Ultimate Pull Up Alternative Guide

Pull ups are one of the best bodyweight exercises for the upper body, point blank period. However, we do believe your training should include a variety of lifts in order to make continuous progress.

Plus, we all start somewhere, and most people can't walk into the gym for the first time and start knocking out pull up reps.

That’s where pull up alternative exercises come into play. Whether you can't yet do a pull up or just need some variety, these 13 best alternatives to pull ups work similar muscles, helping you to build a strong back and eventually become a pull up professional.

Table of Contents:

• What's A Pull Up And How Do You Perform Them?
• 13 Best Pull Up Alternatives
• Pull Up Alternative Workout Routine
• Pull Up Progression Plan
• Who Should Do Pull Up Alternatives?
• How Often Should You Do Pull Up Alternative Exercises?
• Pull Up Muscles Worked
• Benefits of Pull Ups
• FAQs

What’s a pull up and how do you do it?

A pull up is an upper body compound exercise that requires only your body weight and a bar. The primary difference between it and a chin up is your grip. An overhand grip makes it a pull-up and an underhand grip means it's a chin up.

Let's talk through how to correctly perform a pull up before we get into its alternatives.

How to Do a Pull up

• Reach up and grab the bar with both hands using an overhand grip (palms facing away) slightly wider than shoulder width apart.
• Start from a dead hang where your arms are straight.
• Squeeze your shoulder blades together and using just your body weight, pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar and your elbows are by your torso.
• Briefly pause at the top while squeezing shoulder blades down and in.
• Slowly lower yourself down until you’re back to the dead hang position.

13 Best Pull Up Alternatives

These pull up alternatives are great for anyone, whether you need to strengthen the muscles required for a pull up or you simply need some exercise variety. 

The 13 best pull up alternatives are:

1. Inverted Row
2. Wide Grip Lat Pulldown
3. Bent Over Rows
4. Lat Pushdown
5. Single Arm Lat Pulldown
6. Close Grip V Bar Pulldown
7. Close Grip Chin Up
8. Assisted Pull Ups
9. Dumbbell Pullover
10. Seated Cable Row
11. Renegade Row
12. Dumbbell Kroc Rows
13. Towel Rows

The following 13 pull up alternative exercises and variations will hit your lats and a handful of other muscles that are involved with executing a perfect pull up. We also included alternatives to pullups that can be done at home with no pull up bar or other equipment.

1. Inverted Row:

This bodyweight exercise is a perfect alternative exercise for pull ups because it uses the same muscles as a pull up. There’s a reason why the inverted row is part of the pull up progression plan. All you need is a low bar, railing or even a sturdy table to perform this exercise if you’re not at the gym.

The beauty of the inverted row is that they’re easier to do compared with a pull up. They also allow for multiple tweaks to make the exercise easier or harder. You can readjust your body positioning to change difficulty and the angle in which you target the lats.

Standing up taller with a taller bar makes it easier while the more you bring your feet out under the bar coming closer to parallel with the floor, the harder it gets. You can also place your feet on a raised platform to make it more difficult.

Suspension Trainer Inverted Row

This exercise is the same as the above except for the fact you will be forced to use more stabilizer muscles to pull your body upwards.

2. Wide Grip Lat Pull Down:

A great alternative to the pull up exercise is the lat pull down as it mimics how a pull up works. However, rather than pulling weight up with your lats, you’ll be pulling it down. Lat pull downs are great to get extra volume in this range of motion even after you’re fatigued from pull ups.

You can really focus on contracting and squeezing your lats when doing lat pull downs. Also, for people who can’t yet do an unassisted pull up, the lat pull down is perfect because you can set the weight or resistance at an amount that’s manageable.

How to do the Wide Grip Lat Pulldown:

• Set knee pads at correct height, sit down and set pin in weight stack
• Reach up to grab the bar with an overhand grip using both hands wider than shoulder width apart
• Pull down on the bar while keeping your back straight and chest up until you elbows are at your sides and the bar is at your upper chest
• Slowly let the bar return to starting position
• Repeat for desired reps

Note: Keep your core engaged and head forward throughout the movement and try to control the bar on the up back up in a 2-3 second timeframe to get maximum eccentric contraction and longer time under tension.

