How to Do a Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown, and When to Switch Grips
A neutral grip lat pulldown, palms facing each other, worked the lats much like wide and overhand grips in a 2025 study of 40 trained men. Get the form step by step, see how seven...
Neutral Grip Pull-Ups: How to Do Them and What They Work
By The Angles90 Editorial Team · Published 10.13.2026 · Last updated 10.13.2026
A neutral grip pull-up is a pull-up with your palms facing each other, usually on parallel handles. It trains your back and arms much like the overhand and underhand versions. In a 2017 study of 19 strength-trained men in the Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology (Dickie et al.), overhand, underhand, neutral and rope pull-ups produced similar activation across eight shoulder, arm and forearm muscles. The one between-grip difference the authors report was in the middle trapezius, which worked less in the neutral grip than in the overhand grip.
Angles90® has been building pulling equipment since 2018, starting with a handle co-developed with the strength training ergonomics faculty at TU Munich. That history is why we look closely at the part of a pull-up most guides skip: what the handle lets your hands do once the rep starts.
What is a neutral grip pull-up?
A neutral grip pull-up is a vertical pull with your palms facing each other. Turn your palms away from you and the same movement is an overhand pull-up. Turn them toward you and it is a chin-up. You will also see the neutral position called a parallel grip.
A straight bar puts your palms facing away from you or toward you, so a neutral grip needs parallel handles, rings or handles that rotate.
How do you do a neutral grip pull-up?
Start from a full hang with your palms facing each other, pull your chest toward the handles until your chin clears them, then lower under control until your arms are straight.
- Set your hands. Take parallel handles with your palms facing each other, about shoulder-width apart if the handles allow it.
- Start from a dead hang. Arms straight, body still, legs together or crossed behind you.
- Set your shoulders first. Before your elbows bend, draw your shoulder blades down and slightly together.
- Drive your elbows toward your ribs. Bring your chest to the handles rather than hooking your chin over them.
- Finish with your chin above the handles. Pause for a beat.
- Lower over two to three seconds. Go all the way back to straight arms before the next rep.
Kipping, swinging your way up, stopping short of straight arms at the bottom and shrugging toward your ears are the faults to watch for. If you cannot finish a rep yet, the hangs, scapular pulls and negatives in our chin-up guide use the same movement pattern, so you can run them with a neutral grip.
What muscles do neutral grip pull-ups work?
The same muscles as any pull-up, led by your lats, with help from your biceps, the muscles around your shoulder blades and your forearms.
In a 2010 Mayo Clinic study of 25 adults (Youdas et al.) doing overhand pull-ups and chin-ups, the latissimus dorsi was the most active of the seven muscles measured, followed by the biceps and the infraspinatus. That study did not include a neutral grip.
The 2017 study did. Across its eight muscles, activation was similar whatever the hand position, with one reported exception. The middle trapezius, a muscle between your shoulder blades, averaged 27.4% of maximum voluntary isometric contraction in the neutral grip against 48.0% in the overhand grip. Its peak activity was 37.1% against 60.1%. All four grips also asked more of the biceps, brachioradialis and pectoralis major on the way up than on the way down.
Two cautions apply. The 2017 participants were all men, and neither study measured muscle growth over weeks or months.
Is a neutral grip pull-up easier than an overhand pull-up?
Neither lab study measured how many reps people could do, so neither can say. You can find out in one session.
Warm up, then do as many clean reps as you can with an overhand grip. Rest three minutes and do as many with a neutral grip. Keep the range the same, from straight arms to your chin above the handles, and count only reps you would be happy to film. Swap the order next session, because whichever grip goes first is always the freshest. A neutral handle may also sit at a different height from the bar, so check that your range really is the same.
Is a neutral grip pull-up better for your shoulders and elbows?
Nothing in the studies above settles it, and the one lab study of shoulder mechanics in pull-up techniques that we cite here did not include a neutral grip.
