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Pull-Up Strength Standards By Experience Level
If you focus on improving your average deadlift weight, you might be surprised to learn that pull-up strength standards can help your progress. Like the deadlift, pull-ups are a great measure of upper-body strength. Improving your pull-up performance can help you build strength, muscle, and endurance for the deadlift, and improve your average deadlift weight. In this article, we’ll break down pull-up strength standards by experience level to help you determine your goals and plan to achieve them.
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What are Pull-Up Strength Standards?
Pull-up strength standards measure your performance on pull-ups compared to other people at different experience levels. Whether you’re just starting or an experienced athlete, these benchmarks help you set realistic goals and track progress over time. At their core, pull-up standards categorize lifters into different performance levels:
Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced
Elite
For example, if you're in the beginner stage, you can do one or two strict pull-ups. Hitting 10 to 15 reps moves you into the advanced category, while elite athletes might knock out 20+ reps or add extra weight. These standards aren’t just about numbers; they give you a clear roadmap for improving upper-body strength. Knowing where you stand, you can focus on structured training, gradually increase reps, and work toward more challenging variations like weighted pull-ups or muscle-ups.
Pull-Up Strength Standards by Experience Level
Pull-up standards help you gauge where you stand based on age, gender, and experience level. Unlike push-ups, which most people can do at least one of, pull-ups require significant upper-body strength, and many beginners struggle to complete even a single rep. But with training, progress comes quickly, and these standards offer a great way to track improvement.
How Pull-Up Standards Vary
Your ability to do pull-ups depends on factors like:
Body weight
Training history
Even age
For example, the Marine Corps requires recruits to perform at least three pull-ups, but top candidates should aim for ten or more.
A well-trained adult man in his prime might be able to complete 12-15 reps, whereas a 65-year-old who can do five strict pull-ups is in exceptional shape. Women generally start with lower numbers but, with dedicated training, can reach 15-25 reps at peak fitness.
Pull-Up Strength Levels
Strength levels are often divided into five categories. Novices (just starting) may be unable to do a single pull-up, while beginners (3-6 months of training) may manage a few reps.
Intermediates (6 months to 2 years of training) should hit a solid number that reflects good health. Advanced athletes (2-5 years of consistent training) can perform high-rep sets or weighted pull-ups. Experts, who have trained for 5+ years, push performance limits.
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Factors That Influence Pull-Up Performance
Your ability to perform pull-ups largely depends on your strength-to-weight ratio—how much strength you have relative to your body weight. People with lower body fat and higher lean muscle mass tend to perform better, as they have less weight to lift while maintaining enough upper-body strength to execute the movement efficiently.
Muscle Engagement and Technique: Pull-Ups Are a Full-Body Exercise
Pull-ups engage multiple muscle groups, including the back, shoulders, arms, and core. Training methods emphasizing eccentric (lowering) and concentric (pulling) contractions can help build strength for more efficient reps.
Performance is influenced by factors such as grip strength, body coordination, and proper use of momentum (such as utilizing the stretch-shortening cycle).
Fatigue Resistance and Training Consistency: Pull-Ups Take Practice
Endurance and training experience also impact pull-up ability. The more you train, the better your neuromuscular system adapts, making each rep more efficient. Fatigue resistance allows you to complete more reps before exhaustion sets in.
Gender and age can also influence pull-up performance due to differences in muscle mass, hormonal profiles, and recovery capacity. Anyone can work toward higher pull-up numbers by focusing on progressive training and improving technique.
How to Improve Your Pull-Up Performance
To improve your pull-up performance, you must practice. The more you perform pull-ups, the more your body will adapt to the movement. Pull-up training can involve a variety of progressions, including:
Assisted pull-ups
Negatives
Isometric holds
Aim to incorporate pull-ups into your routine at least two to four times weekly, and focus on building strength and endurance over time.
Progress Gradually and Prioritize Form
As you improve your pull-up performance, rushing into more complex variations may be tempting. Instead, use a slow and steady progression model, like the 2 for 2 rule: If you can complete two extra reps with good form for two consecutive sets, it’s time to move to a more challenging variation. Focusing on controlled, high-quality reps will build strength more effectively than simply trying to do as many pull-ups as possible with sloppy form.
Strengthen the Supporting Muscles
Pull-ups engage multiple upper-body muscles, especially the back, shoulders, and arms. Complement your pull-up training with exercises like rows, lat pulldowns, and bicep curls to strengthen the muscles that contribute to the movement. A stronger back and grip will translate to better pull-up performance over time.
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3 Common Mistakes That Hinder Pull-Up Progress
1. Shortening the Range of Motion
One of the most common errors with the pull-up is shortening the range of motion. Trainees often resort to a shorter range of motion because they lack the necessary strength for complete repetitions.
Doing so leads to less effective repetitions and prevents you from stretching and contracting the muscles. Avoid the error by lowering yourself until your arms are almost straight and pulling up until your chin is over the bar.
2. Not Controlling the Eccentric
Another standard error with pull-ups is only focusing on the upward motion while completely ignoring the descent. Trainees often put all their efforts into pulling themselves up and simply drop to the bottom, making the exercise far less effective.
The descent is essential for any activity because your muscles continue to work as they lengthen passively under a load. Avoid the error by maintaining a consistent tempo between going up and moving down. If it takes two seconds to pull yourself up, lower yourself for another two seconds.
3. Going too Wide
The third error with pull-ups is placing your hands too far apart on the bar. Prevailing wisdom suggests that using a wider grip is more beneficial for back activation, so many trainees believe they should use the widest grip possible.
But doing so can weaken your shoulders and hinder your performance. It is much better to have your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, but it never hurts to experiment with grip width to see what works best.
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The average deadlift weight depends on various factors, including age, gender, and training experience. A novice male lifter typically deadlifts about 135 lbs (61 kg). After some training, this number can improve to about 225 lbs (102 kg).
A female novice will start with about 95 lbs (43 kg) and can improve this number to 185 lbs (84 kg) after some training. Of course, these numbers will vary, but they provide a good starting point for understanding deadlift progress.
What are the Deadlift Standards?
Once you grasp the average deadlift numbers, it helps to look at the standards. Deadlift standards will help you understand how your numbers compare to others. Of course, the more data you collect, the better your understanding of deadlift standards will be. This will help you set realistic goals as you track your progress over time.
Deadlift standards will generally be broken down into categories based on skill level. The categories include:
Novice
Intermediate
Advanced
Elite
As you move from one category to the next, your deadlift numbers will improve as you get closer to the elite level.
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