What's the Advantage of Pull-Ups?

You know the daunting exercise: pull-ups. Most people have at least attempted to hoist their entire body off the ground like a levitating magic trick, but it is no easy feat. While only a small percentage of the population’s chins have met the mythic height of the bar, the rest of us dream of achieving the pull-up.  

But how do you get better at pull-ups? Why are pull-ups beneficial to add into your workout? And do they make your back and arms stronger? Do they contribute to the width and definition of your back?  

Let’s raise your understanding about pull-ups, your confidence, and your body. 

What muscles do pull-ups work? 

Pull-ups, like most exercises, involve multiple muscles, but their primary target is your back (lats). Additionally, they work biceps and grip strength.    

Pull-up exercises 

Can’t do a pull-up yet? No problem. Pull-ups are difficult. Push-ups? Child’s play by comparison. Other bodyweight exercises like lunges or the infamous burpee? Child’s play—painful child’s play, but simple by comparison, nonetheless. And what’s more, once you can actually do a pull-up, two pull-ups then become hard, and so on. There is always room to improve, which makes pull-ups great for all levels.  

Here are some helpful exercises to expedite your progress.  

Resistance Bands 

Not music (though, a good workout playlist goes a long way). We are talking bands of the rubber variety.  

This takes a little setup, but if you’re close to being able to do a pull-up on your own, it’s a great tool to get you the last bit of the way.  

• Wrap a pull-up band around the bar 

• Put your feet in the bottom of the band’s loop 

• Grab the bar like a regular pull-up 

• And bam, you have yourself an elastic spotter to get your chin up and over 

Read more about different pull-up band exercises here.

Negative pull-ups 

If you’re serious about developing pull-up strength, negative pull-ups are one of the lesser known and even lesser applied. Get something to stand on that puts you at the top of the lift, hold on tight, and lower yourself slowly and with control, while squeezing the heck out of your lats and biceps. Then climb back up, wash, rinse, and repeat.  

The stronger the negative motion on any given exercise, the greater the ease and control with which you will develop its positive counterpart. In this case, strengthen the descent and you will also improve the ascent (the pulling up). We are creatures of balance.  

90-degree holds  

Grab the bar and hold yourself as close to halfway as you can, all while squeezing your lats and biceps to burn until you drop. Much like the negative pull-ups, this helps develop stability and control, and thus, strength. 

Lat pulldown machines 

Lat pulldown machines are a similar movement as pull-ups, but with nuanced differences, i.e., lacking the stabilization and specific weight of an entire dangling body. Lat pulldown machines play a powerful role in developing the same muscles and movement of a pull-up, while providing the option to move weight less than bodyweight to help work your way up. Throw it into the routine to help improve your pull-ups. 

Rows 

We’re beginning to veer away from the direct movement of pull-ups, but any exercise that helps strengthen and develop your back and biceps is still sure to get you closer to the goal. All hands on deck! Whether seated cable rows, one-arm dumbbell rows, bent over barbell rows, or one of the many other variations, puffing out your chest and squeezing them lats is a sure way to help build toward pull-ups. 

Curls 

As above, stronger biceps are helpful in successfully doing a pull-up. Whether barbell curls, dumbbell curls, cable curls, or any of the other infinite ways to build mountain peak muscles into your arms, they make a dramatic difference in pull-up competence. Besides, who doesn’t enjoy popping a double-pow-pow flex—especially at strangers in the locker room? Only me? No regrets. 

Farmer’s carries 

Farmer’s carries are the unsung hero of pull-ups (and most other upper body exercises). One of the most annoying challenges of pull-ups is just holding onto the dang bar. Holding up one’s own bodyweight wears out the ol’ hands pretty quick. Developing your grip strength is paramount in whether you fall or ascend!  

You can perform these with Farmer's Walk Handles, heavy dumbbells or kettlebells, or plates.

Read more about how to improve your grip strength here. 

Pull-Up Workout Routine

If you want a comprehensive back workout centered around the goal of developing pull-ups, a simple routine would be following this list 1-8. Of course, it depends on what equipment you have where you work out, but to the best of what you have available, do three sets of each exercise, and then progress to the next. By the end, your back, arms, and grip should be feeling gooooood.   

Read more about how to improve your pull-ups here.

Pull-up techniques 

There are plenty of creative ways to mix up your pull-up routine: weight vest, half-reps, archer pull-ups, typewriter pull-ups, muscle ups, L-sit pull-ups, and many more, but the tried-and-true basics remain steadfast in their effectiveness for good reason. 

You want a wide back, building toward the physique of an inverted pyramid? Allow us to prescribe you some wide-grip pull-ups. You want a thick back, so your spine is protected by two pillars of pit bull muscle? Narrow-grip pull-ups are your jam.  

A smart approach is to alternate between the two and become unstoppable. There is no need to add weight vests or attempt crazy pull-up challenges, but variety is the spice of life, so once you’ve got the basics mastered, have at it.  

Pull-up equipment 

All you need for pull-ups is a bar. Simple as that. However, there are other types of bars to help with different challenges. The Globe Front Mount Pull-Up Bar, the Multi-Grip Pull-Up Bar, and the Wall-Mounted Multi-Grip Pull-Up Bar offer alternative angles to straight pull-up bars for shoulders or wrists experiencing discomfort.  

Not sure which pull-up bar to pick? Check out the pull-up bar comparison guide here.

Chin-ups vs. pull-ups 

What’s the difference between chin-ups and pull-ups? Ah, the age-old question. 

 All types of pull-ups work your back, your biceps, and your grip. The simple answer is that chin-ups are more biceps, and pull-ups are more back. This is fundamentally true, though you’ll still get some back from chin-ups, and you’ll still get some biceps from pull-ups. They’re a team. They work together in most things.  

Basic advice remains: If you want to develop your pull-ups, do pull-ups.  

Common mistakes to avoid with pull-ups   

Uncontrolled lockouts. All this means is that your elbows love you. Love them back and lower yourself rather than dropping yourself. Joints deserve love, too. 

A limited range of motion. The goal is, of course, to pull yourself all the way up, but equally as important is to lower yourself all the way down. If you train your biceps short, they will grow short, increasing the risk of a tear. The adage is true: A long muscle is a strong muscle. It will prove more difficult to get multiple reps initially, but it will develop you into a stronger and healthier athlete. 

Swinging your body. This is pretty straightforward but it’s worth mentioning. It’s totally normal to try to kick, swing, or jerk your body around like a bear-snagged salmon for an extra rep or two, but if you want to develop solid muscle and strength, keep control and don’t swing your body. No rep is more important than form. It’s better to fail a rep after giving the set your all than to cheat the motion.   

Forgetting your shoulder blades. This is the easiest to mess up, and we all need a reminder from time to time. It’s easy to lose form and round our backs, especially as we fatigue, but it’s important to keep your chest up and back arched as if you’re being abducted by aliens.  

If you have a spotter, have them do this little trick, and if not, just imagine it. Have your spotter put their fingers in the middle of your spine while you do your pull-ups. At the top of your lift, focus on pinching them with your shoulder blades and you’ll get the most out of every single rep. It’s like any other exercise, in that you’ll maximize the movement when you focus on the muscle you’re working.  

Bottom line 

Ultimately, pull-ups are an effective tool in your belt when it comes to developing overall strength and control over your body. They are not easy, and they do not come easy, but nothing in fitness does. If you want it, work for it, for as Joseph Campbell said in amendment to his famous quote, “Follow your blisters.” Progress does not come quickly or without effort, so put on a good workout playlist, warmup, and get to work.