If you want a brutal pull workout that will train your lats, biceps and upper back all in one training session, then you’re going to want to watch this video. I perform this workout as a full length pull workout follow along with Jesse in a local gym, and I don’t let my torn biceps hold me back. This is something that the viewers have asked for for a long time, and now here it is. Many people think of back and biceps when performing a pull workout. That is predominantly correct but you do not want to forget about the other muscles of the arm and upper back that also need attention.
We start this pull workout with pullups, but not any kind of pullups. You see, I believe that one of the bigger mistakes I made as a younger trainee was concentrating on building up the number of reps I could do on pull-ups without focusing early enough on adding more weight. After a couple warmup sets of bodyweight pullups I go right with the weighted pullup variation. Here, we do a few sets training close to failure on every set.
We also take the opportunity to do drop sets as well. Perform a set of weighted pullups and immediately strip away the weight and then hop right back up on the bar and rep out the bodyweight version until failure once again.
Next up is the chest supported row. The particular machine I’m using here is called the humbler. Why? Because the amount of weight that you can use on it is less than what you may think you could use. It does such a good job of isolating the back muscles and taking the lower back out of it that you are forced to use more of the muscles you are trying to train. Once again, we use a few different intensity techniques to make this brutal pull workout even harder.
On my last set, Jesse is assisting with lifting the weight through the positive part of the rep and allowing me to focus mostly on the slow eccentric part of the rep. This has a great stimulus for muscle growth due to the prolonged time under tension and the muscle damage that can be incurred through slow eccentrics.
Next is the lat pulldown. Typically, I prefer the underhand variation of the move when it’s included in a pull workout. That said, with my torn right biceps I have to be a little conscientious of this and make the necessary adaptation. This involves using a bar that allows me to take a slightly more neutral grip. The decrease in supination can take some of the strain off the biceps and let me focus more on pulling with the lats and mid back.
Again here, we take the opportunity to intensify the sets in this pull workout by performing some slow negatives at the end of the sets performed on this exercise.
I’ll purposely increase the weight on the stack and perform a bit of a cheat on the concentric part of the lift just to put myself into position for another overloaded negative.
We move onto the biceps and brachialis at this point. One of my favorite ways to train the biceps is with a standing alternating dumbbell curl. That said, again I have to make some considerations for my torn biceps. Instead of grabbing equal weight and letting the weakness of the right arm dictate the load that my healthy arm has to lift, I simply grab two different weights.
In general, I have about a 10% decrease in strength in the right arm vs the left arm on my direct biceps exercises.
The brachialis is then targeted with a hammer curl variation. Instead of doing a typical neutral grip hammer curl I can increase the focus by taking a fully pronated position of the forearm. This is called a cross body hammer curl. Once again, I look for an opportunity to perform some drop sets towards the end of the working sets for this great pull exercise.
Finally, no pull workout is complete without my favorite exercise, and the one with pull in it’s name – face pulls! Here you want to see if you can grab two ropes to perform it. The additional rope allows you to get into a better arm position at the contracted position of every rep.
Finish up with some overhead raises on the face pulls to make sure that you are increasing the time under tension and treating each and every rep as a focused contraction.
Here is a recap of the exercises shown in this pull workout:
Weighted Pullups
Chest Supported Rows
Neutral Gip Lat Pulldowns
Standing Alternating Dumbbell Curls
Cross Body Hammer Curls
Facepulls
If you like this pull workout and are looking for a variation of this that you can try yourself, be sure to head to athleanx.com and check out our AX1 program. It has a push, pull legs training split that you can use to build ripped athletic muscle in just 90 days.
If you want a free pull workout that you can try, be sure to use the athlean x pull workout here on youtube and remember to subscribe and turn on your notifications via the link below so you never miss a new video when it’s published.
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“FAST ACTION” Q&A* – Leave your most burning question about this video or any other training, PT or nutrition question within the first 2 hours of this video’s release (AS A SEPARATE COMMENT!!) and I will pick 8 to get a detailed reply from me right here in the comments. Answers will be posted within the first 24-48 hours of you leaving the question. Good luck!
