Pull-Up

Muscles worked by the Pull-Up

Primary

LatsLatissimus Dorsi

Secondary

BicepsBiceps BrachiiRear DeltsPosterior DeltoidRhomboidsRhomboid Muscles

Also called: lats, lat, latissimus dorsi, latissimus, back wings.

Equipment

Pull-Up Bar

Also called: chin-up bar, chin up bar, power tower, pull up bar, doorway bar.

How to do the Pull-Up

1. Hang from a bar with an overhand grip, slightly wider than shoulder-width.
2. Pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar.
3. Lower yourself under control to a dead hang.
4. Repeat.

Form tips

• Avoid swinging or kipping.
• Engage your lats by pulling your elbows down.

At a glance

Pull-Up in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Archer Pull Ups
• Assisted Pull Ups
• Band Assisted Pull Ups
• Chin-Ups
• Close Grip Lat Pulldown
• Close-Grip Pull-Ups
• Lat Pulldown
• Negative Pull Ups

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "pull-up",
  "name_en": "Pull-Up",
  "name_de": "Klimmzug",
  "name_es": "Dominada",
  "description_en": "A bodyweight compound pull targeting the lats and biceps.",
  "description_de": "Eine Ganzkörper-Zugübung mit dem eigenen Körpergewicht, die Latissimus und Bizeps beansprucht.",
  "description_es": "Un ejercicio compuesto con el peso corporal que trabaja el dorsal ancho y el bíceps.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "pull",
  "mechanic": "compound",
  "difficulty": "intermediate",
  "equipment": "pull_up_bar",
  "body_part": "back",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "latissimus_dorsi"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "biceps_brachii",
    "posterior_deltoid",
    "rhomboids"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy",
    "strength"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "pull_day",
    "calisthenics",
    "knee_safe",
    "no_axial_load",
    "lower_back_safe",
    "shoulder_safe"
  ],
  "variation_group": "pull-up",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Hang from a bar with an overhand grip, slightly wider than shoulder-width.",
    "Pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar.",
    "Lower yourself under control to a dead hang.",
    "Repeat."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Hänge an der Stange im Oberhandgriff, etwas breiter als schulterbreit.",
    "Ziehe dich hoch, bis das Kinn über der Stange ist.",
    "Senke dich kontrolliert in den toten Hang.",
    "Wiederhole."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Cuélgate de una barra con agarre prono, ligeramente más ancho que el ancho de los hombros.",
    "Súbete hasta que la barbilla quede por encima de la barra.",
    "Baja con control hasta el cuelgue completo.",
    "Repite."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Avoid swinging or kipping.",
    "Engage your lats by pulling your elbows down."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Vermeide Schwingen oder Kipping.",
    "Aktiviere den Latissimus, indem du die Ellbogen nach unten ziehst."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Evita balancearte o usar impulso.",
    "Activa el dorsal ancho jalando los codos hacia abajo."
  ],
  "met": 6.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/pull-up-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/pull-up-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "pull-up");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.