There is no single best grip for pullups for every person and every workout.
For most beginners, I recommend starting with an overhand grip if they can perform it comfortably. For heavier beginners or anyone whose elbows are bothered by overhand pullups, neutral grip is an excellent alternative.
For heavy weighted pullups, neutral grip is my personal favorite. It is the grip in which I am strongest, and it places noticeably less stress on my elbows during heavy training.
That does not mean you should pick one grip and never use anything else.
I regularly rotate overhand, neutral, underhand, wide, and close variations. Different grips change the movement enough to provide variety, expose different weaknesses, and reduce the need to repeatedly stress the joints in exactly the same position.
Pullup Grip: Quick Answers
What is the best grip for pullups?
There is no single best grip for everyone. For most beginners, I recommend starting with a shoulder-width overhand grip. For heavy weighted pullups, I prefer neutral grip.
Is neutral grip better than overhand for pullups?
Not universally. I am strongest with neutral grip and find it substantially easier on my elbows during heavy training. If overhand pullups feel comfortable and you are progressing, there is no reason you need to stop using them.
What grip should beginners use for pullups?
I usually recommend overhand first, neutral second, and underhand third. However, a comfortable full-range neutral-grip pullup is better than avoiding the exercise because overhand feels uncomfortable.
What grip is best for weighted pullups?
I recommend neutral grip as the default for heavy weighted pullups because it gives me the best combination of strength, joint comfort, and recovery.
How wide should your hands be for pullups?
For most of my main training, I use approximately shoulder-width grip. My neutral grip is often slightly narrower depending on the handles.
Are wide-grip pullups better for your lats?
I would not use a wide grip because you expect dramatically more lat activation. I use wide pullups mainly as a training variation rather than as a superior lat-building technique.
Are underhand pullups the same as chinups?
Yes. An underhand or supinated pullup is commonly called a chinup. It is still a compound pulling movement, although the hand and arm position changes.
Should you rotate pullup grips?
I think grip variation is useful, but I usually keep one grip consistent for my main working sets so I can measure progress. Other grips can be added afterward or emphasized in different workouts.
Do thicker pullup bars make pullups harder?
Yes. A thicker bar makes gripping harder and can cause your hands and forearms to become the limiting factor before your back and arms.
Should heavier beginners use neutral grip?
Often, yes. If someone weighs significantly more, their first pullup is already a heavy strength movement. I would rather have them use a comfortable neutral grip than make progress harder simply because overhand is considered the traditional grip.
My Pullup Grip Recommendations
For someone trying to get their first pullup, my preference is:
- Overhand
- Neutral
- Underhand
For someone training heavy weighted pullups, my preference is:
- Neutral
- Overhand
- Underhand
That ranking is based largely on my own training experience rather than a claim that one grip universally produces more muscle growth.
I am strongest with a neutral grip. Overhand is fairly close behind. My underhand pullup is considerably weaker.
More importantly, neutral grip allows me to train heavy more frequently. If I perform a high-volume workout with more than 100 pounds added using an overhand or underhand grip, I tend to experience much deeper and longer-lasting soreness around my elbows. Neutral grip greatly reduces that problem for me.
Overhand Pullups
An overhand, or pronated, pullup is performed with your palms facing away from you.
This is what I consider the standard pullup, and it is the grip I generally recommend that beginners learn first.
Place your hands approximately shoulder-width apart and wrap them securely around the bar.
A basic repetition should:
- Begin from a dead hang
- Avoid kicking or swinging
- Finish with the chin clearly above the bar
- Return under control to the bottom
There is nothing magical about the overhand grip, but it provides a useful baseline. If someone tells me they can perform ten pullups without specifying the grip, this is generally the movement I picture.
For years, I also believed overhand pullups were inherently more legitimate than the alternatives.
I no longer think that.
My opinion changed primarily because heavy overhand training repeatedly caused significant tendon soreness around my elbows. Once I started performing more of my heavy work with a neutral grip, I could train hard without needing nearly as much recovery time.
I still use overhand pullups frequently. I simply no longer think every pullup workout needs to use them.
Neutral-Grip Pullups
Neutral-grip pullups are performed with the palms facing one another.
This has become my preferred grip for heavy training.
My hands are usually approximately shoulder-width apart or slightly closer, depending on the handles.
At a bodyweight of roughly 180 pounds, I performed my best weighted pullup with 180 pounds added using a neutral grip. The repetition started from a dead hang and finished with my chin above the handles.
