Pull-up

Why it's here

The pull-up trains the back and arms with nothing but a bar. In strength-trained men, eight weeks of pull-ups improved strength and maximum reps when each set stopped once the reps had slowed by about a quarter; pushing on until they had slowed by half produced no measurable gain ^[1]. For beginners, assisted and lowering-only pull-ups are a route in: in a trial that used them for eight weeks, pull-ups went up in every group ^[2].

The evidence

• Training study Twenty-nine strength-trained men, who could already do about sixteen pull-ups, did body-weight overhand pull-ups for eight weeks (sixteen sessions). The group that ended each set once rep speed had dropped by 25% improved in every measure, including estimated one-rep maximum and maximum reps; the group that continued to a 50% drop did not change. The trial measured strength and endurance, not muscle size ^[1].
• Training study Thirty physically inactive young men trained twice a week for eight weeks with assisted pull-ups, inverted rows, underhand pull-ups and lowering-only pull-ups, plus one of three add-ons (running intervals, forearm work or core work). Pull-ups rose in all three groups, from about three or four to roughly seven to thirteen. Every group did an add-on and there was no untrained control, so the gain cannot be credited to the pull-up routine alone ^[2].

How to do it

1. Hang from the bar with an overhand grip a little wider than your shoulders and your arms straight.
2. Pull until your chin passes the bar, then lower yourself under control until your arms are straight again.
3. End each set while you can still pull at a reasonable speed, rather than grinding out slow reps. In the first trial above, stopping once reps had slowed by a quarter worked better than going further ^[1].
4. If you can't do one yet, start with assisted pull-ups (on an assisted pull-up machine or with a band) and lowering-only pull-ups, where you jump to the top and lower yourself slowly. The second trial above used both kinds ^[2]. The lat pulldown trains the same movement at a lighter load.

Stop an exercise that causes significant or unusual pain and have it assessed. This page describes the movement; it is not rehabilitation advice.

Making it harder over time

This is a moderate compound exercise in the Progressive Overload Calculator, which adds weight in steps of 2.5%–5% once every set reaches the top of your rep range, and adds reps until then.

Alternatives

• Lat pulldown — The pull-up's movement at any load you choose. Eight weeks of it raised pulldown strength by over a quarter and more than doubled pull-ups.
• Seated cable row — A supported row that trains the middle of the back. Paired with the pulldown, it was half of the pulling work that grew lat fibres in eight weeks.