The Climber’s Guide to Pull-Ups: Biomechanics, Variations, and Injury Insights

Walk up at any climbing gym and you will certainly see people performing all kinds of pull-ups. Straight, inclined, supinated or pronated grip, on rings or on microscopic crimps: the possibilities are endless when it comes to climbers training hard on pull-ups. But which way is right for you? It’s easy to get lost when presented with so many options. This article will set the basis for a strong pull-up, explore variations, and offer insight on injury prevention. Whether you are a beginner looking to improve or an experienced climber aiming to elevate your training, understanding the basics of this movement will help you prevent injuries and get the most out of your training.

Why should I do pull-ups?

Pull-ups as a means of training

When building a training program, pull-ups are often seen as a staple for every climbing level, offering simplicity and requiring minimal equipment. While climbers rely heavily on finger strength and technique, building the upper body and core is also key to pulling harder at the crux. The muscle strength acquired through this exercise transfers to multiple common moves required for climbing hard, from dynamic catches in overhangs to lock-offs in technical terrain with hard-to-find feet.

Multiple studies have demonstrated a correlation between elbow flexors, shoulder strength, and climbing performance(Draga et al. 2024; Devise, Quaine, and Vigouroux 2023), making this exercise more than relevant to your training.

Pull-ups as a mean of injury prevention/rehabilitation

The most prevalent sites of non-acute injuries among climbers are, without surprise, the shoulders and the fingers (Saeterbakken et al. 2024). Fortunately, there are many accessible ways to minimize injury risks, such as progressive strengthening, which may decrease sports injury risk down to one-third of the initial risk (Lauersen, Bertelsen, and Andersen 2014). Therefore, an exercise that promotes stability of the shoulder and reinforces the scapula stabilizers (like the pull-up!) (Urbanczyk et al. 2020) could serve as a form of injury prevention in a training program among other exercises.

But what makes up for a good pull-up?

While there is not one perfect variation that will suit everybody, a good pull-up should always be adapted to your strength and injury status, and should allow you to maintain a good form throughout the motion. To help you determine which way is right for you, we’ll start off by going over the basic biomechanics, and we’ll follow by looking through the pros and cons of many variations including grip position and type, body position, and tempo.

Biomechanics:

Whichever variation you perform, the activation pattern of muscles as you do the pull-up is essentially the following: the lower trapezius, infraspinatus, and brachialis begin the motion, then the lats, the biceps, and teres major are predominant in the middle part, and finally the triceps and subscapularis finish the movement (Urbanczyk et al. 2020). Ensuring the full range of motion of the pull-up allows for a well-rounded workout, as each phase of the movement targets muscles differently (Urbanczyk et al. 2020). Throughout the movement, the shoulder extension component predominates the elbow flexion component.

If you find yourself struggling at a particular phase of the movement, it may give you hints as to which muscles need attention. You could then emphasize training in the range in which you have more difficulty or target the weaker muscles with specific exercises. On the other hand, knowing the order of peak activation can also help you relieve stress on injured muscles. For example, in the case of a climber dealing with a subscapularis pathology, avoiding the upper part of the pull-up may decrease the load on this structure.
Also, keep in mind that the beginning of the movement is the range of motion where shoulder impingement risk is the highest. If you are currently dealing with this injury or recently have been, training the beginning range might not be worth it. You could instead emphasize the middle or end range. On that matter, even though the term “impingement” is being reconsidered in the latest literature, this article will be using this term to facilitate comprehension. In other articles, you might come across the terms “subacromial pain syndrome” or “rotator cuff-related pain syndrome” which describe the same pathology (Park et al. 2020).