3. Bent Over Rows:

There are numerous bent over row variations, but the bent over row takes the cake for building muscle and adding size to the back. You can perform bent over rows with either an overhand or underhand grip.

With the overhand grip you’ll be hitting the upper back muscles more like the rhomboids and the traps. With underhand grip, you emphasize the mid back and lats more.

How to do Bent Over Rows:

• Slightly bend at the knees and hinge forward so that your torso is over the bar
• Keeping a neutral back, grab the bar using an underhand grip with hands shoulder width apart
• While maintaining the bent over position, pull up through your elbows until the bar reaches your upper abs
• Slowly lower the bar to starting position where your arms are fully extended
• Repeat for desired reps

Note: Engage your core and maintian a neutral back throughout the movement.

Smith Machine Bent Over Row

This is the same exercise as above but you'll be able to focus more on your lats as you're removing some need for stabilizing muscles to work due to the fixed movement on the machine.

4. Lat Push Down:

The straight arm lat pushdown (aka pulldown) is an exercise that works the lats without elbow flexion. This exercise will also hit the posterior deltoid, teres major and a little of the triceps.

How to do the Lat Pushdown:

• Set up the bar on the cable machine higher than head height
• Reach up and grab the bar with both hands using an overhand grip wider than shoulder width apart
• Step back so that your arms are fully extended and there’s a stretch in your back
• Keep a slight bend in your elbows and knees with your chest up and back arched to stretch your lats
• Push the bar down towards your hips until the bar reaches your thighs
• In a slow controlled manner let the bar return to starting position
• Repeat for desired reps

Note: Make sure to focus on using your lats to drive the bar down rather than your triceps.

5. Single Arm Lat Pulldown:

This is a great unilateral exercise that works the lats and other muscles involved in pull ups. You can really get a good stretch in the lats with this one, while working the lower lats more.

By doing single arm exercises like this, you’ll be able to notice if there’s any weakness on one side vs the other. If you do spot a muscle imbalance on one side, then you can work on improving it until both sides are equally strong. This exercise allows for a complete range of motion which can help stimulate new muscle growth.

How to do the Single Arm Lat Pulldown:

• Set cable with stirrup at head height the grab the stirrup with a neutral grip
• Get into half kneeling position with your active side’s shoulder aligned with the cable and your arm fully extended so that there’s a stretch in the lats
• Pull down through your elbow until your elbow is to your side while squeezing your lats at the bottom
• Slowly let the cable return to starting position where your arm is fully extended
• Repeat for desired reps then switch sides

Note: Change up your grip to overhand for more emphasis on the upper back or underhand to target the lower lats more.

Cable Crossover Lat Pulldown

This is a similar exercise to the single arm lat pulldown but you'll get more of a stretch in this version due to the wide grip positioning.

6. Close grip V Bar Pulldown:

This lat pull down variation requires a neutral grip that forces your elbows to be drawn down and tucked to your sides. This movement leads to greater shoulder extension. You’ll also be leaning back slightly so that you can pull more weight which can lead to building stronger lats, making the V bar pull up a great alternative exercise.

How to do the Close Grip V Bar Pulldown:

• Set up V bar on the cable machine
• Get into position on the seat then reach up to grab the bar with a neutral grip
• Keeping your core tight pull down through your elbows while concentrating on squeezing the lats as you lean back slightly until your hands are at your upper chest
• Slowly return to starting position by reversing the movement

Note: Don’t round your back to pull the weight down, keep your chest up as you pull down.

7. Close Grip Chin Up:

With the close grip chin up, you’ll use the same muscles as you would for a pull up but you’ll redirect some of the tension to the arms. In this movement you’ll hit your lower lats and biceps more. This exercise should be easier to pull off compared to a traditional pull up making it a great pull up alternative.

How to do the Close Grip Chin Up:

• Reach up to grab the bar with both hands using an underhand grip with your hands 3-6 inches apart
• Starting from a dead hang with your shoulders depress, pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar
• Slowly lower to starting position with arms fully extended
• Repeat for desired reps

Note: Remember to keep your head straight throughout the movement to avoid straining your neck.