There are two main reasons I favor neutral grip for heavy work:
I am stronger with it.
I can generally handle more weight or perform more repetitions than with my other grips.
My elbows tolerate it better.
The difference becomes particularly apparent when I repeatedly train pullups with more than 100 pounds added.
This is also why I think neutral-grip pullups deserve more consideration from larger beginners.
If you weigh 250 pounds, your first bodyweight pullup is already a relatively heavy strength movement. There is little reason to make the task harder simply because someone insists that only an overhand pullup counts.
If a neutral grip allows you to train the full movement consistently and without joint irritation, use it.
Underhand Pullups
An underhand, or supinated, pullup places the palms toward you. This variation is also commonly called a chinup.
Of the three basic grips, this is personally my weakest.
That will not necessarily be true for everyone. Research comparing pullup and chinup variations has found some differences in muscular activity, but the exercises remain broadly similar compound pulling movements rather than completely different exercises.
I still include underhand pullups because I value variation.
One limitation is that some people find the fully supinated hand position awkward at the wrists or elbows. Depending on your mobility and the equipment available, angled handles can make the position considerably more comfortable.
If the movement feels naturally comfortable, there is no reason to avoid it simply because it is called a chinup rather than a pullup.
Does Grip Really Change Which Muscles You Work?
Yes, but probably less dramatically than fitness diagrams often suggest.
The lats, biceps, upper back, forearms, and surrounding musculature all contribute substantially regardless of whether you use a pronated, neutral, or supinated grip.
One study directly comparing pronated, supinated, neutral, and rope pullups found relatively few significant differences in peak or average muscle activation among the variations.
That is one reason I would not choose a grip solely because a chart claims that it “isolates” a particular part of your back.
Instead, consider:
- Which grip you can perform correctly
- Which grip feels best on your joints
- Which grip lets you progressively overload the movement
- Which variations you have not trained recently
- What grip your available equipment allows
Changing grips still changes the movement. It just does not turn a pullup into an entirely different exercise.
Should You Do Wide-Grip Pullups?
I like wide-grip pullups and use them as one of several variations.
They create a noticeably different challenge compared with simply adding more weight to a shoulder-width pullup.
However, I would not tell someone that a wide grip is necessary to “build wider lats.” The evidence does not establish a clear lat-activation advantage from simply using a wider grip. Related research on lat pulldowns has found little benefit from increasing grip width for lat activation.
Wide grips also deserve some restraint.
A biomechanical study comparing pullup techniques found that wide-grip and reverse-grip pullups produced scapular movement patterns that the researchers associated with greater potential for subacromial impingement than a standard shoulder-width pronated pullup. That does not mean wide pullups automatically cause shoulder injuries, but it is another reason not to assume that wider is inherently better.
I view wide pullups as a variation, not the default.
Use them if:
- They feel comfortable
- You want a different training stimulus
- You can maintain controlled technique
- Your shoulders tolerate the position
You do not need an extremely wide grip.
What About Close-Grip Pullups?
I treat close-grip pullups similarly.
They are not a secret exercise that replaces normal pullups. They are another useful variation.
Moving the hands closer together changes the feel of the movement and can expose you to a range of positions rather than performing thousands of repetitions with exactly the same hand placement.
For most of my primary training, however, I stay relatively close to shoulder width.
Wide and close grips are tools for variation rather than positions I think everyone needs to use for most of their training.
Why I Rotate Pullup Grips
I do not train one grip exclusively.
One idea that influenced my thinking comes from Louie Simmons and Westside Barbell’s discussion of the law of accommodation: repeatedly exposing the body to an identical stimulus eventually produces diminishing adaptation, which is part of Westside’s rationale for regularly varying exercises and loading methods.
I do not think you need to change your pullup grip every workout.
You also should not change exercises so frequently that you cannot measure progress.
Instead, I like having a core movement while regularly exposing myself to variations.
For example, a training period might emphasize:
- Heavy neutral-grip pullups
- Moderate overhand pullups
- Occasional underhand work
- Wide or close pullups as supplemental variations
Then that emphasis can change later.
Variation also gives me a practical way to continue training when one position starts irritating my elbows.
Thumb Over or Around the Bar?
I wrap my thumb around the bar.
I do not think thumb position is nearly as important in pullups as it is in something like a bench press, where failing to wrap the thumb can create a serious risk of dropping the bar.