Grip position: Pronated, Supinated, and Wide pull-up

Popular variations consist of changing your grip position. Some studies suggest that different grips target more specifically certain muscles (Youdas et al. 2010; Urbanczyk et al. 2020) and have different articular range of motions, while others report few differences in between grip variations (Dickie et al. 2017). Both wrist positions -pronated and supinated- seem to elicit similar muscle activation, with sufficient load to induce strength adaptations within the brachioradialis, biceps brachii, latissimus dorsi, and infraspinatus muscles (Dickie et al. 2017).Although there lacks strong concordant evidence to pinpoint each difference, we’ll explore the main identified particularities of three grip variations: the pronated, the supinated, and the wide pull-up. The most striking differences appear to be between the pronated and supinated grips, and are further explained in the following chart:

Impingement risk heads-up: injury and rehab

As mentioned in the chart, wide and reversed pull-ups could be more prone to impingement at the shoulder, especially in the beginning range. Therefore, pronated pull-ups could be recommended to prevent impingement risk, especially in patients with risk factors, who are weaker or are returning to pull-ups after a shoulder impingement injury (Prinold and Bull 2016). Another option to mitigate the risk could be to skip the beginning of the motion by starting within the mid range.

Tempo

Two tempo variations were identified for this article: the single and multiple form. Single form marks a pause in between repetitions, while multiple form is when one repetition immediately follows the sooner, leaving no break between repetitions.

The single form produces slower repetitions with a greater range of motion, and is more energetically demanding. Conversely, the multiple form results in faster repetitions, but at the expense of a smaller range of motion of the shoulder and the elbow (Vigouroux et al. 2023). This form also shows greater eccentric forces in the beginning range to slow down the rapid movement. Therefore, this may lead to a greater injury risk as the forces are higher through the range where the impingement risk is already higher. However, you could choose the multiple form if you want to train plyometrics.

Bar vs hang board training

Opting for small holds increases the demand on finger flexors, forces a more controlled movement to avoid losing grip, and creates a more climbing-specific movement (Vigouroux et al. 2019). However, the demand on elbow flexors and the shoulder decreases as the holds get smaller (Vigouroux et al. 2019).

If you are short on time, integrating pull-ups on a hang board or campus board can be a good all-in-one exercise to train the shoulders and arm strength while training finger flexors as well (Vigouroux et al. 2019).

However, it is important to keep in mind that the limiting factor will probably be finger strength on small edges, so to really focus on shoulder/elbow strength, climbers should opt for a gym bar or a large hold (Vigouroux et al. 2019). In a similar way, opting for suspended holds, like rings or portable hang boards, can decrease the maximal force output that can be generated, making a gym bar a better alternative to training maximal strength (Sas-Nowosielski 2022).

And what if I can’t do a full pull-up yet?

If you are still struggling to get your first clean rep, many alternative exercises can help you get there. Some popular regressions are lat pull-downs and assisted pull-ups, either with elastic bands or gym machines. According to Hewit (2018), the kneeling lat pull-down appears to be the form that best replicates the standard pull-up in terms of muscle activation. So, you could integrate this lat pull-down variation and increase progressively the weight to work your way up to the standard pull-up form. You could also add the other mentioned exercises to keep things interesting and motivating.

When should I incorporate them?

It is also important to note that pull-ups should be done before excessive fatigue since fatigue can increase the eccentric loading of the tendons, and lead to poor form, both of which increase injury risk (Urbanczyk et al. 2020). This means that you could integrate them in your warmup or mid-way through your climbing session when you still feel fresh, but ideally not at the end of a 3-hour send session. They could also be done on a separate off-the-wall training day.

Troubleshooting your pull-ups

As a general recommendation when performing pull-ups, avoid shrugging or rounding your shoulders, and avoid movement asymmetry between your scapulas, as these poor forms increase injury risk. You should be thinking about driving your elbows downward, instead of solely aiming to lift your body up. Filming yourself performing your training can also be a powerful tool when progressing the intensity to ensure you are keeping a good form, or when a new pain arises. Rewatching closely the difference in movement of your painful limb compared to the healthy one or older footage may give cues to imitate better the healthy limb’s movement, and may help to resolve the pain.

If both sides seem the same, here are a couple of quick fixes for common pains that arise while performing pull-ups:

• Elbow pain: You may be emphasizing too much on elbow flexion. While elbow flexion is also important, the main driver of the movement should be shoulder extension.
  • Focus on driving your elbows towards the ground. Another cue to achieve this is to do as if you wanted to bring the bar down, instead of pulling yourself up.
  • Ensure to keep your shoulders retracted, that is keeping your shoulder blades closer together, without rounding your shoulders forward. Doing so will allow more external rotation at the shoulder, and rotator cuff loading, and will help unload the elbow flexors.
• Neck pain: You are probably excessively engaging your superior trapezius by shrugging your shoulders. Try to keep your shoulders down through the motion. Lead the movement with your chest instead of your chin/neck.
• Elbow pain specifically in a supinated grip: Try bringing your hands closer together.

