Open Exercise

Development draft, v0. Formats and IDs may change.

Catalogue

Pull-Up

oec:pull-up

A fundamental upper-body bodyweight exercise where you pull yourself up to an overhead bar using a pronated grip.

Generated by gemini-3.8-flash from the sources below. No person has checked this record. Don't rely on it for safety.

Also called: pullup, overhand pull-up, pronated pull-up, pull up, Pull-ups

How to do it

Setup

  1. Grasp the overhead bar with an overhand (pronated) grip slightly wider than shoulder-width.
  2. Hang with your arms fully extended in a dead hang, legs slightly bent or crossed if needed, and engage your core.

Movement

  1. Initiate the movement by depressing and retracting your shoulder blades, drawing them down and together.
  2. Drive your elbows down toward your hips and pull your chest toward the bar until your chin clears the bar.
  3. Pause briefly at the top without straining your neck forward.
  4. Lower yourself in a smooth, controlled motion until your arms and shoulders return fully to the starting hang.

Breathing

Inhale at the bottom or on the way down; exhale forcefully as you drive your elbows down to pull yourself up.

Cues

  • Elbows to your back pockets.
  • Lead with your chest.
  • Stay tight through your core and legs.
  • Full hang at the bottom, chin clear at the top.

Common faults

Kicking or swinging the legs to generate momentum (kipping).
Brace the abdominals and squeeze the glutes to keep the lower body steady throughout the pull.
Reaching up with the chin to clear the bar without completing the arm pull.
Keep the neck neutral and focus on pulling your upper chest to the bar rather than craning your neck.
Cutting the bottom range of motion short.
Allow your arms to reach complete extension and let your shoulder blades elevate slightly before initiating the next rep.

Safety

  • Ensure the bar is securely mounted and can support your full body weight.
  • Avoid dropping rapidly into the bottom lockout to protect the shoulders and elbows.

Muscles

  • Latissimus dorsi prime mover
  • Teres major prime mover
  • Brachialis synergist
  • Biceps brachii synergist
  • Brachioradialis synergist
  • Lower trapezius synergist
  • Rhomboids synergist
  • Rectus abdominis stabilizer

Joints

  • Shoulder: Adduction, Extension
  • Shoulder blade: Downward rotation, Depression, Retraction
  • Elbow: Flexion
  • Lumbar spine: Isometric stabilization

Details

Movement
Vertical pull, Pull
Modality
Calisthenics, Strength, Hypertrophy
Mechanics
compound
Force
pull
Laterality
bilateral
Kinetic chain
closed
Level
intermediate
Equipment
Pull-up bar
Record
Repetitions
Load
bodyweight

Related

Sources

This record: CC-BY-SA-4.0.

Data

pull-up.json