If you prefer your thumb over the bar and can maintain a secure grip, I would not consider that a major problem.
I would not recommend using a powerlifting-style hook grip for ordinary pullups. It adds discomfort and complexity without solving an important problem for most trainees.
Your priority should simply be a secure grip that allows you to perform the movement consistently.
Bar Thickness Matters
The bar itself can change your pullup performance substantially.
A thick bar is harder to hold than a thinner bar because your fingers cannot wrap around it as completely. Grip strength can become the limiting factor before your back or arms are fully fatigued.
Research using fat-grip attachments has found reduced strength and fewer completed pullups when grip diameter is increased.
Surface texture matters too.
A smooth or slippery bar can be difficult to hold, particularly when your hands are sweaty.
A rough or textured bar usually provides a stronger grip, although aggressive texture can also be much harder on the skin and contribute to pullup calluses and tears.
Rubber-coated bars and bars wrapped with grip tape can also make holding the bar easier.
Do not assume that losing repetitions on an unfamiliar bar means your pulling strength suddenly decreased. Sometimes the limiting factor is simply your ability to hold onto that particular bar.
Rotating Handles, Rings, Towels, and Other Unstable Grips
As you become more advanced, you can make pullups harder without simply attaching more plates.
Rotating handles
A freely rotating bar or handle makes maintaining your grip considerably harder.
This is the same basic reason rotating bars are used in hanging challenges: instead of gripping a fixed object, you must resist the bar’s tendency to rotate in your hands.
I would treat rotating handles primarily as a grip and stability challenge rather than a replacement for normal heavy pullups.
Gymnastics rings
Rings introduce instability and allow your hands to rotate naturally throughout the movement.
They are challenging and useful, but the instability may prevent you from loading the pulling muscles as heavily as you could on a stable bar.
Research comparing traditional and suspension-style pullups has not found dramatic differences in activation of major muscles such as the lats and biceps, reinforcing my view that instability is primarily another way to alter the challenge rather than a completely different back exercise.
Towels and gis
You can drape a towel over a pullup bar and hold one end in each hand.
This creates a position somewhat similar to a neutral grip while making grip strength much more important.
Judo and BJJ athletes can do something similar with a gi.
I like these variations for combat-sport athletes, but there is a tradeoff: if your forearms fail long before your back and arms, you are training grip more than maximizing the strength stimulus to your pulling muscles.
Fat grips
Fat-grip attachments intentionally increase the diameter of the bar.
They are another useful grip challenge, but again, expect your pullup performance to decrease because the hands and forearms become a larger limiting factor.
Which Grip Should a Beginner Use?
If you are working toward your first pullup, I would start with:
1. Overhand
Use approximately shoulder-width hand placement. This establishes the standard movement and gives you an easy benchmark for progress.
2. Neutral
Use neutral grip if it is more comfortable, if you are significantly heavier, or if overhand pullups bother your elbows.
3. Underhand
Underhand pullups are still valuable, but I generally would not make them my first choice for teaching the movement.
More important than this ranking is actually training the exercise.
If you need assistance, I would rather have you perform full-range assisted pullups with a comfortable grip than avoid pullups because you cannot yet perform an unassisted overhand repetition.
Which Grip Is Best for Weighted Pullups?
For heavy weighted pullups, I recommend trying neutral grip first.
That is not because everyone will automatically be stronger with it. It is because neutral grip gives me the best combination of:
- Strength
- Joint comfort
- Recovery
- Ability to progressively add load
Overhand remains an important part of my training, but I am more selective about how much very heavy overhand volume I perform.
Underhand comes third for me personally.
Your ranking may be different. If your joints are comfortable and your technique is consistent, the grip that lets you make measurable progress is probably a reasonable primary grip.
There Is No Need to Pick Only One
The mistake is not choosing the “wrong” grip.
The bigger mistake is believing there is one correct pullup grip and refusing to use anything else.
Start with a basic shoulder-width overhand pullup. Learn the movement. Use assistance if you need it.
Then experiment.
Try neutral grip. Train underhand. Occasionally move your hands wider or closer. Use different bars and handles when they are available.
As you get stronger, pay attention not only to which grip lets you lift the most weight, but also to which grips your elbows, shoulders, and wrists tolerate over months and years of training.
For me, that process eventually moved neutral grip from an alternative variation to my primary heavy pullup grip.
I still train the others.
The goal is not to become good at one particular hand position. The goal is to become good at pullups.