Pull-Up
- Bodyweight
- Compound exercise
- Back
For a pull-up, you hang from the bar with straight arms and an overhand grip, then pull yourself up until your chin clears the bar. It mainly trains your lats and biceps [1].
BackBiceps
Drag to pause
- Main muscle
- Back
- Supporting muscles
- Biceps
- Equipment
- Pull-up bar
- Reps
- 6–10 for muscle building
- Sets
- 3
- Rest
- 2:30
- Weight step
- Bodyweight: reps first, with added weight 2.5 kg (5 lb)
How to do it
- 1
Grip a bit wider than shoulders, shoulders away from your ears.
- 2
Pull your chin over the bar, driving your elbows down.
- 3
Lower slowly to straight arms, no swinging.
Tempo of one rep
The figure shows a calm rep of 5.0 s, lowering slower than pulling. Tempo matters less than you’d think for growth; reps lasting 0.5 to 8 s build similar muscle [2].
Common mistakes
- Swinging with your legs.
Momentum then pulls you up instead of your back, and your body sways. Keep your legs and torso still and pull from a dead hang.
- Arms staying bent at the bottom.
You then skip the bottom part of the movement and every rep gets shorter. Lower all the way to straight arms each time, keeping your shoulders away from your ears.
- Craning your neck toward the bar.
Your chin then only looks like it’s over the bar, and your neck overextends. Pull until your chin clears the bar with your head in line with your torso, driving your elbows down.
- Grip too wide.
A very wide grip puts your shoulder in a position that narrows the space under the shoulder roof [3]. Grip about shoulder width or a little wider.
Sets and reps
How Tarvo plans the pull-up as a compound lift, by goal and experience. Rest is the time between two sets.
| Goal | Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Muscle building | 6–10 | 2:30 |
| Strength | 3–6 | 3:00 |
| Both | 5–8 | 2:30 |
| Experience | Sets |
|---|---|
| New to it | 2 |
| Some experience | 3 |
| Experienced | 4 |
How Tarvo progresses your pull-ups
Without added weight, only your reps go up. Every set where you hit your target gets one more rep next time, even past the top of your rep range. With three or more left in the tank, it’s two; with none left, the target stays.
With added weight, the weight goes up like on a barbell in steps of 2.5 kg (5 lb), once your first set hits the top of the range and the others are no more than two reps below it. Tarvo then works out from your strength how many reps you can do with the new weight.
Your next pull-ups
Enter what you did last time, with 0 for no added weight. Tarvo works out your target for the next session with the same rule as in the app.
All on target, with two left. So one more rep.
Variations
Questions
What if I can’t do a pull-up yet?
If you pick “New to it” for experience or train at home with dumbbells only, Tarvo leaves pull-ups out of your plan. At the gym, the lat pulldown takes their place, at home dumbbell pullovers; if the day has no substitute, as in Compound Lifts, the slot is dropped. If your plan has a pull-up you can’t do yet, use the lat pulldown instead.
How many sets of pull-ups for muscle growth?
Three sets of 6 to 10 reps with 2:30 min rest if you already have some experience. If you can do more, your reps simply keep going up without added weight.
How wide should your grip be for pull-ups?
About shoulder width or a little wider, overhand with your thumb around the bar. A very wide grip puts your shoulder in a position that narrows the space under the shoulder roof [3].
Pull-ups or chin-ups?
Both mainly train your lats and biceps. Chin-ups work the biceps and chest more, pull-ups the lower traps [1].
What muscles do pull-ups work?
Mainly your lats and biceps [1]. The lower and middle traps, rear delts and forearms help.
Sources
- [1]Youdas et al. (2010). Surface electromyographic activation patterns and elbow joint motion during a pull-up, chin-up, or Perfect-Pullup rotational exercise. J Strength Cond Res. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govMuscle activity in overhand pull-ups and chin-ups. Lats and biceps work in both; chin-ups work the biceps and chest more, pull-ups the lower traps.
- [2]Schoenfeld, Ogborn, Krieger (2015). Effect of repetition duration during resistance training on muscle hypertrophy. Sports Med. doi 10.1007/s40279-015-0304-0Meta-analysis. Reps lasting 0.5 to 8 seconds built similar muscle; much slower reps built less.
- [3]Prinold, Bull (2016). Scapula kinematics of pull-up techniques: avoiding impingement risk with training changes. J Sci Med Sport. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govStudy of shoulder blade motion in pull-up variations. A wide grip puts the arm in a position that narrows the space under the shoulder roof; hands about shoulder width.
Keep going
Tarvo sets your next pull-up target.
Reps or added weight, set by set. You just check them off.
One email when Tarvo launches. Nothing else. Privacy
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