Exercise guide · Advanced · Compound

Archer Pull Up: How to Do It & Muscles Worked

The archer pull up is a challenging bodyweight exercise that targets the lats and requires significant strength, coordination, and control. It involves pulling up with one arm while the other remains straight, alternating sides with each repetition.

Primary muscles
Lats
Secondary muscles
Forearms , Biceps
Equipment
Body Weight
Level · type
Advanced · Compound
Demonstration of the archer pull up
Front view: muscles worked by the archer pull up. Primary: lats. Secondary: forearms and biceps.
Back view: muscles worked by the archer pull up. Primary: lats. Secondary: forearms and biceps.
Primary Secondary

How to do the archer pull up

  1. Step 1: Start by hanging from a pull-up bar with an overhand grip, slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
  2. Step 2: Engage your core and pull your shoulder blades down and back.
  3. Step 3: As you pull yourself up, bend one arm and bring your elbow towards your side, while keeping the other arm straight.
  4. Step 4: Continue pulling until your chin is above the bar and your bent arm is fully flexed.
  5. Step 5: Lower yourself back down with control, straightening the bent arm and repeating the movement on the other side.
  6. Step 6: Alternate sides with each repetition.

Sets, reps and programming

Suggested sets, reps and rest for the archer pull up by training goal
Goal Sets Reps Rest Effort
Strength 3–5 3–6 3–5 min 1–3 reps in reserve
Muscle growth 3–4 6–12 2–3 min 1–2 reps in reserve
Muscular endurance 2–3 12–20 1–2 min 1–3 reps in reserve

Ranges follow the ACSM position stand on progression in resistance training. Muscle grows across a wide range of loads when sets end close to failure (Schoenfeld et al., 2017), longer rests between heavy sets support strength and size (Schoenfeld et al., 2016), and stopping a rep or two short of failure works about as well as training to failure (Grgic et al., 2022). Estimate your working weights with the strength calculators.

Archer Pull Up alternatives

More exercises that train the lats as their main target:

More lats exercises

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Sources

  1. American College of Sports Medicine. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(3):687-708.
  2. Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low- vs. high-load resistance training. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;31(12):3508-3523.
  3. Schoenfeld BJ, Pope ZK, Benik FM, et al. Longer interset rest periods enhance muscle strength and hypertrophy in resistance-trained men. J Strength Cond Res. 2016;30(7):1805-1812.
  4. Grgic J, Schoenfeld BJ, Orazem J, Sabol F. Effects of resistance training performed to repetition failure or non-failure on muscular strength and hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sport Health Sci. 2022;11(2):202-211.

Step-by-step instructions and demonstration media are from the ExerciseDB exercise dataset.

This guide is general fitness information, not medical advice. Stop if an exercise causes pain and speak to a doctor or physiotherapist about injuries or health conditions before starting a new programme.