Assisted Pull-Up
The assisted pull-up is a pull-up done on a machine with a counterweighted knee pad or platform that lifts part of your bodyweight. It trains the lats and upper back, with the biceps assisting. Use it to build toward unassisted pull-ups or to get more quality reps at your current strength.
Muscles worked
The assisted pull-up trains the lats and back, with biceps helping.
Weekly sets for lats
Hard sets per week that Swole.fit plans for lats, counting every exercise that trains it. Start a cycle near the growth line and climb toward the recovery limit before a deload.
How to do the assisted pull-up
- 01Select the assistance weight; more weight on the stack means more help.
- 02Step up and place your knees or feet on the pad, then grab the handles slightly wider than shoulders.
- 03Lower yourself until your arms are fully straight and your shoulders rise toward your ears.
- 04Pull your chest toward the bar by driving your elbows down to your sides.
- 05Lower slowly to a full hang and repeat, then step off carefully once the set is done.
Coaching cues
- Chest to the bar
- Full hang at the bottom
- Slow down on the way back
Common mistakes
- Using so much assistance that reps feel easy limits progress, so pick help that leaves you near failure in your rep range.
- Stopping with bent arms at the bottom skips the lat stretch, so straighten your arms fully on every rep.
- Kicking or swinging to get over the bar adds momentum, so keep your body still and pull smoothly.
How Swole.fit programs it
Log it once and the app plans the next session for you.
- Most sets land between 8 and 15 reps, the range the plan steers compound lifts toward for size.
- Week one starts around 2 to 3 reps in reserve. Each week you train a little closer to failure, ending around 0 to 1 in reserve before a deload week.
- Hit the top of the range on every set and the next session adds the smallest real jump in weight, rounded to the plates, dumbbells or stack you actually have.
- Sets for this exercise count toward your weekly volume for every muscle it trains: a full set for the primary muscles, half a set for the helpers.
The full method, with the maths, is in how mesocycles work.
Assisted Pull-Up alternatives
Same muscles, different tool. Swap in one of these when the equipment is taken or your joints want a change.
Log it. Let the app plan the next one.
Track your assisted pull-up free. Swole.fit picks the next weight, counts your weekly sets and tells you when to deload.