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Back exercises

Assisted pull-up

Also called machine-assisted pull-up, assisted pullup, counterweighted pull-up.

What is an assisted pull-up?

An assisted pull-up is an overhand vertical pull performed on a machine whose moving counterweighted pad supports some of your bodyweight. You kneel on the pad and pull your body toward the handles while the pad travels with you. It mainly trains the latissimus dorsi, with the biceps and rear shoulders assisting. An unassisted pull-up removes the counterweight, while an assisted chin-up uses an underhand grip.

Two rear-view anatomical illustrations of a man using a counterweighted assisted pull-up machine on a white background. In the left frame he is near the top of the repetition with his elbows bent and his chin close to the angled handles. In the right frame his arms are straight overhead and his body and the black knee pad are lower. Both knees stay on the pad in both frames, and the silver machine frame and black weight stack are visible. Red shading covers the latissimus dorsi along the sides of his back, the upper and middle back, the rear shoulders, and parts of the upper arms and forearms; his lower body is unshaded.

How do you perform an assisted pull-up?

Set up

  1. Set the machine's assistance, step up, and take the overhand handles with your hands a little wider than your shoulders.
  2. Keep hold of the handles as you place one knee and then the other on the pad; let the pad lower smoothly until your arms are straight.

Execution

  1. Brace your torso and pull your elbows down toward your sides, raising your body and the pad together without kicking or swinging.
  2. Stop when your chin reaches the height of the handles, keeping your neck comfortable and both knees on the pad.
  3. Lower with control until your arms are straight, let the pad settle, and repeat.
  4. After the final rep, keep hold of the handles, return one foot and then the other to the machine's step, and guide the unloaded pad upward.

Common mistakes

  • Climbing onto or off the pad without a secure handhold

    The assistance pad moves as your weight transfers to or from it. Keep both hands secure and move one knee or foot at a time so the change is controlled.

  • Bouncing away from the knee pad

    The selected assistance reaches you through the pad. Keep both knees in contact and make your torso and the pad travel together.

  • Reaching the head forward to finish the rep

    Moving only the neck can make the finish look higher without raising the torso. Keep your neck comfortable and bring your body toward the handles.

  • Choosing a grip so wide that the pull becomes short

    An extremely wide hand position can reduce how far you can move. Start only a little wider than shoulder width and use a comfortable range.

Where it fits in a session

Early in an upper-body or pulling session, before fatigue makes it harder to keep the grip, torso and moving pad under control.

Record the machine and its assistance setting so later sessions are comparable. Assistance scales and mechanisms can differ between machines.

Muscles worked

Front
Front — Schematic surface view. Some muscles are partly visible or not shown.
Back
Back — Schematic surface view. Some muscles are partly visible or not shown.

Primary

Secondary

Select a muscle name to locate it.

Schematic surface view. Some muscles are partly visible or not shown.

The target list stays compact because these are the muscles named across the three required reference checks. The machine reduces the bodyweight the lifter must move but does not change the exercise into a different pulling pattern. Upper-back and forearm muscles also contribute, but the sites group them differently, so they are not expanded into a longer list.

Variations

  • Two frames of an anatomical illustration of a wide-grip pull-up, seen from behind, side by side on white. Left: the man hangs at full stretch from a bar fixed between two uprights, arms straight overhead, hands well outside shoulder width, palms facing away, knees bent and the feet tucked up behind him. Right: the top of the rep, chin level with the bar, elbows bent and driven down and out. Highlighted in red in both frames is the whole back of the pulling chain rather than one muscle — the fan of the latissimus dorsi down the ribs, the teres and rear-shoulder region under the armpit, and the muscles between and around the shoulder blades, which light up most strongly in the top-position frame. The backs of the upper arms are shaded too; the biceps and forearms face away from the viewer and cannot be seen, and the front of the body is not visible from this angle.
    Pull-upUses the same overhand pulling pattern without a machine offsetting part of your bodyweight.
  • Two rear-view anatomical illustrations of a man using a counterweighted assisted chin-up machine against a white background. In the left frame he kneels on the black assistance pad near the top of the repetition, with his elbows bent beside his torso and his chin close to the angled underhand handles. In the right frame the pad and his body are lower, his arms are straight overhead, and both knees remain on the pad. The silver machine frame and black weight stack are visible in both frames. Red shading covers the latissimus dorsi along the sides of his back, the upper and middle back around the shoulder blades, the rear shoulders, and parts of the upper arms and forearms; his lower body is unshaded.
    Assisted chin-upUses the machine's assistance pad with an underhand grip, palms facing you.
  • Band-assisted pull-up — Uses an anchored resistance band for support instead of a moving counterweighted pad.
  • Neutral-grip assisted pull — Uses parallel handles so the palms face each other throughout the repetition.
  • Negative pull-up — Starts at the top without machine assistance and trains only the controlled lowering phase.

Articles

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Frequently asked questions

What muscles do assisted pull-ups work?

Assisted pull-ups mainly train the latissimus dorsi, with the biceps and rear shoulders assisting. Muscles around the shoulder blades and in the forearms also help with the pull and grip, but reference sites group those supporting muscles differently.

How is an assisted pull-up different from a pull-up?

Both use an overhand grip and the same vertical pulling movement. On this version, a counterweighted pad supports part of your bodyweight; in an unassisted pull-up, your arms move your full bodyweight.

What is the difference between an assisted pull-up and an assisted chin-up?

The grip. Your palms face away from you for an assisted pull-up and face you for an assisted chin-up. The same machine may offer both choices on different handles.

Is a machine-assisted pull-up the same as a band-assisted pull-up?

No. The machine supports your knees on a moving counterweighted pad. A band stretches from the bar to a foot or knee and changes its help as it changes length. Both reduce the bodyweight you have to move, but their setups are not interchangeable.

How much assistance should I select?

Choose a setting that lets you move from straight arms to handle height without bouncing, swinging or losing contact with the pad. Follow the machine's instructions when changing the setting because assistance scales and mechanisms vary.

Can I stand on the assistance platform instead of kneeling?

Only if that machine is designed for standing use. The version in this guide has a knee pad, so both knees stay on it during the set and the fixed step is used to mount and dismount.

Sources

  1. Jeno SH, Varacallo MA. Anatomy, Back, Latissimus Dorsi. StatPearls. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK448120/
  2. Tiwana MS, Charlick M, Varacallo MA. Anatomy, Shoulder and Upper Limb, Biceps Muscle. StatPearls. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519538/

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