15 Best Pull Exercises For Building Strength

Pull exercises involve the muscles that are required in doing a pulling movement with resistance. These muscles are your back, biceps and forearms. Some will work all three and some only one or two. Your forearms are always activated with these exercises.

You will usually do pull exercises when your workout routine has a split of push and pull days during the week to build strength and muscle. When you want to build strength and muscle ensure that you maintain time under tension for as long as possible and focus on the muscles being trained for maximum results.

You must focus on doing as many compound exercises as possible to build strength, but here you will see some isolation exercises that are specific to pull days.

We are providing 15 of the best pull exercises that you can do to start in creating your pull workout program.

1. Barbell Deadlift

The deadlift is one of the best compound exercises to incorporate in any workout routine. It will help you build strength and muscle through the multiple muscle groups that it works.

This is why it is one of the core exercises in a strength training plan alongside a squat and bench press. It’s also why it is one of the measures of an Olympic Powerlifter’s strength in competitions.

You will build power and increase the intensity of your workouts by adding this exercise. It works majority of your posterior muscles too, including:

• Shoulders
• Back muscles
• Glutes
• Hamstrings
• Calves

How to Do a Barbell Deadlift:

1. Stand in front of a weighted barbell.
2. Place yourself in a position where the middle of your feet are under the bar, shoulder-width apart.
3. Bend over the bar placing your hands with a wide overhand grip on the bar, hands on the outside of your legs.
4. Slightly bend your knees, while pushing your hips back to get your back parallel to the floor.
5. Focus on driving your hips forward. Tighten your core to prevent arching of your back as the force that you push is being transferred to your feet on the ground as you pull the bar towards your hips, standing up straight.
6. Squeeze the muscles at the top of movement.
7. Lower the bar slowly to the start position in reverse of the previous steps.
8. Inhale when lifting the weight and gently exhale when lowering the weight.
9. Do 5 sets of 3-5 reps @ 80% of your 1 rep max if you want to get stronger in this exercise. Rest 2-5 minutes in between each set.

2. Pull-Ups

Pull-ups are one of the best compound exercises that work your upper body and core muscles. They can be done with your body weight or weighted to work your:

• Biceps
• Rear Delts
• Lats
• Rhomboids
• Forearms

How to Do Pull-Ups:

1. Stand underneath a pull-up bar, reach and grab the bar with an overhand grip, ensuring that your grip is wider than your shoulders. (Use a step or box to assist, if required to reach)
2. Pull yourself up contracting your biceps and back muscles until your chin rises in-line or above the bar and squeeze the muscles.
3. Pause at the top of the movement and then slowly lower yourself back to the start position while keeping your grip.
4. Inhale when lifting yourself up and gently exhale when lowering yourself.
5. Aim for 3-4 sets of 6-12 reps while resting 1-2 minutes between each set to get stronger in this exercise.

3. Barbell Bent Over Rows

Bent over rows can be done with barbells or dumbbells to build strength in your back and improve your posture when you’re doing them with the correct form.

It is important that with this exercise, you focus on a controlled movement of the bar. Many people focus more on the quantity of reps or the weight on the bar rather than the quality of the movement. This results in jerking movement that doesn’t work the intended muscles but rather increases the chances of injury.

Depending on how you hold the bar and your form, you can find yourself working other muscles more than the major ones. You must focus on the following muscles when you’re performing this pull exercise:

• Traps
• Lats
• Rhomboids and spinal erectors
• Posterior delts
• Biceps
• Forearms

How to Do Barbell Bent Over Rows:

1. Stand in front of a weighted barbell.
2. Place yourself in a position where the middle of your feet are under the bar, shoulder-width apart.
3. Bend over the bar placing your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart with an overhand grip on the bar.
4. Slightly bend your knees, while pushing your hips back to get your back parallel to the floor.
5. Focus on pulling the bar backwards with your elbows passed your back rather than your arms lifting the bar off the ground.
6. Tighten your core to prevent arching of your back as the force that you push is being transferred to your feet on the ground as you pull the bar towards your belly button.
7. Pause at the top of the movement and contract your muscles.
8. Slowly lower the bar until it goes below the knees.
9. Inhale when lifting the weight and gently exhale when lowering the weight.
10. Repeat the movement for 3-4 sets of 6-12 reps @ 70% of your 1 rep max while resting 1-2 minutes between each set, to get stronger in this exercise.

4. Single Arm Dumbbell Rows

Single arm dumbbell rows also work your back muscles, but provide better stability than bent over rows. This improves the focus on the back muscles for greater activation and tension on them.

