Training & Fitness - Training styles
Pull-ups, dips and handstands
Last updated 29 September 2026. How we write this .
Pull-ups test pulling strength against your whole body weight, dips load the shoulder more as you go deeper, and handstands are mainly a balance skill controlled through the wrists and fingers.
Start here Pull-ups test pulling strength against your whole body weight, dips load the shoulder more as you go deeper, and handstands are mainly a balance skill controlled through the wrists and fingers.
By the end, you will understand Which muscles does a pull-up work, and does grip matter? Why are pull-ups so much harder for some people? Why do dips bother some people's shoulders? Key words used in this lesson Sequence The specific order of amino acids in a peptide. The sequence determines the shape the molecule takes and therefore what it can bind to, which is why changing one amino acid can change a compound entirely. Systematic review A review that searches for all the evidence on a question using a pre-declared method, rather than selecting studies that suit an argument. The method is what distinguishes it from an ordinary review article. Full plain-English glossary
Where this information comes from Claim-cited evidence. Central research claims on this lesson are linked to specific studies or official guidance.
This lesson links the specific studies and guidance used for its central claims.
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Pull-ups, dips and handstands sit together on most calisthenics lists, but they test different things. A pull-up is mainly a test of pulling strength relative to your body weight. A dip is a pressing movement whose shoulder demand rises sharply with depth. A handstand is above all a balance skill, and lab studies show skilled gymnasts hold it mostly by making tiny corrections with their wrists and fingers. Knowing which of these you are up against explains a lot about why one comes easily and another does not.
Which muscles does a pull-up work, and does grip matter?
Muscle activity is usually measured with electromyography, or EMG: sensors on the skin pick up the electrical signal of working muscle, and the reading is compared with a maximal effort. In a 2010 study at the Mayo Clinic, Youdas and colleagues recorded 25 young adults doing pull-ups with palms facing away and chin-ups with palms facing them. The latissimus dorsi, the broad muscle running from the upper arm down the back, worked hardest at 117 to 130% of its maximal test effort. The biceps reached 78 to 96%. Chin-ups drew more on the biceps and chest, and pull-ups more on the lower trapezius, a muscle that pulls the shoulder blade down. The movement unfolded in sequence: the lower trapezius and chest muscles started it, and the biceps and latissimus finished it.
Grip changes less than gym lore suggests. In 2017 Dickie and colleagues in New Zealand compared four grips in 19 strength-trained men: palms away, palms towards, neutral handles and ropes. Across a full repetition, activity in the eight arm and shoulder muscles they measured was broadly similar. The one clear difference was the middle trapezius, between the shoulder blades, which was more active with palms away than with a neutral grip. The bigger contrast was between phases: the arm and chest muscles were more active on the way up than on the way down.
Why are pull-ups so much harder for some people?
Because the load is you. A barbell can be made lighter. A pull-up starts at your full body weight, so anything that adds mass without adding pulling force makes it harder. A 2009 study of 28 elite university swimmers in the US showed this neatly. Heavier swimmers were stronger on the lat pull-down machine, where the load is set by a weight stack. Yet they managed fewer pull-ups. Pull-up numbers were only weakly related to the maximum weight each woman could pull down, and not related at all to how many pull-downs she could do at a fixed load. Multiplying pull-ups by body mass predicted pulling strength far better than either number alone. Arm length added nothing to the prediction. The authors concluded that the two exercises are not interchangeable.
Training does move the numbers, though experienced people gain slowly. In a 2024 French study, 30 advanced and elite climbers trained pull-ups twice a week for five weeks using lowering-focused, holding or explosive work, while a fourth group carried on as normal. Maximum pulling strength rose by between 2.2% and 5.0% in the three training groups and did not change in the comparison group. The explosive and lowering-focused groups also pulled faster, and so more powerfully. How you train a movement shapes what improves.
Why do dips bother some people's shoulders?
