it hangs the load at your hips, closest to your centre of mass, and it scales to any plate in the gym. A vest is more comfortable but usually caps out around 20 kg and puts the weight higher on your torso. A dumbbell between crossed ankles is fine for the first few kilos and awkward beyond that.
Are weighted pull-ups better than lat pulldowns?
For strength, yes: you can load them heavier relative to your own body, and the trunk has to stabilise a free-hanging load rather than being pinned under a knee pad. Pulldowns still earn their place for higher-rep volume, for training past failure with drop sets, and for anyone who cannot yet do eight bodyweight reps.
My elbows ache after weighted sets. What do I change?
Usually it is the pronated grip plus a fast descent. Switch to a neutral or supinated grip for a few weeks, slow the lowering to a deliberate three seconds instead of dropping, and cut the added load by a third. Persistent inner-elbow pain that lingers into the next day means back off the load entirely for two weeks rather than pushing through it.