Pull-ups
The pull-up is a bodyweight vertical pull from a dead hang, palms facing away, until your chin clears the bar. It trains your back and lats, with your biceps assisting. It is one of the best back builders you can do anywhere. Use bands or negatives to make it easier, or add weight once sets of 12 feel easy.
Muscles worked
The pull-ups trains the back and lats, with biceps helping.
Weekly sets for back
Hard sets per week that Swole.fit plans for back, 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 pull-ups
- 01Grab the bar with an overhand grip slightly wider than your shoulders and hang with your arms straight.
- 02Pull your shoulder blades down and back slightly so your shoulders move away from your ears.
- 03Drive your elbows down toward your back pockets to pull your chest up toward the bar.
- 04Pull until your chin clears the bar without craning your neck forward.
- 05Lower under control until your arms are fully straight before starting the next rep.
Coaching cues
- Elbows to your back pockets
- Chest up to the bar
- Full hang between every rep
Common mistakes
- Kipping or swinging your legs moves the work off your back; keep your legs still and brace your abs.
- Stopping halfway down to keep reps flowing skips the stretch on your lats; return to a full dead hang every rep.
- Reaching your chin up instead of your chest makes reps look done when they aren't; lead with your chest and keep your neck neutral.
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.
- Once the top of the range is easy, Swole.fit suggests a harder variation or added load.
- 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.
Pull-ups alternatives
Same muscles, different tool. Swap in one of these when the equipment is taken or your joints want a change.
Free programs that use it
Ready-made splits from the Swole.fit library. Pick one and the app runs the progression.
- Arm Blaster3 days a week, biceps, triceps, shoulders
- Athletic Power3 days a week, quadriceps, hamstrings, shoulders, back
- Beach Emergency3 days a week, chest, shoulders, biceps
- Core Four3 days a week, chest, back, shoulders, quadriceps
- Deadlift Religion3 days a week, back, hamstrings, glutes
- Full Body Power3 days a week, chest, back, quadriceps, hamstrings
Log it. Let the app plan the next one.
Track your pull-ups free. Swole.fit picks the next weight, counts your weekly sets and tells you when to deload.