Neutral-Grip Pull-Up
A bodyweight pull-up performed on parallel handles with palms facing each other, easier on the shoulders.
How to do it
- Hook a V-bar or parallel handles over a pull-up bar.
- Grip the handles so your palms face each other and hang with straight arms.
- Brace your core and squeeze your glutes to stop your legs swinging.
- Pull your shoulder blades down and back to begin the movement.
- Drive your elbows toward your ribs until your chest reaches the handles.
- Lower under control to a near-straight hang and repeat.
Key technique cue
No leg swing: drive the elbows to the ribs, lower under control.
Common mistakes
- ✕ Kipping or swinging the legs, which reduces the load the back actually handles.
- ✕ Pulling only with the arms, so the biceps fail before the lats are trained.
- ✕ Stopping partway up, which limits the contraction at the top of the range.
- ✕ Dropping into a hard dead hang each rep, which stresses the elbows and shoulders.
Benefits
- ✓ Neutral shoulder position reduces impingement risk versus a wide pronated grip.
- ✓ Strong biceps and brachialis contribution makes the pull feel achievable.
- ✓ Needs only a bar and a handle, so it fits minimal-equipment programs.
Progression: from easier to harder
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Step 3 You are here - Neutral-Grip Pull-Up
- Pull Ups
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About the exercise
A neutral grip pull-up uses a V-bar or parallel handles so the palms face each other and the forearms stay mid-position. Compared with a pronated pull-up the shoulder is not driven into abduction and internal rotation, a common source of impingement complaints, and the elbows track closer to the ribs. The lats and rhomboids remain the prime movers, with the biceps, brachialis, mid trapezius and rear delts assisting more than in a wide pronated pull-up.
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