Can you tell about bodybuilding poses and if that is really important for mind muscle connection and if yes please make a video for bodybuilding poses for beginners
Bodybuilding poses important or not…. If important please make a video for bodybuilding poses for beginners
Next time you make a video at a gym like this involve a local if possible.
the only 2 normal people in the gym LOL
Just when I needed a pull workout. Appreciated Jeff
I like how this one is in a public gym, adds a nice vibe for some reason
I think this is Jesses gym
Yea
@Linnerd he doesn’t own it but he works out there almost daily
Doesnt he has his own gym?
I literally stopped what I was doing when this vid just dropped. Watching Jeff and Jess actually working out always equals an instant click. Both of them are beast’s man
Love these videos, watching both Jeff and Jesse train together gets me pumped!
This video was a nice change of pace. Jeff obviously puts in the work, but it’s inspiring to see it, especially with those weighed pull-ups.
Just started this video and I’m really loving this vibe. Awesome video Jeff.
Jeff, could you give us an insight as to why you did not go for a surgery to reattach the tendon?
Were you advised against it? If so, why?
It is always heartbreaking to see that kind of injury left without a treatment, as your arm will never look even remotely as good as it used to…
And while mobility might still be there, it is hard to pretend that aesthetics is not hugely important part of working out.
80% of orthopedic surgeries don’t help or fail. Medicines own data picked from British journal of medicine or lancet
Lengthy recovery. Immobilized by a cast at a 45 degree angle to the torso. I would suggest it is the same reason for living with the second inguinal hernia- “there will be time enough for counting when the dealing’s done.” In the meantime Jeff is creating this wonderful content for us and the harvest is bountiful. It’s impossible to imagine how many people he has helped but to his enormous credit he isn’t finished yet.
Tore my biceps in 2019. Didn’t want to be limited so I had surgery. Reattached and was out of the gym for about 75 days. Now good as new with no limitations. Might even say the repaired side is stronger than the other.
I partially tore my left distal bicep tendon in October 2020. The initial consult/opinion was to not have the surgery and just work around the limitation. Got a second opinion, had surgery, and was back to “normal” training in 7 months. It was well worth it. Looking at both arms now, you can only tell which had surgery based on the scar.
I really like these workout videos with Jesse. Shows us exactly what you’re doing and is a good change of pace for the channel.
Jeff is one of the most humble and respectful people in the industry! I love how much he and Jesse have helped each other throughout the years
Love these two! Even motivating an old man like me at 51 to keep pushing it to the limit..thanks guys!!!
Jeff is 47, you ain’t old brother
Your only as old as u think. Age is just a number. I’m 50 and still pushing it 5-6 days a week in the gym with max effort
Seriously cool to see you guys training in this setting. Starting an 8 week program tomorrow before I begin AX1 in mid December and this was very motivating.
I love Jeff’s dedication to the viewers.
So good to see you two beasts working out togheter. I hope your biceps will heal soon at 100%. Your video means a lot to me, you have np idea how you affected my life Jeff. You give me the push i needed 4 years ago to join the military in my country(italy) and it was for the best. Thank for the hard work. Congrats Jesse for the immense gain bro
It’s that “at my age” aside that got me, I’m ‘way’ over 50 and still doing all I can to keep my condition. I know I’ll never be as strong as I was 30 years ago, but you are where you are, no excuses.
I came across Jeff’s channel in my mid thirties when I was around 88 kg. Now, I’m facing my mid forties weighing around 83 kg. Jeff’s videos have informed, educated and motivated my workouts for so long that it’s weird: he has been in my life for so long but does not know that I even exist. It would be great to see videos of Jeff’s workout more often in public gyms, so that he may bump into regular people who he helped so much. We would love to meet you and thank you in person. Spend more time hanging out with your fans around the world, Jeff. We are your life’s work. (Mike from South Korea)