To complete this movement, it is required that you have a flat bench or something to support your body for stability as you lift the weight.

The muscles worked to do a single arm dumbbell row are:

• Traps
• Lats
• Rhomboids and spinal erectors
• Posterior delts
• Biceps
• Forearms

How to Do The Single Arm Dumbbell Row:

1. Collect and place the dumbbell you’re going to lift next to a flat bench.
2. Place your one leg onto the flat bench at a 90 degree angle (your knee and shin lying flat on the bench) and the same side hand on the bench straight under your shoulder. You must ensure that your back is parallel to the floor in this position.
3. The other foot should be placed on the ground next to the bench, in line with the opposite.
4. Lift the dumbbell from the ground with the available hand and pull with your elbows moving past your back in the movement without turning your hips and shoulders.
5. Pause at the top of the movement, contract your muscles and ensure that your core is tight.
6. Slowly lower the dumbbell until your arm is straight.
7. Inhale when lifting the weight and gently exhale when lowering the weight.
8. Do 6-12 reps @ 70% of your 1 rep max and then swap to the other side. Complete 3-4 sets each side and rest 1-2 minutes between each set.

It is important for this exercise to be done in a controlled movement to prevent injury.

5. Inverted Rows

This is another exercise that is done usually with your body weight, but can be weighted. The name basically explains the exercise in that it is an alternative to the row exercise, but instead of pulling the bar towards you, you pull yourself towards the bar.

The muscles worked to do inverted rows as in the above rows are:

• Traps
• Lats
• Rhomboids and spinal erectors
• Posterior delts
• Biceps
• Forearms

How to Do Inverted Rows:

1. Start by standing in front of a squat rack or smith machine.
2. Position the bar so that it is about waist high.
3. Grab the bar in an overhand grip with both hands a bit wider than shoulder-width and position yourself underneath the bar. Position yourself so that your arms can be fully extended and straight underneath the bar while your torso is above the ground. Your heels are the only part of your body that should be touching the ground.
4. Activate your core and your glutes to stabilize your back to be straight.
5. When you’re ready, press your shoulder blades together and pull your chest towards the bar in a controlled movement.
6. Pause at the top of the movement, squeeze the muscles and then slowly lower yourself back to the starting position.
7. Inhale when lifting yourself up and gently exhale when lowering yourself.
8. Do 3-4 sets of 6-15 reps to build your strength using this pull exercise.

6. Bicep Curls

The bicep curls as the name suggests, work your bicep muscles and like all exercises mentioned, it also requires controlled movement of the weight.

You must ensure that you are stable throughout the movement, not activating anything with your core other than your:

• Biceps
• Forearms

How to Do Bicep Curls:

1. Pick a pair of dumbbells that you can lift for 10 reps without losing your form.
2. Stand upright with one dumbbell on each side and have your palms facing forward.
3. Relax your shoulders, keep your elbows against the side of your body and slowly lift both dumbbells up towards your chest.
4. Tighten your core throughout the movement, pause and contract the muscles at the top of the movement.
5. Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.
6. Inhale when lifting the weight and gently exhale when lowering the weight.
7. Do 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps to build strength in your biceps.

7. Zottman Curls

This is another arm-focused pull exercise that gets its name from 19th-century strongman George Zottman who used to perform the exercise.

The exercise is done with a similar form to the bicep curls, but with a twist, quite literally. It works the:

• Biceps
• Forearms

How to Do Zottman Curls:

1. Pick a pair of dumbbells that you can lift for 10 reps without losing your form.
2. Stand upright with one dumbbell on each side and have your palms facing forward.
3. Relax your shoulders, keep your elbows against the side of your body and slowly lift both dumbbells up towards your chest. Tighten your core throughout the movement.
4. Pause and contract the muscles at the top of the movement.
5. Twist your wrists, so that your palms face forward and then lower the dumbbells back to the starting position but in an overhand position.
6. You will always start the movement with wrists facing forward and finish with them facing backwards.
7. Inhale when lifting the weight and gently exhale when lowering the weight.
8. Do 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps @ 70% of your 1 rep max, to build strength in your biceps. Rest 1-2 minutes between each set.

8. EZ Bar Preacher Curls

The EZ Bar is the training bar that has a zig zag shape which helps reduce the stress on your wrists and elbows in bicep curls and tricep extensions as they are less turned.

It is important to use an EZ Bar for the preacher curl as your arms will be at full extension on the preacher curl bench. It feels more natural using the EZ Bar vs a dumbbell or normal barbell for this exercise.