In a 2016 study of 11 regular pull-up trainees in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport (Prinold and Bull, published online 09.03.2015), researchers tracked the shoulder blade through three techniques: palms facing forward, palms facing back toward you, and a wide grip. They reported movement patterns linked with a higher risk of subacromial impingement, a squeeze on the rotator cuff tendons beneath the point of the shoulder, in the palms-back and wide versions. The authors also note that high arm elevation during pull-ups narrows that space. The study was observational, so it cannot show that any grip causes or avoids a shoulder problem.
So choose the hand position that lets you repeat the same range from the first rep to the last, without hitching, twisting or shrugging to get there. If a movement hurts, stop the set. The FAQ below covers what to do next.
Which handles give you a neutral grip?
Parallel handles, rings and rotating handles all put your palms facing each other. They differ in what your hands can do once you start pulling.
| Handle | Your hands during the rep | Can you change the angle mid-rep? | Choose it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed parallel handles on a multi-grip bar | Held at one angle, palms facing each other, for the whole rep | No | You want one repeatable position and your bar already has the handles |
| Gymnastic rings | Free to turn, and the rings can drift apart as you pull | Yes | You train where a ceiling anchor or rig is available |
| Freely rotating handles on straps (A90 Grips) | Free to turn: hold them neutral, palms-away or palms-toward, or let them rotate | Yes | You want to set or change your hand angle on a pull-up bar you already own |
The A90 Grips are dynamic training grips: a pair of freely rotating handles on straps that loop over the bar you already have. Each handle is certified for 400 lbs (180 kg). Our starting point at Angles90 is that arms rotate slightly as they pull, so we designed a handle that adapts to you, not the opposite. There are four ways to hold them, which we call ERGO, POWER, POWER+ and FOREARM.
When customers describe what they do with them, the detail they describe most precisely is changing hand position inside one rep: starting in one grip and finishing in another rather than committing to a single grip for the whole set. If you train on a cable station instead of a bar, our neutral grip lat pulldown guide covers the same handle decision there, and the guide to different pull-up grips covers the rest of the hand positions on a bar. If your hands give out before your back does, start with the grip strength training guide.
Neutral grip pull-up FAQ
What are neutral grip pull-ups good for?
They train the same pulling muscles as other pull-ups: the lats first, then the biceps, shoulder-blade muscles and forearms. In the 2017 study, overall activation was similar across overhand, underhand, neutral and rope grips, so choose the hand position you can repeat well.
Which is better, a neutral grip pull-up or a chin-up?
Neither is better across the board. In the Mayo Clinic study the chin-up drew more on the biceps and pectoralis major than the overhand pull-up did, and the 2017 study reported broadly similar activation across hand positions. Pick by goal and by how each one feels, and train both if you can. Our chin-up guide compares them in detail.
Can I do neutral grip pull-ups on a straight bar?
Not with truly neutral palms, because a straight bar leaves your palms facing away from you or toward you. Use parallel handles on a multi-grip bar, rings or rotating handles.
Can I do neutral grip pull-ups with A90 Grips?
Yes. Loop the straps over the bar, then hold the handles neutral, palms-away or palms-toward, or let them rotate through the rep. They attach to any bar, and each handle is certified for 400 lbs (180 kg).
What should I do if neutral grip pull-ups hurt my shoulders or elbows?
Stop the set. Pain is a reason to get assessed by a qualified healthcare professional before you keep training the movement.
Angles90 products are training equipment, not medical devices. This article is general information about training, not medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. If you are training around pain, an injury or a medical condition, speak to a qualified healthcare professional before changing how you train.
The short version
Hang with your palms facing each other, drive your elbows toward your ribs until your chin clears the handles, and lower until your arms are straight. The lab studies found broadly similar muscle activity across pull-up grips, with less middle trapezius in the neutral grip, so choose the hand position you can repeat. If you want to set your hand angle yourself, or change it mid-rep, see how the A90 Grips fit on the bar you already train on.
Keep reading
- How to Do a Chin-Up: Form, Muscles Worked and Your First Rep
- Different Pull-Up Grips: 8 Variations, the Muscles They Work, and How to Choose
- How to Do a Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown, and When to Switch Grips
- How To Increase Your Pull-Up Strength With Angles90
- Grip Strength Training: The Complete Guide to Stronger Forearms
- All articles on the A90 Blog
