How many bodyweight pull-ups should I do before adding weight?

Most coaches look for about 8 to 10 strict bodyweight pull-ups from a dead hang, with no kipping and a full range of motion, before adding load. Until then, keep building reps with the Pull-Up or the Band-Assisted Pull-Up.

How much weight should I start with?

Start with a small plate of about 2.5 to 5 kg (5 to 10 lb) and add the same small amount only when every set and rep is clean. For strength work, a load that allows 3 to 6 strict reps with one or two left in reserve is a common starting point.

Should I use a dip belt or a weighted vest?

Both work. A dip belt hangs the plate below the hips, so it takes heavier loads without restricting your breathing and is what streetlifting competitions use, but the plate swings if your trunk is loose. A vest spreads the weight over the torso and stays quiet, but most vests top out at lighter loads.

Is a weighted pull-up the same as a heavy lat pulldown?

No. Both train the same vertical pull, but on the bar you move your whole body and control a hanging load, while the pulldown holds you in place under a thigh pad. In a study of college men and women, both sexes moved more weight relative to body mass in a one-rep-max pull-up than in a one-rep-max lat pulldown, so a pulldown number does not convert directly into a pull-up load.

How often should I train weighted pull-ups?

One or two heavy sessions a week is enough for most lifters, since the elbows and shoulders need time to recover from heavy pulling. Lighter bodyweight pulling can fill the other training days.

Weighted Pull-Up

What Is the Weighted Pull-Up?

Weighted Pull-Up is a compound exercise that primarily targets the back and also engages the biceps, forearms, rotator cuff and core. It is an advanced-level movement: a strict overhand Pull-Up performed with extra load, here a weight plate hung from a dip belt, so you pull your body weight plus the plate from a dead hang until your chin clears the bar.

Once strict bodyweight pull-ups come easily in sets of about ten, adding reps mostly builds endurance. Adding load instead keeps the work in a strength range, which is why the weighted pull-up is the usual next step for building vertical pulling strength and back muscle. It is programmed much like a main barbell lift, early in an upper-body or pull session, in sets of low to moderate reps with small jumps in load. It is also one of the contested lifts in streetlifting, alongside the weighted dip, where athletes attempt a single maximal rep from a dead hang with the chin clearly passing the bar.

The latissimus dorsi does most of the work, pulling the upper arms down toward the ribs, helped by the teres major, the biceps and brachialis at the elbow, and the lower trapezius and rhomboids that set the shoulder blades. A surface EMG study of bodyweight pull-ups and chin-ups found the latissimus dorsi the most active of the muscles measured in both, with the lower trapezius more active on the overhand pull-up and the biceps and chest more active on the underhand chin-up. The movement is the same with the plate, but the extra load raises the demand on the grip and on the trunk, which has to stop the plate from swinging. Turning the palms to face you makes it a Weighted Chin-Up, which shifts more of the work to the biceps.

The weighted pull-up suits lifters who can already do about 8 to 10 strict bodyweight pull-ups from a dead hang with a full range of motion. Anyone short of that will progress faster by building bodyweight reps first with the Pull-Up, the Band-Assisted Pull-Up or the Machine Lat Pulldown.

Muscles Worked

MuscleActivation

Latissimus Dorsi: Primary
Biceps Brachii: High
Brachialis: High
Teres Major: High
Brachioradialis: Medium
Infraspinatus: Medium
Lower Trapezius: Medium
Rhomboid Major: Medium
Pectoralis Major: Low
Rectus Abdominis: Low

Instructions

Put on a dip belt and hang a weight plate from its chain so it hangs between your legs. Start light, about 2.5 to 5 kg (5 to 10 lb).
Step up to the bar from a box or bench and grip it overhand, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width.
Hang with your arms fully straight, bend your knees and cross your ankles, and brace your abs so the plate hangs still.
Start the pull by drawing your shoulder blades down, before your elbows bend.
Drive your elbows down toward your sides and pull your chest toward the bar, keeping your body still without kicking or swinging.
Keep pulling until your chin clears the bar.
Lower yourself under control over about 2 to 3 seconds until your arms are fully straight again.
Repeat for the planned reps, then step back down onto the box before taking off the belt.