Key messages:

• Progressively increase the load. Regress the weight or intensity if you notice a poor form or a new pain
• If you are uninjured, integrating the many variations of pull-ups will generally help to decrease the risk of injury, allow global conditioning (Urbanczyk et al. 2020), as well as keep your training interesting. Plus, using an array of grip types and widths may better transfer to the multiple climbing situations you will face.
• If you are currently dealing with or recovering from an upper-limb injury, carefully choosing the variation and the range of motion to minimize stress on the injured structure may be beneficial (Urbanczyk et al. 2020)
• An appropriate dosage of climbing and training volume is always the best way to prevent injuries

Seek professional help if needed.

If pain or discomfort appears at any moment while climbing or training, don’t hesitate to consult a physiotherapist. They can effectively assess your injury and tailor a personalized rehabilitation plan to get you back on the wall as fast as possible. Addressing injuries early ensures a quicker, and better recovery in the long haul. Get back to reaching new heights!

References:

1. Devise, Marine, Franck Quaine, and Laurent Vigouroux. 2023. ‘Assessing climbers’ pull-up capabilities by differentiating the parameters involved in power production’, PeerJ, 11: e15886.
2. Dickie, James A., James A. Faulkner, Matthew J. Barnes, and Sally D. Lark. 2017. ‘Electromyographic analysis of muscle activation during pull-up variations’, Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, 32: 30-36.
3. Draga, P., R. Rokowski, A. Sutor, D. Pandurevic, and M. L. Michailov. 2024. ‘Importance of shoulder girdle and finger flexor muscle endurance in advanced male climbers’, Front Sports Act Living, 6: 1410636.
4. Hewit, Jennifer. 2018. ‘A Comparison of Muscle Activation during the Pull-up and Three Alternative Pulling Exercises’, Journal of Physical Fitness, Medicine & Treatment in Sports, 5.
5. Lauersen, J. B., D. M. Bertelsen, and L. B. Andersen. 2014. ‘The effectiveness of exercise interventions to prevent sports injuries: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials’, Br J Sports Med, 48: 871-7.
6. Park, S. W., Y. T. Chen, L. Thompson, A. Kjoenoe, B. Juul-Kristensen, V. Cavalheri, and L. McKenna. 2020. ‘No relationship between the acromiohumeral distance and pain in adults with subacromial pain syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis’, Sci Rep, 10: 20611.
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8. Saeterbakken, A. H., N. Stien, H. Pedersen, K. Langer, S. Scott, M. L. Michailov, G. Gronhaug, J. Baláš, T. E. J. Solstad, and V. Andersen. 2024. ‘The Connection Between Resistance Training, Climbing Performance, and Injury Prevention’, Sports Med Open, 10: 10.
9. Sas-Nowosielski, Krzysztof. 2022. ‘Comparison of power, force, velocity and one repetition maximum of pull-ups performed by climbers on portable holds and a fingerboard TRENDS in Sport Sciences’, 29: 13-17.
10. Urbanczyk, Caryn A., Joseph A. I. Prinold, Peter Reilly, and Anthony M. J. Bull. 2020. ‘Avoiding high-risk rotator cuff loading: Muscle force during three pull-up techniques’, Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 30: 2205-14.
11. Vigouroux, L., T. Cartier, G. Rao, and É Berton. 2023. ‘Pull-up forms of completion impacts deeply the muscular and articular involvements’, Science & Sports, 38: 150-60.
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13. Youdas, James, Collier Amundson, Kyle Cicero, Justin Hahn, David Harezlak, and John Hollman. 2010. ‘Surface Electromyographic Activation Patterns and Elbow Joint Motion During a Pull-Up, Chin-Up, or Perfect-Pullup™ Rotational Exercise’, Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength & Conditioning Association, 24: 3404-14.