The muscles that are worked are your:

• Biceps
• Forearms.

How to Do Preacher Curls:

1. Get a weighted EZ bar that you can lift for 10 reps and place it on the rack of the preacher curl bench.
2. Sit in the correct position on a preacher curl bench so that the top of the angled part of the bench will be just below your armpits when your arms are fully extended on the slope.
3. Using both hands, pick up the bar with an underhand grip on the angles closest to the center. You must ensure your arms are fully extended with the top of them flat on the bench.
4. Curl the bar towards your face, pause and contract the muscles at the top of movement.
5. Slowly lower the bar until your arms are fully extended again, without dropping the bar.
6. Repeat this movement for 8-12 reps, doing 3-4 sets @ 70% of your 1 rep max. Rest 1-2 minutes between each set.

9. Hammer Curls

Hammer curls are a variation of the bicep curls with a change in how the dumbbells are lifted, but similar principles. The difference lies in the fact that the hammer curl works the longer head of the bicep more while the supinated bicep curl works the short head of the bicep more.

It is interesting to note that the hammer curl increases the thickness and strength of the bicep and forearm because of how it is performed. This makes it very helpful when you want to build strength in compound pull exercises like pull ups , chin ups and lat pulldowns.

The muscles that are trained doing hammer curls are:

• Biceps
• Forearms

How to Do Hammer Curls:

1. Pick a pair of dumbbells that you can lift for 10 reps without losing your form.
2. Stand upright with one dumbbell on each side and have your palms facing towards your body.
3. Relax your shoulders, keep your elbows against the side of your body and slowly lift both dumbbells up towards your shoulders.
4. Tighten your core throughout the movement, pause and contract the muscles at the top of the movement.
5. Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.
6. Inhale when lifting the weight and gently exhale when lowering the weight.
7. Do 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps @ 70% of your 1 rep max to build strength and increase the size of your biceps.

10. Chin-Ups

These are a variation to pull-ups and can be used as the foundation of increasing your upper body strength and improving your pull-ups. Chin-ups are usually easier to do due to the greater activation of the bicep muscles to pull yourself up on-top of the already worked muscles in the exercise.

The stabilizers related to your upper body, like your shoulders, and your core muscles are activated in this exercise.

The muscles that are worked doing chin-ups like the pull-ups are:

• Biceps
• Rear delts
• Lats
• Rhomboids
• Forearms
• Chest

How to Do Chin-Ups:

1. Stand underneath a pull-up bar, reach and grab the bar with an underhand grip, ensuring that your grip is slightly wider than your shoulders. (Use a step or box to assist, if required to reach)
2. Pull yourself up contracting your biceps and back muscles until your chin rises in-line or above the bar and squeeze the muscles.
3. Pause at the top of the movement and then slowly lower yourself back to the start position while keeping your grip.
4. Inhale when lifting yourself up and gently exhale when lowering yourself.
5. Aim for 3-4 sets of 6-12 reps while resting 1-2 minutes between each set to get stronger in this exercise.

11. Dumbbell Shrugs

Shrugs can be done with barbells and dumbbells, but in this case we’re focusing on the dumbbells. The less stable what you lifting is, the more your body must stabilize in lifting the weight.

This is an important fact around getting stronger and is valid in this exercise. You must ensure that it is within the limits of the exercise though and not negatively affecting your joints.

The muscles that are worked in shrugs are your:

• Traps
• Rhomboids
• Forearms

How to Do Dumbbell Shrugs:

1. Get a pair of dumbbells that you can comfortably lift for 10 reps.
2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, letting your arms on your sides with palms facing towards your body.
3. Ensure that your feet are at shoulder width apart and you have a firm stance on the ground.
4. Contract your shoulder blades and lower your head slightly, this increases the tension in the movement.
5. Lift your shoulders towards your ear and pause at the top of the movement.
6. Slowly lower your shoulders back to the starting position.
7. Inhale when lifting your shoulders and gently exhale when lowering them.
8. Do this for 10-15 reps, doing 3-4 sets @ 70% of your 1 rep max. Rest 1-2 minutes between each set to get a stronger back and traps.

12. Renegade Rows

Renegade rows are a difficult exercise and can be very dangerous if you’re not trained in doing them. You can use dumbbells (round or hexagon) or kettlebells which provide more stability to do them. They improve your balance and stability while making your upper body stronger.