Common Mistakes

Jumping up to the bar
Jumping to the bar with a plate on the belt sets the load swinging before the first rep, so step up from a box instead.
Kipping or kicking
Swinging the hips or kicking the legs to get the chin over the bar replaces strength with momentum and loads the shoulders abruptly.
Cutting the range short
Stopping before the arms are straight at the bottom or before the chin clears the bar at the top lets you lift more weight than you can really pull.
Adding weight too fast
Large jumps in load or weekly volume are the usual trigger for elbow and shoulder tendon pain, so add about 2.5 kg (5 lb) at a time.
Dropping into the bottom
Free-falling into the hang with a heavy plate jerks the shoulders and elbows, so lower every rep under control.
Loose trunk
Letting the ribs flare and the lower back arch lets the plate swing like a pendulum and pulls the body off its vertical path.

Injuries

Weighted Pull-Up is a medium risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The added load magnifies the usual pull-up stresses. The shoulders take the most strain at the bottom of each rep, where dropping into a loose hang or swinging the body jerks the rotator cuff and the front of the joint. The elbows are the other common complaint: pain on the inside or outside of the elbow usually follows a quick jump in load or weekly volume, a crushing grip, or the arms doing work the back should be doing.

Add weight in small steps of about 2.5 kg (5 lb), and only when every set and rep is strict, with straight arms at the bottom and the chin over the bar at the top. Warm up with a set or two of bodyweight pull-ups, lower every rep under control, and keep heavy weighted pulling to one or two sessions a week. Step up to the bar from a box rather than jumping, so the plate does not swing, and step back down before taking the belt off.

If the load is too much, return to the bodyweight Pull-Up or the Band-Assisted Pull-Up, and build grip and shoulder-blade control with the Dead Hang and the Scapular Pull-Up. Progress by adding load gradually, slowing the lowering phase, or moving on to the Archer Pull-Up.

Stop the set if you feel sharp pain in the shoulder or elbow, a pop, or numbness or tingling in the hands, and rest from weighted pulling if elbow or shoulder pain lasts into the next day.

Overview

Primary Focus: Back
Equipment: Pull-up bar, body weight, weight plate, and other
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Advanced

Alternative Exercises

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How many bodyweight pull-ups should I do before adding weight?: Most coaches look for about 8 to 10 strict bodyweight pull-ups from a dead hang, with no kipping and a full range of motion, before adding load. Until then, keep building reps with the Pull-Up or the Band-Assisted Pull-Up.
Q: How much weight should I start with?: Start with a small plate of about 2.5 to 5 kg (5 to 10 lb) and add the same small amount only when every set and rep is clean. For strength work, a load that allows 3 to 6 strict reps with one or two left in reserve is a common starting point.
Q: Should I use a dip belt or a weighted vest?: Both work. A dip belt hangs the plate below the hips, so it takes heavier loads without restricting your breathing and is what streetlifting competitions use, but the plate swings if your trunk is loose. A vest spreads the weight over the torso and stays quiet, but most vests top out at lighter loads.
Q: Is a weighted pull-up the same as a heavy lat pulldown?: No. Both train the same vertical pull, but on the bar you move your whole body and control a hanging load, while the pulldown holds you in place under a thigh pad. In a study of college men and women, both sexes moved more weight relative to body mass in a one-rep-max pull-up than in a one-rep-max lat pulldown, so a pulldown number does not convert directly into a pull-up load.
Q: How often should I train weighted pull-ups?: One or two heavy sessions a week is enough for most lifters, since the elbows and shoulders need time to recover from heavy pulling. Lighter bodyweight pulling can fill the other training days.