Why Do I Feel Pull Ups in My Forearms? (Causes and How to Fix It)
Your forearms are always involved in pull-ups to some degree — they’re what’s holding you to the bar. But if they’re fatiguing and screaming before your back has done much at all, something’s off. The good news is it’s almost always fixable, and usually comes down to your grip, your form, or simply being new to the movement.
Here’s why it happens and exactly how to shift the work back to where it belongs — your lats.
Why Do I Feel Pull Ups in My Forearms?
You feel pull-ups in your forearms because they’re doing the gripping and wrist-stabilising work, and if your grip is the weak link, they fatigue before your back does. The usual culprits are a weak or over-tight grip, an overhand grip style, flexing the wrists, pulling with your arms instead of driving with your back, a loose un-braced body, or simply being new to pull-ups. Fix those — and train your grip directly so it stops being the limiter — and you’ll start feeling pull-ups in your lats where they belong.
Why you feel pull-ups in your forearms
1. You’re new to pull-ups
Pull-ups are genuinely hard, and when you’re starting out it’s completely normal to feel them in your forearms while your body learns the movement. As you build strength and practise, this settles down. Be patient and don’t be too hard on yourself.
2. Your grip is the weak link
Your forearms are far smaller than your lats, so if your grip strength is lacking, they hit their limit long before your back does — and you feel the whole exercise drain out of your hands. This is the most common cause, and the most fixable: train your grip directly (more on that below) and it stops capping you.
3. You’re gripping the bar too tightly
Squeezing the bar for dear life overworks the forearms and tires them out early. You want a firm, secure grip — not a death grip. Hold the bar enough to stay locked on, then put your focus into pulling with your back.
4. Your grip style
An overhand (pronated) grip tends to load the forearms more, while an underhand (supinated) or neutral grip shifts more of the work to the biceps and back. If your forearms cook quickly on overhand pull-ups, try chin-ups or a neutral grip and see how it feels.
5. Your wrists are flexing
Curling your wrists toward your forearms (often when grinding out that last rep to get your chin over the bar) piles extra stress onto the forearm muscles. Keep your wrists as neutral as you can — knuckles to the ceiling — throughout the movement.
6. You’re pulling with your arms, not your back
This is the big technical one. If you’re not actively driving the movement with your lats — starting by pulling your shoulder blades down and back, leading with your chest, and driving your elbows down toward your hips — your arms and forearms end up doing the job. Add a full range of motion (fully extended at the bottom, chin over the bar at the top) and the back muscles engage properly and take the load off your forearms.
7. Your body isn’t braced
A loose, swinging body forces your arms to fight to control it. Brace your core, squeeze your glutes and keep tension in your legs so you’re pulling as one solid unit — it makes the whole movement more efficient and takes pressure off the forearms.
8. Your grip is already fatigued
If you do pull-ups after deadlifts, rows or other grip-heavy work, your forearms are already half-cooked before you start. Try moving pull-ups earlier in your session, when your grip is fresh.
Related: How Long Does it Take to See Significant Lat Development?
Related: Why Do My Forearms Get Tight When I Do Back Exercises?
How to build the grip strength behind it
If grip is your limiter — and for most people it is — the long-term fix is to train it directly rather than hoping it keeps up. Some of the best grip builders are dead hangs (just hang from the bar and build up your hold time), farmer’s carries, plate pinches, and grip strengtheners you can use anywhere, even on rest days. Train grip consistently and it stops being the thing that ends your sets.
If you want the full system rather than the highlights, I’ve put everything I’ve learned about building a serious grip into my grip strength book — what grip strength actually is, why it matters, and exactly how to train it…Get it here.
And if your grip also gives out on deadlifts, this one’s worth a read: Why Do I Lose Grip When I Deadlift?
A quick word on straps
Lifting straps take your grip out of the equation, so they let you keep training your back hard even once your forearms have had enough — handy for your heaviest or highest-volume back work. Used well they’re a useful tool. Just don’t lean on them for everything, or your grip never gets the stimulus it needs to improve, and the problem sticks around. Build the grip and use straps strategically.
A coach’s take
Let’s not beat around the bush — pull-ups are one of the most difficult exercises there is, especially if you’re a newbie, or even a seasoned veteran with poor grip strength. That’s because your grip is doing several jobs at once: there’s holding the bar in the first place, and then there’s gripping it hard enough to haul your own bodyweight up, which is no mean feat! The learning curve for strict pull-ups is seriously steep and not to be scoffed at.
For context, in my current plan I do three sets of eight pull-ups — and that’s not to show off, but to show that even after training for as long as I have, big numbers on pull-ups still elude me, and that’s OK. The one thing I don’t struggle with, though, is grip strength.
One of the best tips I could give someone struggling with them would be to work on dead hangs and negatives. They pretty much speak for themselves and can make a big difference. I also try to think about the movement differently — pulling with my back rather than my arms. I find that if you pull with your arms, you tend to “over-grip” the bar and burn your forearms out in the process. So try to find that “Goldilocks” pressure on the bar: gripping firmly enough, but pulling with your back and NOT your arms. Your forearms will thank you for it, and you should start to see some tidy gains — but be under no illusion, pull-ups take time, so be patient.
One final tip that helps me: see how it feels holding the bar with a thumbless grip, with your thumbs over the top rather than wrapped underneath. Sometimes the traditional grip, with the thumb tucked under, feels uncomfortable to me and stops me getting more reps out — the range of motion can feel off if your arms aren’t in quite the right position, which is hard to gauge mid-exercise. Give the thumbless grip a try and see if it suits you.
FAQs
Should you feel pull-ups in your forearms?
A bit, yes — your forearms grip the bar and stabilise your wrists, so some sensation is normal. But if they’re fatiguing before your back and ending your sets, that points to a grip, form or wrist issue worth sorting.
Where are you supposed to feel pull-ups?
Mostly in your lats (the big muscles down the sides of your back), with help from your biceps, shoulders and forearms. If you’re barely feeling your lats, it usually means your form or range of motion needs work, or your arms are taking over.
Why don’t I feel my lats during pull-ups?
Often it’s down to incorrect form, cutting the range of motion short, or letting your arms do the work. Focus on pulling your shoulder blades down and back, leading with your chest, driving your elbows toward your hips, and using a full range of motion.
Is 5 pull-ups decent?
Yes — pull-ups are a tough bodyweight exercise, so five solid, full-range reps is a respectable level. Keep practising and the number climbs over time.
Final Thoughts…
Feeling pull-ups in your forearms is incredibly common, and it nearly always comes back to grip and technique. Relax that death grip, keep your wrists neutral, brace your body, drive with your back rather than your arms, and — most importantly — train your grip directly so it stops being your weak link. Do that, and you’ll finally feel pull-ups where they’re meant to be: in your lats.
If you love training and want to get stronger — in body and mind — you’re in the right place. Here at Sport CBDs we train hard and do things properly. Head over to the YouTube channel for regular workouts plus mindset and mindfulness content to keep your head right.