When you are starting out with this exercise, it is important that you don’t go heavy as the exercise won’t be as effective. Other than your core being activated the most in this exercise than the rest on this list, renegade rows also work your:

• Triceps
• Lats
• Shoulders
• Rhomboids

How to Do Renegade Rows:

1. Grab a pair of dumbbells that you can easily do 15 reps with in an overhand grip.
2. Get into the push-up position while holding the dumbbells with your hands shoulder-width apart. Your palms must face towards each other. Your feet must be slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and your back must be straight.
3. Tighten your core and your shoulder blades for greater activation of the muscles and stability.
4. Lift one dumbbell up pulling your elbow up past your back.
5. Pause at the top of movement and contract the muscles.
6. Slowly lower the dumbbell back to the floor and then repeat with the other arm. You must ensure that you limit the swaying of your hips and turning of the shoulders in this movement for more effectiveness.
7. Inhale when lifting the dumbbell and gently exhale when lowering it.
8. Do this for 6-15 reps each arm, doing 3-4 sets @ 60% of your 1 rep max. Rest 1-2 minutes between each set.

13. Rope Face Pulls

The face pull is often underrated due to it using cables to be done or it’s not common in working your back and shoulders. You can use a cable pulley machine or resistance bands to do this exercise.

Do not let its popularity discourage you from trying it, because if it is done with the correct and controlled form, it can work well for your:

• Rear Delts
• Rhomboids of your back
• Traps

How to Do Rope Face Pulls:

1. Get the cable rope and connect it to a cable pulley machine.
2. Lift the cable pulley to the top of the machine.
3. Grasp the rope with your thumbs facing down and then turn your hands for your palms to face each other with the rope knobs facing up.
4. Start with your arms straight and then pull the rope towards your face with it straightening just past your ears.
5. Your palms should be facing your shoulders at this point, looking like you are flexing your arms.
6. Pull and squeeze with your delts and back muscles rather than pulling the rope with your arms.
7. Pause at the top of the movement and then slowly return to the start position with your arms extended.
8. Inhale when you pull the rope and exhale as you return to the start position.
9. Do this exercise for 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps with a weight in which you can do up to 12 reps. Rest 1-2 minutes between each set.

14. Lat Pulldowns

Lat pulldowns are a great alternative to pull-ups and chin-ups if you are having issues pulling yourself up. It is a lot easier to control the movement when the weight is in your control.

You work the same muscles in a pull-up and chin-up, but to a lesser extent in pulldowns due to less stability required from the body in ensuring the movement is completed. The muscles that are worked are:

• Biceps
• Traps
• Delts
• Lats
• Rhomboids
• Forearms
• Chest

How to Do Lat Pulldowns:

1. Locate a Lat Pulldown Machine and adjust the seat, if you can, so that your feet can be flat on the ground when you perform the exercise.
2. Grab the wide bar with a wide overhand grip and sit down. You must ensure that your posture is straight with your chest slightly forward.
3. Contract your shoulder blades for more tension in your muscles.
4. Start with your arms fully extended and then slowly pull the bar towards your chest. Pull the bar until it goes just above your chest.
5. Pause and squeeze your muscles at the top of the movement.
6. Slowly release the tension until your arms are fully extended again.
7. Repeat this movement for 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps to build muscle and strength.

15. Seated Cable Row

A seated cable row, also known as a cable low row is an exercise which people tend to ruin their form because they choose to go as heavy as possible, which is not how it should be done as this can induce injury or have long-term negative effects on your body.

You must use a weight that ensures it doesn’t move you excessively, but also challenges you to pull as hard as possible. This pull exercise works your:

• Lats
• Rhomboids
• Traps
• Rear delts
• Biceps

How to Do Seated Cable Rows

1. Locate a cable row machine and ensure that it has a close grip bar on it. Set the weight so that you can do 10 reps with it.
2. Sit on the flat bench and position your feet on the platform with your knees slightly bent to withstand the opposite pulling force and reduce the pressure on your knees.
3. Grab the close grip bar with both hands, palms facing each other and pulling it towards you.
4. Start with your arms slightly bent, activating your shoulders and biceps. Your torso must be perpendicular to the flat bench.
5. Squeeze your shoulder blades together, arch your back and pull the bar towards your abs.
6. Pause, squeeze your muscles at the top of the movement and then slowly release the bar back to the starting position.
7. Do 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps with a weight that makes the last two reps difficult to complete. Rest 1-2 minutes between each set.

Summary

When you are looking to build strength and muscle, doing a push/pull workout split will work for you. On your pull day workouts use some of these 15 pull exercises to help you get bigger and stronger arms, back and forearms.