Top hold
Jump or step to the top of a pull-up and hold there, elbows bent.
3 × 5–15 s
Biceps
muscle
Where it runs
Two heads, one from just above the shoulder socket and one from the coracoid, joining at the front of the upper arm and ending on the forearm below the elbow.
What it does
Bends the elbow and turns the palm up. The long head also crosses the shoulder joint.
In a pull-up
Bends the elbows. It works harder with the palms facing you (a chin-up) than facing away.
Drills that work it
Lowering from the top
Start at the top of a pull-up and lower yourself as slowly as you can to straight arms.
3 × 3–5
Band-assisted pull-up
A strict pull-up with a band looped under a knee or foot to take some weight.
3 × 3–6
Strict pull-up
From a still, straight-arm hang, pull until the chin is over the bar, with no swing.
3 × 1–3
In the programs
- Phase 2 — Own the top and the way down — Shoulder: kipping works, strict pull-ups do not
- Phase 3 — Strict again — Shoulder: kipping works, strict pull-ups do not
Works alongside
Other structures the same drills work.
- Latissimus dorsi
- Brachialis
- Lower trapezius
- Teres major
- Rhomboids
- Triceps, long head
- Latissimus and teres major tendons
- Long head of biceps tendon
- Forearm and finger flexors
- Pectoralis major
- Subscapularis
Questions about this
- What muscles start a pull-up?
- Are band-assisted pull-ups or lowerings better for getting back to a strict pull-up?
Print it: the free pull-up muscles diagram labels the biceps →
General anatomy, simplified. It describes a structure, not anybody's shoulder, and cannot say what is wrong with yours.