8. Assisted Pull Ups:

Assisted pull up are exactly what the name suggests, pull ups that are done with some type of assistance. Assisted pull ups are great for beginners who can’t complete a pull up or can’t do enough pull ups to get a good workout in. You can do assisted pull ups in three ways; with a machine, with bands or with a partner.

Let’s take a brief look at each of these options:

Pull Up Assist Machine

With the pull up assist machine you should first determine what a good starting weight to choose in the weight stack. For example, if you set the weight at 50lbs then it will take 50lbs off your bodyweight.

The amount of weight you choose will be largely dependent on how close you are to being able to do an unassisted pull up. If you’re far away then you will probably start somewhere with the weight around half your bodyweight or more.

Try doing a set of 6-12 reps and if it’s too easy/hard then make necessary adjustments. Over time you should gradually lower the amount of counter weight until you’re able to do unassisted pull ups. You should be able to do at least 5 reps of unassisted pull ups before you move one from the assisted versions.

How to do Assisted Pull Ups:

• Set the pin in desired weight stack amount
• Get into position by grabbing the bar over head with both hands using an overhand grip (pictured above is the chin up with underhand grip) slightly wider than shoulder width apart
• Place your knees on the padded platform
• Lower down to start at a dead hang position
• Retract your shoulder blades and pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar and your elbows are by your torso
• Briefly pause at the top while squeezing shoulder blades down and in
• Slowly lower yourself down until you’re back to the dead hang position

Pull Up Assisted With Bands

The second way of performing an assisted pull up is with the help of loop resistance bands.

Loop resistance bands are a great tool to assist with pull ups because there’s the capability to change the amount of assistance by using different bands or band combos. Bands are also nice because you can carry them with you to use at the gym, at home or even outside at a park.

Start with a heavier resistance band then work your way down to the lighter resistance band as you progress. Overall, the resistance band pull up is a perfect alternative for beginners.

How to do a Pull Up With Bands:

• Loop the band over the bar to set the anchor point
• Get into position by grabbing the bar over head with both hands using an overhand grip (pictured above is the chin up with underhand grip) slightly wider than shoulder width apart
• Step your foot onto the band then place your other foot on top to lock it in place
• Retract your shoulder blades and pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar and your elbows are by your torso
• Briefly pause at the top while squeezing shoulder blades down and in
• Slowly lower yourself down until you’re back to the dead hang position

Partner Assisted Pull Ups

This version of the assisted pull up requires you to have an extra set of hands. You can use this pull up alternative if you don’t have a pull up assist machine or bands at your disposal. You just need someone willing to hold your legs as you perform the pull ups.

How to do Partner Assisted Pull Ups:

• Reach up grab the bar with both hands using an overhand grip hand slightly wider that shoulder width apart
• Bend at the knees to lift your feet behind you. Have your partner hold your ankles to help push you upwards
• Follow same cues from regular pull up

9. Dumbbell Pullover:

The dumbbell pullover is good for stretching the lats while the shoulders are extended. This exercise is a hybrid that will work your lats and your chest.

The first part of the lift targets the lats while your pecs become involved as the weight moves past your head. Your triceps with also get a nice workout with this one without having to constantly press down and extend at the elbows like most triceps exercises. 

An important note on form: You can position your body two ways with this exercise, either fully lying on the bench or perpendicular to the bench with only your upper back in contact.

How to do the Dumbbell Pullover:

• Grab a dumbbell then get into position with your upper back against the bench and your head hanging off the edge
• Hold the dumbbell by making a triangle with your hands with your palms against the weight or by gripping the handle with a neutral grip
• Start with the weight directly over your head with your arms straight towards the ceiling
• Reach the dumbbell behind your head, keeping a slight bend in your elbows, until your arms are stretched behind you
• Pull up and over your head back to starting position
• Repeat for desired reps

Note: Keep your arms stationary without movement in your elbows.

