11 Best Pull Workouts (Strengthen Your Back & Build Muscle)

The pull-up belongs to the vertical pull movement pattern and is one of the prominent pull exercises for strengthening your back.

The pull-up activates your latissimus dorsi, posterior deltoid, biceps brachii, trapezius, and pectoralis major.

How to Perform the Pull-up

1. Start by grabbing a pull-up bar with your knuckles facing toward your face. Your arms are fully extended in the elbows and shoulder joints.
2. Slightly bend your knees and cross your feet behind.
3. Start the exercise by pulling yourself until your chin raises above the pull-up bar.
4. Hold that position for one second and reverse the motion by lowering yourself to the hanging position.
5. Repeat for the desired number of reps.

3. Lat Pulldowns

Lat pulldowns are an easier variation of pull-ups since you will be provided with stable ground and tuck your legs, making your lats and traps more effective.

Lat pulldowns will activate muscles such as your rear deltoids, latissimus dorsi, trapezius, biceps brachii, and others. 

How to Perform a Lat Pulldown

1. To perform a lat pulldown, assume a sitting position on the lat machine where holding your legs attachment locks them.
2. Hold the bar with a pronated grip and fully extend your elbows. The wideness of the grip will depend on your preferences, but starting a little wider than shoulder-width apart is recommended.
3. Start the exercise by pulling the bar towards your collarbone.
4. Hold that position for one second when the bar reaches your collarbone.
5. Reverse the motion by letting the bar return to the top, but control the movement up.

Barbell rows are one of my favorites because they effectively target all your primary back muscles.

Barbell rows below the horizontal push movement pattern and activate muscles such as your traps, rear delts, biceps, and latissimus dorsi.

Rows and pull-ups should always be combined in a single week of pulling workouts to ensure maximum benefits for the balance of your upper body.

How to Perform Barbell Rows

1. Assume a standing position where the barbell is close to your shine.
2. Bend slightly on your knees and take an overhand grip, your hands are outside your legs.
3. Protract your shoulder blades, brace your core, maintain a flat back, and lift the barbell off the ground.
4. Stand in the hinge position, and start rowing the barbell towards your lower abdominal muscles to target the lats or closer to your ribs to target the traps more.
5. When you reach the top position where the bar is close to your stomach, reverse the motion and return to the start with a slow eccentric workout movement phase.

5. Pullovers

Pullovers are usually performed with dumbbells and are an excellent way of isolating the lat muscles.

We perform these mainly with dumbbells because they stretch the lats during the movement.

How to Perform Pullovers

1. Assume a lying position on a flat bench with your knees bent. Your feet are placed flat.
2. Hold the dumbbell, your palms are faced away, and your hands are shoulder-width apart.
3. Keep your arms straight while raising the weight over your head.
4. Start the exercise by bending your arms at the elbow joint and lowering the dumbbell until they are completely behind you.
5. Raise the weight over your head and repeat for the desired amount of reps.

Many people find the row exercise to be a good way to improve their posture, muscle and strength. To perform the exercise, place your feet shoulder-width apart, lower your shoulders, and hold a dumbbell in your right hand with your arm extended. One important thing to remember is to lower the dumbbell slowly and feel the contraction in your lower back. Aim for two to three sets on each side to maximize the benefits.

Dumbbell rows and the single-arm dumbbell row are a fantastic variety of traditional barbell rows.

Dumbbell rows will challenge your stabilizer muscles and build stability in your shoulder joint. They activate muscles such as your lats, traps, biceps, and rear delts.

How to Perform Dumbbell Rows

1. Take two equal dumbbells and assume a standing position.
2. Make sure to have at least one meter of space in front of you to bend forward at your hips.
3. Bend over at your hips while slightly bending your knees and retaining the same position for the rest of the exercise.
4. Start the exercise by pulling the dumbbells toward your stomach.
5. Hold the position for one second when the dumbbell reaches and crosses your upper body line.
6. Return the dumbbell to the starting position while slowly lowering it through eccentric muscle contraction.

