Back · Pull Up Bar
Weighted Pull-up
How to do the weighted pull-up, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Pull Up Bar
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Vertical Pull
- Mechanic
- Compound
See it in motion
How to do it
Perform a pull-up with added external load via weight belt, dumbbell between feet, or weighted vest. Pull chin over bar from dead hang, lower with control.
- 1Hang from the bar with a slight shoulder blade depression, then pull yourself up by driving your elbows down; you should feel your lats and upper back contracting with the added load
- 2At the top, squeeze your shoulder blades together and pause before lowering with control
- 3Keep your core tight; the extra weight should challenge the pulling muscles, not your form
Common mistakes
- Don't swing or use momentum to compensate for the added load
- Avoid shrugging your shoulders or cutting the range of motion short
- Don't add more weight than you can control through a full dead-hang to chin-over-bar range
Muscles worked
The weighted pull-up mainly works the lats and biceps, with the forearms, lower traps, mid traps, and side delts assisting.
- LatsPrimary
- BicepsPrimary
- ForearmsSupport
- Lower TrapsSupport
- Mid TrapsSupport
- Side DeltsSupport
- Upper AbsMinor
Kovo programs the weighted pull-up for you and tracks it every session.
The AI builds your whole program, drops the right lifts into each workout, and adjusts your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More back exercises
- How to do the back extension bench back extension
- How to do the barbell good morning
- How to do the barbell bent over row
- How to do the barbell shrug
- How to do the cable straight arm pulldown
- How to do the chin-up
Last reviewed April 2026.