10. Seated Cable Row:

This is one of the best pull alternatives and is great for the lats as it mimics the bent over row. The big difference here is that you’re in a seated position, which removes the lower back muscles from assisting with the lift. This means you can really hone in on using your lats to lift the weight. This variation of the seated row can be executed with multiple grips and equipment.

Looking for similar exercises? Check out the Best Seated Cable Row Alternatives!

How to do the Seated Cable Row:

• Set up chosen attachment to pulley
• Sit down then grip the bar using an underhand grip then push your butt back so that your arms are fully extended and there’s a bend in the knees.
• Pull back through your elbows without leaning or rocking backwards until your hands are at your sides
• Slowly return to starting position
• Repeat for desired reps

Note: Keep your back straight and dont rock your bodyweight to pull the weight, focus on using your lats.

11. Renegade Row:

The renegade row is a fantastic pull up alternative with dumbbells. This full body exercise works some of the same muscles of a pull up including the obliques, rhomboids, lats and triceps. An added benefit of this exercise is that while building upper body strength you’re also improving balance and stabilization in the core and shoulders.

How to do the Renegade Row:

• Set up two dumbbells (preferably hex dumbbells rather than round) on the floor shoulder width apart
• Get in to position with your hands on the dumbbell handles and your shoulders stacked above
• Row one side upward by pulling back through the elbow while balancing on your other hand and feet until the lifted dumbbell is at your ribs
• Slowly return to starting position then repeat movement with the other arm
• Repeat for desired reps alternating with each arm

Note: Spreading your legs out further with make this exercise easier by giving you a wider base. Try to use hex dumbbells so the dumbbells don’t shift.

12. Dumbbell Kroc Row:

The Kroc row, also called the single arm dumbbell row, is perfect to move your lats through a wide range of motion. Because you're only using one arm at a time you can really focus on the mind-muscle connection. This unilateral exercise will also work the core as you will have to stabilize yourself throughout the motion.

A few tips: Keep your hips forward and core engaged throughout the movement. And, for it to be a true Kroc row, you can use momentum and go heavy and high with reps.

How to do the Dumbbell Kroc Row:

• Grab a dumbbell with your left hand using a neutral grip
• Place your right hand and knee on the bench with your left leg to the side of the bench
• Your shoulders should be slightly higher than your hips.
• Start with your left arm fully extened then pull through your elbow until your hand is next to your ribcage
• Slowly lower the weight to starting position
• Repeat for desired reps then switch sides

Kroc Row with Bands

Follow the same cues from above except for the set up below:

• Stand on the band with your front foot then loop around your other foot
• Bring your other foot back behind you so that your leg is straight
• Reach down to grab the band with the hand on same side as back leg and place your inactive hand on your knee for added stability
• Follow cues from above exercise

13. Towel Rows:

The towel row is a great at home pull up alternative because you don’t need anything except for yourself, a towel and a sturdy anchor point. With this no bar pull up alternative make sure you have a good grip on the towel, a longer towel will enable you to move through a larger range of motion.

How to do Towel Rows:

• Wrap your towel around a secure anchor point then grab it with both hands using a neutral grip
• Put your feet close to the bottom of the anchor point then lean back until your arms are fully extended
• Pull through your elbows until your hands are at your sides
• Slowly return to starting position
• Repeat for desired reps

Note: You can also do this exercise on a vertical column for the anchor point. To make the exercise more difficult you should anchor the towel lower and lean back more.

Single Arm Towel Row

This version of the towel row will work one side of the body at a time but you'll follow the same cues as above. The biggest difference here is that it will be more difficult to perform becuase you're using one arm. You'll also need to focus on anti-rotation to keep your body aligned without having your inactive side leaning back.

Bent Over Towel Rows

With the bent over towel row you will execute with the same body positioning as the bent over row. The key focus point here is to apply force and contraction to the muscles as you pull your hands away from each other and pull your elbow upwards. Constant tension is needed to reap the beneifts of this because not weight is being moved.

If you're looking for more great at-home back moves that can be done with a towel, check out our article: Best Back Exercises With A Towel (No Bar Needed). 

Pull Up Alternatives Workout

This workout consists of pull up alternatives that work your back and other major upper body muscles through a range of motions and with different grips. This workout is best for lifters looking to gain muscle size.