Depth changes the mechanical leverage at the shoulder. As you lower yourself, the upper arm swings back behind the body, a movement called shoulder extension. In 2022 McKenzie and colleagues in Australia filmed 13 experienced men doing bench dips, with hands on a bench behind them, bar dips and ring dips, and first measured how far each man's shoulder could extend. The bench dip kept the torso nearly upright, so almost all of the depth came from the shoulder. It took the shoulder to 101% of the extension each man reached in the range test, in effect right to the end of its range. Bar dips let the torso lean forward and share the depth, reaching 88%. Ring dips reached 69%.
That turns a common assumption on its head. The bench dip is usually treated as the easy version, and it did produce less triceps activity than bar or ring dips. But it also asked the most of the front of the shoulder. The researchers suggested that working repeatedly at the end of shoulder extension could strain the joint's front capsule, the tough sleeve of tissue that holds the ball in its socket. That is a reasonable hypothesis rather than a measured injury rate, but it explains why a shoulder that tolerates bar dips may object to bench dips, and vice versa.
How do people actually balance in a handstand?
Upside down, the body's centre of mass sits high above a small base made by the hands. Any lean creates a turning force, and something has to push back. In 2003 Yeadon and Trewartha at Loughborough University measured the joint forces of four male gymnasts holding hand balances. All four used what they called a wrist strategy. They kept the shoulders and hips almost fixed, like a rigid stick, and corrected tipping by pressing harder or softer through the fingers and wrists. Each correction followed the body's movement by 160 to 240 milliseconds, fast enough to suggest reflexes rather than conscious decisions.
A 2025 systematic review of 21 biomechanical studies of the handstand by MacDonald and colleagues backs this up. Skilled gymnasts relied on the wrists and shoulders. Less experienced gymnasts tended to correct from the hips, with bigger swings. When the wrist strategy failed, gymnasts brought in the elbows, shoulders and hips as well. Closing the eyes made balance worse, bending the neck to tuck the chin hurt performance, and stronger gymnasts balanced better. A long hold against a wall builds strength and comfort upside down, but the wall does the balancing, so it trains a different skill from a free handstand.
Are handstands hard on the wrists?
They can be when the volume is high. A US study led by DiFiori followed 47 non-elite gymnasts aged 5 to 16 at a Los Angeles club for a year. At the start, 57% reported wrist pain. Of those, 89% still had it a year later, and 42% said it interfered with their training. Gymnasts aged 10 to 14 were the most likely to be affected. These were children doing whole gymnastics programmes, not adults practising one skill, so the figures do not transfer directly. They do show that the wrist takes much of the load when the hands become the feet.
For all three movements, pain at the shoulder, elbow or wrist is not a milestone to push through. Pain that persists, keeps you awake, or follows a fall or a sudden pop is a reason to see a GP or physiotherapist.
What can't these studies tell you?
Most of the research here is small. The samples run from 4 gymnasts to 30 climbers, and most participants were young, male and already trained. EMG readings show how hard a muscle is working during one repetition, not how much it will grow over months. The handstand studies describe how experts balance, not the fastest way for a beginner to learn. Treat the findings as explanations of what each movement asks of the body, not as proof that one grip, depth or drill is best.
This lesson is general education about bodyweight exercise research, not medical advice or a training plan. If you have an injury, ongoing joint pain or a health condition, get advice from a GP or physiotherapist before taking up these movements.
Related in this classroom The studies behind this page Surface electromyographic activation patterns and elbow joint motion during a pull-up, chin-up, or perfect-pullup rotational exercise - Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2010Electromyographic analysis of muscle activation during pull-up variations - Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, 2017Relationship of 1 repetition maximum lat-pull to pull-up and lat-pull repetitions in elite collegiate women swimmers - Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2009Pull-up performance is affected differently by the muscle contraction regimens practiced during training among climbers - Bioengineering, 2024Bench, bar, and ring dips: do kinematics and muscle activity differ? - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022Control strategy for a hand balance - Motor Control, 2003Biomechanical analyses of the handstand: a systematic review - Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2025Wrist pain in young gymnasts: frequency and effects upon training over 1 year - Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 2002Sources for this classroom
Educational content only. Not medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before changing your health regimen.