7. Dumbbell Shrugs

Dumbbell shrugs are one of the most effective pull exercises for building your upper traps. They activate all fibers of your traps but mainly target their upper portion.

How to Perform Dumbbell Shrugs

1. Assume a standing position and pick two equal dumbbells to start the exercise.
2. While standing, your arms should be fully extended in the elbow joint and act as a rope, meaning they should be loose.
3. Start by elevating your shoulder and keeping your elbows extended throughout the movement.
4. When you come to the maximal elevated position, hold it for a second.
5. Slowly depress your shoulders and return to the starting position.
6. Repeat for the desired number of reps.

Barbell biceps curls are effective at building your muscles and activating your biceps brachii, brachialis, and brachioradialis.

How to Perform Biceps Curls

1. Place the barbell on the rack and load it with the desired weight.
2. Pick the loaded barbell and leave it hanging in front of you while you grab it with a supinated grip.
3. Start the exercise by flexing your below joint and keep the barbell moving until it reaches close to your shoulders.
4. When the barbell reaches the top position, reverse the motion and begin the eccentric phase by lowering the barbell back to the hanging position.
5. Repeat for the desired amount of repetitions.

9. Face Pulls

Face pulls are performed with cables and are good at targeting your rear deltoids. They are also used in modern athletic warm-ups and before lifting sessions to activate necessary muscles and reduce the risk of injury.

How to Perform Face Pulls

1. Assume a standing position with the feet hip-width apart. Your knees are slightly bent.
2. Grip the cable. Your palms are facing away, and your hands should be shoulder-width apart.
3. Start by pulling the cable towards your face. Keep your elbows close to your sides.
4. Hold the top position for one second. Reverse the motion to return to the start.
5. Repeat for the desired number of reps.

Dumbbell preacher curls are one of the best to grow your biceps. You will need a preacher curl bench and a pad to complete this exercise.

Preachers curls are among the best ways to isolate your biceps and develop a mind-muscle connection, enhancing hypertrophy and strength.

How to Perform Dumbbell Preacher Curls

1. Assume sitting on a preacher curl bench and your feet flat on the floor.
2. Grip the dumbbell in both hands with your palms facing your thighs.
3. Rest your arms on the pad in front of you and curl the dumbbells up to your shoulders.
4. Lower the dumbbells to the beginning position. Repeat for the desired number of reps.

11. Cable Curls

You will need a cable machine to perform this exercise. Cable curls effectively target your biceps brachii, brachioradialis, and brachialis.

How to Perform Cable Curls

1. Assume a standing position with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Your hands should be shoulder-width apart, and you should grip the cable with your palms facing away from you.
3. Curl the cable towards your shoulders while keeping your elbows close to your sides.
4. Reverse the entire motion to return to the starting position and repeat for the desired amount of reps.

A pull day is the day of the week when you perform pull exercises or workouts. In your pull day workout routine, focus on strengthening your upper body with the best pull exercises that target your back muscles while maintaining proper starting position and engaging your shoulder blades.

The pull can be divided into vertical and horizontal pull exercises.

Incorporating pulling movements and exercises into your weekly pull workout routine is essential for preventing injuries. Also, incorporating pulling movements with an underhand grip on a cable machine is an effective way to target the upper back muscles and promote muscle growth, ensuring proper form by leaning forward during the exercise.

It also keeps your upper body balanced and holistically developed [1]. To engage your upper body effectively during pull workouts, maintain a proper starting position with your feet shoulder-width apart, arms straight, and a slight bend in your knees, targeting the pulling muscles while incorporating exercises like bicep curls.

Some of the best compound pull exercises are barbell deadlifts, rows, and bodyweight pull-ups.

These should represent the base of your pull-day workouts and be responsible for the most of muscle strength and hypertrophy.