Scapular Pull Ups

Muscles worked by the Scapular Pull Ups

Primary

LatsLatissimus DorsiTrapsTrapezius

Secondary

Forearm FlexorsWrist Flexor MusclesRhomboidsRhomboid Muscles

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

Equipment

Pull-Up Bar

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

How to do the Scapular Pull Ups

1. Hang from a pull-up bar with arms fully extended.
2. Keep your arms straight throughout the movement.
3. Depress and retract your shoulder blades to lift your chest.
4. Pause briefly at the top of the movement.
5. Return to a fully hanging position.
6. Repeat for the desired number of reps.

Form tips

• Think of pulling your shoulder blades down into your back pockets.
• Avoid swinging or kipping to keep the movement strict.
• Focus on small, precise movement quality rather than maximum height.

At a glance

Scapular Pull Ups 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
• Behind-the-Neck Pull-Up
• Chin-Ups
• Close Grip Lat Pulldown
• Close-Grip Pull-Ups
• Lat Pulldown

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": "scapular-pull-ups",
  "name_en": "Scapular Pull Ups",
  "name_de": "Scapular Pull-Ups",
  "name_es": "Dominadas Escapulares",
  "description_en": "A straight-arm hang exercise lifting the chest by depressing and retracting the shoulder blades, building pull-up strength.",
  "description_de": "Eine Übung an der Klimmzugstange, bei der die Schulterblätter mit gestreckten Armen aktiv gesenkt und zusammengezogen werden.",
  "description_es": "Un ejercicio en barra de dominadas con brazos extendidos, que entrena la depresión y retracción de las escápulas.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "pull",
  "mechanic": "compound",
  "difficulty": "intermediate",
  "equipment": "pull_up_bar",
  "body_part": "back",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "latissimus_dorsi",
    "trapezius"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "forearm_flexors",
    "rhomboids"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy",
    "strength"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "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 pull-up bar with arms fully extended.",
    "Keep your arms straight throughout the movement.",
    "Depress and retract your shoulder blades to lift your chest.",
    "Pause briefly at the top of the movement.",
    "Return to a fully hanging position.",
    "Repeat for the desired number of reps."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Hänge an der Klimmzugstange mit vollständig gestreckten Armen.",
    "Halte die Arme die ganze Zeit gestreckt.",
    "Drücke die Schulterblätter herunter und zusammen, um die Brust zu heben.",
    "Kurze Pause oben.",
    "Kehre in den vollen Hang zurück.",
    "Wiederhole für die gewünschte Wiederholungszahl."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Cuélgate de una barra de dominadas con los brazos completamente extendidos.",
    "Mantén los brazos rectos durante todo el movimiento.",
    "Deprime y retrae las escápulas para elevar el pecho.",
    "Haz una breve pausa en la parte superior del movimiento.",
    "Regresa a la posición de cuelgue completo.",
    "Repite el número deseado de repeticiones."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Think of pulling your shoulder blades down into your back pockets.",
    "Avoid swinging or kipping to keep the movement strict.",
    "Focus on small, precise movement quality rather than maximum height."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Stelle dir vor, die Schulterblätter in die Gesäßtaschen zu schieben.",
    "Arbeite mit kleinem Bewegungsumfang, aber voller Kontrolle.",
    "Hänge ruhig, ohne mit den Beinen zu pendeln."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Piensa en alejar los hombros de las orejas al subir el pecho.",
    "No intentes convertirlo en una dominada; el recorrido es corto.",
    "Controla la vuelta a la posición colgada sin desplomarte."
  ],
  "met": 6.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/scapular-pull-ups-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/scapular-pull-ups-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 === "scapular-pull-ups");

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.