We recommend performing this back routine once weekly, in addition to one more back workout (spaced out to support muscle recovery), so you're hitting your back muscles twice in a week.

Note: Take 60-90 seconds rest between sets.

Back Workout:

• Wide Grip Lat Pull Down: 3 sets x 8-10 reps
• Kroc Rows (per side): 3 sets x 6-8 reps
• Assisted Pull-Ups: 1 set x As Many Reps As Possible
• Dumbbell Pullover: 3 sets x 10 reps
• Inverted Row: 3 sets x 10-12 reps

Pull Up Progression Plan

For some of you, you’re here because you want to learn good pull up alternatives. But, others might want to know how to work their way up to doing a pull up. If you’re part of the latter then you can check out our full Pull Up Progression Plan.

To summarize how to follow a 9+ week pull up progression plan:

Who should do alternative pull up exercises?

Everyone should perform pull up alternatives regardless of whether they can do a regular pull up. The key to building strong functional muscles is to use variety in terms of reps and sets, load, grip, body positioning, equipment used, and tempo.

How often should you do pull up alternative exercises?

In general, you should target major muscle groups twice a week. This also pertains to pull up alternatives exercises, which means you should use some of these pull up alternatives to target your back twice weekly. You should have at least 24 hours rest between workout sessions. Depending on what your end goal is, your sets and reps will change.

Follow the rep schemes below for strength, hypertrophy, and endurance.

• Strength & Power: Go for lower reps and higher weight in the 1-5 rep range for strength and power.
• Hypertrophy & Strength: Use a rep range of 6-12 for hypertropy and strength gains.
• Endurance & Hypertrophy: Target 12-20 reps for muscle gain and endurance.

What muscles do pull ups work?

Pull ups work a variety of muscles in the upper body including:

Primary muscles (movers):

Here's a look at the muscle groups working hardest during the pull up, in addition to the pull up alternatives we discussed above.

• Latissimus Dorsi: This is the largest muscle in your back. The latissimus dorsi is a broad, flat triangular muscle that stretches across the width of your mid and lower back.
• Biceps Brachii: This two headed muscle is comprised of the long head and short head. In the case of pull ups, the biceps help turn the forearm out so that your can grip the bar with a pronated grip. It also helps the lats pull us upwards. The narrower the pull up grip the more your biceps will be engaged.
• Brachioradialis & Brachialis (forearms): The brachialis and the brachioradialis are forearm muscles that work in concert with the biceps to flex the forearm at the elbow.
• Infraspinatus: This is a rotator cuff muscle that helps stabilize the shoulder joint.
• Lower Trapezius: The traps are a large triangular muscle in the upper back.

Secondary muscles:

The muscles worked don't end with the primary movers! The secondary muscle groups targeted include:

• Rear Deltoid
• Rhomboids
• Levator Scapulae
• Pectoralis Major & Minor

Stabilizers:

Finally, here's a list of the stabilizer muscles working during pull ups and pull up alternatives.

• Rotator Cuff Muscles: (infraspinatus, supraspinatus, subscapularis and teres minor)
• Triceps
• Obliques
• Erector Spinae

Benefits of pull ups

Why bother with pull ups and pull up alternatives? These benefits show you how important they are!

1) Build Strong Back:

The primary movers in pull ups and pull up alternatives are the back muscles especially the lats. A strong back can help improve your posture and make every day tasks easier to complete. Plus a well-built back looks great on both men and women.

2) Work Multiple Muscles:

Pull ups are one of the best compound exercises that you can do. This bodyweight compound exercise activates many muscles in order to complete the movement. Besides the major back muscles, pull ups also work the shoulders, core and arms.

Working multiple muscles in unison will result in better coordination and more strength overall. If you’re in a rush and want to get an effective upper body workout in then pull ups can be a staple exercise in your arsenal.

3) Boost Grip Strength:

Holding your bodyweight up on a bar then performing a pull up requires you to have a grip that’s strong enough so you don’t slip and fall. Building grip strength is one of the most important and most neglected parts of many people’s training programs.

