Weighted Pull-Up

A pull-up performed with extra load — most often a plate hung from a dip belt between the legs — to keep the movement in a strength rep range once bodyweight pull-ups are easy.

How to do it

1. Attach a plate to a dip belt around your waist so the weight hangs between your legs, or hold the load between your feet.
2. Grip the pull-up bar with an overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder-width and hang at full arm extension with your legs together.
3. Pull your elbows down and back to drive your chest toward the bar until your chin clears it.
4. Lower yourself under control back to the full dead hang, keeping tension on your lats and letting the weight settle before the next rep.
5. Repeat for the desired number of reps.

Tips

• Add weight only once you can do clean bodyweight pull-ups through a full range — small jumps of 2.5–5 kg are enough, since the load stacks on top of your own bodyweight.
• Keep your legs together and your core braced so the hanging plate does not start swinging; a swinging weight turns the rep into a kip.
• Do not cut the bottom short — return to a full dead hang each rep, and stop the set when your chin stops clearing the bar rather than grinding out partials.

Muscles

Primary: Lats

Secondary: Biceps, Rear deltoid, Rhomboids, Traps