Scapular Pull-Up

Also known as: scap pull-up, scapular pull ups, scap pull ups, scap pull up, scapula pull up, scapular pulls, scap pulls

Secondary muscles
Biceps, Rhomboids, Delts
Body part
Back
Position
Hanging
Laterality
Bilateral (both sides together)
Category
Strength

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Your elbows never bend on this one: from a dead hang you depress and retract the shoulder blades, rising a few inches on straight arms. Those inches teach the lat engagement that starts every solid rep, which is why sets of five to ten belong at the start of any bar session.

How to do the Scapular Pull-Up

  1. Start by hanging from a pull-up bar with your palms facing away from you and your arms fully extended.
  2. Retract your shoulder blades by pulling them down and back.
  3. Engage your back muscles and pull your body up towards the bar, focusing on squeezing your shoulder blades together.
  4. Pause for a moment at the top of the movement, then slowly lower your body back down to the starting position.
  5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Tip: Think of pulling your elbows toward your back pockets rather than pulling your chin over the bar.

Muscles worked

Primary

Traps · Back

The lower and mid traps depress and retract the shoulder blades, keeping the shoulders away from the ears at the top.

Secondary

  • Biceps — The biceps bend the elbow and get more work with a supinated chin-up grip; on pull-ups they are secondary.
  • Rhomboids
  • Delts

Common mistakes

  • Skipping the dead hang — half reps from bent arms skip the hardest part; let the arms straighten fully at the bottom and initiate by pulling the shoulders down first.
  • Kipping without meaning to — a swing from the hips makes the rep easier but tells you nothing about your strength; keep the legs still, or cross the ankles and squeeze the glutes.
  • Chin poking forward — reaching with the neck is a way to fake the last inch; drive the elbows down and get the chest to the bar instead.
  • Adding weight too early — get to eight or ten strict reps before you hang a plate off your belt.

Where it fits in a workout

Pull-ups and chin-ups go first or second in a pull session, before rows and pulldowns, while your grip is fresh. They superset well with dips on the same station for a push and pull block.

How many sets, how heavy and how hard: see what the ACSM position stands support.

Variations and alternatives

Similar exercises

Alternatives

When to talk to someone

  • Chest discomfort, feeling faint or lightheaded, or trouble breathing during or after exercise can be signs of a heart attack. In the US, call 911 right away; elsewhere, call your local emergency number.
  • Heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms like these when you are active: talk to your doctor before you start or step up training.
  • Pregnant: ask your obstetric care provider which exercise suits you.

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More exercises

Sources

  1. ACSM position stand on exercise quantity and quality (Garber et al., 2011)
  2. ACSM preparticipation health screening (Riebe et al., 2015)
  3. ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 on exercise in pregnancy (2020)
  4. CDC: About Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery (2024)

Sources checked on October 17, 2026. Full citations are in the exercise library.

Animation and exercise data: ExerciseDB, licensed to SetGrip. General information, not medical or coaching advice.