The old saying, “you’re only as strong as your grip” is true. Most people’s grip will give out before the main muscles they’re training. For example, with deadlifts you’ll see that many people can’t do them without wrist straps because of weak grip. All your upper body lifts will improve if your grip strength does.

4) Burn Calories:

Pull ups (and pull up alternatives) are a compound exercise where many muscles are engaged which requires more oxygen and calories to be burned. Your lungs and heart work harder which will improve your cardiovascular capability.

Also, because pull ups are a great exercise to build lean muscle mass, you will boost your metabolism. The more muscle mass you have the more energy they require even at rest.

5) Versatile:

Pull ups can be done with only two things; your bodyweight and a bar. Not all exercises are created alike, pull ups have some amazing health benefits and you can do them or similar exercises that work the same muscles by doing pull up alternatives.

FAQs

Remaining questions regarding pull ups or pull up alternatives? Let's answer them here!

Why are pull ups important?

There are so many great pull ups benefits. Pull ups are an important exercise because it’s a bodyweight exercise that demands you lift your entire body mass upwards. Pull ups strengthen multiple muscle groups in one exercise making it an efficient and effective exercise to help build functional power in the upper body.

We’ve all seen movies where the character is struggling to hang on to a ledge, bridge or landing gear of a helicopter. Now imagine yourself in a situation like that, would you be able to pull yourself up if you needed to?

Can pull ups be replaced with alternatives?

Pull ups are one of the best upper body exercises around and shouldn’t be replaced. However, there are a number of pull up alternatives that should be added to your workout plan. In reality, pull ups should be done in conjunction with other  horizontal and vertical pulling exercises if you really want to build up your back.

We recommend that if you can do pull ups you should do them. However, not all people can perform full unassisted pull ups. If that's you, follow the progression plan we showed you above, or head to this pull-up progression plan, and you'll be there in no time.

How many pull ups should I be able to do?

There are no exact formula regarding how many pull ups you should be able to do but we can look at the averages for different groups of people below:

• Children: 6-12 should be able to do 1-2 pull ups
• Teenagers: Boys 13-18 should be able to do 3-8 pull ups. Girls 13-18 should be able to do 1 pull up or 1 5-9 second flexed arm hang (hang with chin above the bar)
• Adults: Men should be able to do 8 pull ups but if they can do 13-17 this would be considered strong and fit. Women should be able to do 1-3 pull ups while 5-9 reps would be thought of as strong and fit.

Can I train my back without a pull up bar?

Yes, you can train your back without a pull up bar with a variety of exercises and equipment, many of which we featured in this article. Resistance bands offer a range of back exercises that will work back muscles like a pull up would. You can also use other traditional gym equipment to train your back such as the cable machine for lat pull downs or the Smith machine for bent over rows, dumbbells for single arm rows, barbells for Yates rows and even towels for row variations.

Why Can’t I do a pull up?

There could be a number of reasons why you can’t currently do a pull up. Let’s remember that pull ups are a hard exercise but with the right work ethic and training plan you will be able to do pull ups in a few months. 

A few reasons why you me be unable to perform a pull include injury, being overweight, a lack of grip strength, improper strength, a weak back, and an overly wide grip.

What can I substitute for Crossfit pull ups?

Crossfit makes a few recommendations for pull up alternatives including jumping pull ups, negative pull ups, ring rows, pull-downs and assisted pull ups.

We've got a whole article on pull up variations. Regardless of the exercise you choose, make sure you follow the proper form to get the most from the exercise.

Pick A Pull Up Alternative & Get To Work!

Pull up alternative exercises can help you build strength and muscle. Use some of these exercises in your training program and you're sure to see your pull up ability improve.

Even if you don't have a pull up bar or you're working out at home without access to a cable machine or barbells/dumbells you can still do some pull up alternatives. Grab some bands or a towel and get to work!

Can't yet perform a pull up? Follow our Pull-Up Progression Plan.

Looking for some low-cost equipment to perform your pull up alternatives? Check out these 11 Best Resistance Bands! And, once you master the pull up, you'll want to add one of these Best Outdoor Pull Up Bars to your home gym!