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Pull-up on the bar
Last reviewed: 08.07.2025
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Master this exercise
Guys avoid pull-ups for one main reason: they are hard. If you can't do even one pull-up, you're embarrassed to even climb the bar. It's not easy to forget those horrible school memories from gym class: your skinny arms and laughing classmates.
But if you can't do at least 10 pull-ups in perfect form, or you haven't done this exercise in 3-4 years, you need to catch up. Pull-ups are the single best way to build the largest muscle group in your upper body: the latissimus dorsi. If you don't improve your form, your muscles won't grow.
The solution? Use our guide's advice and you'll conquer the bar. Because pull-ups involve lifting your body weight, they require a different approach than bench presses and curls.
Instead of adjusting the weight of the weights to suit you—which you do in free weight exercises or on machines—you'll adjust the exercise based on your ability. So the number of pull-ups you can do will dictate your exercise program. This ensures that you'll always use the right pull-up plan—whether you can do more than 10 or can't do even one.
Result: You will have a pumped-up body – and the ghost of school grievances will finally leave you.
Check your limit
Before you begin, determine how many pull-ups you can do. Here's how to do it: Hang from a bar with an overhand grip, arms slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, completely straight. Cross your legs behind you. Without moving your lower body, pull yourself up as high as you can, until your chin is above the bar. Pause for a second, lower yourself until your arms are fully extended, then repeat.
Count how many pull-ups you have done and choose an exercise program based on your best result. Do this program twice a week with at least 2 days break.
After 4 weeks, check yourself again. Depending on the results, either move on to the next program or repeat the same program for the next 4 weeks.