Illustration: Becky Barnicoat/The Guardian
The differences in body types does mean that, on average, women find the exercise more difficult – but that’s not the whole story
Pull-ups are a bodyweight exercise where you hang from an overhead bar, usually with an overhand grip, and pull yourself up until your chin clears the bar. “They’re a great upper-body exercise,” says Prof Leigh Breen, a specialist in muscle physiology at the University of Leicester. “They primarily work the muscles in the back, but also recruit the arms and the core.” They’re known for being tough – particularly for women. But is that true?
“If we take the population as a whole, doing a pull-up is typically more challenging for the average woman,” says Breen. There are a few reasons for this. First, women naturally tend to carry a smaller proportion of their muscle mass in their upper body than men – and these are the muscles relied upon for the exercise. Second, women generally have a slightly higher body fat percentage than men. Because a pull-up requires you to lift your entire bodyweight, having less upper-body muscle relative to the weight you’re moving can reduce what’s known as your strength-to-weight ratio.
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Finally, differences in anatomy can make the movement slightly less efficient. Men tend to have broader shoulders and different body proportions, which can make the mechanics of a pull-up a little more favourable. Women often have a slightly lower centre of gravity too, which may make the movement marginally more challenging.
But these are population averages, not hard rules. “Anyone can train and see similar levels of muscle adaptation,” says Breen. “Although women may have a slight disadvantage, it’s nowhere near enough to stop them becoming very good at pull-ups. Plenty of women can do far more pull-ups than the average man.”
If your goal is your first pull-up, it’s best to build strength gradually. Assisted pull-ups using resistance bands can help you practise, while exercises such as lat pull-downs and rows strengthen the required muscles.
