Weighted pull-ups: what you are really lifting

You just worked this out once, for one set. THYMOS does it for every weighted pull-up you log, keeps the history, and tells you whether your real system weight is going up or whether you just got heavier. See the THYMOS product facts and FAQ for the current feature overview.

What total system weight actually means

Most training logs record a weighted pull-up as the number on the belt. That number is close to meaningless on its own. If you add 20 kg to the belt, you have not done a 20 kg pull-up — you have moved your own bodyweight plus 20 kg, and the belt is a small fraction of the total load.

Total system weight is the whole load: the part of your bodyweight the movement actually lifts, minus any assistance, plus whatever you added. It is the only number that lets you compare a weighted pull-up to a barbell lift, compare yourself to yourself across a bulk or a cut, or tell whether last month's progress was real.

Why the factor is not 100%

A pull-up does not lift all of you. Your forearms and hands are above the working joints and travel with the bar, so a portion of your mass is not part of the load. The commonly used figure is around 95% of bodyweight for pull-up and chin-up variants. A dip lifts effectively all of you, so the factor is 100%.

These are the same factors the THYMOS app uses, and this page runs the same code path, verified against the app's own test fixtures. Nothing here is a separate web approximation.

When are you ready to start weighted pull-ups?

The usual answer is 10 to 12 clean bodyweight reps, and it is roughly right, but the rep count is a proxy for the thing that actually matters: whether your rep quality holds up when the set gets hard. If your last three reps turn into a kip, a shrug and a chin reach, adding weight will make all three worse.

A better test than counting: do a set of five, rest three minutes, do another five. If both sets look the same on video, you are ready. If the second set falls apart, spend a few more weeks on volume first.

The same standard applies to dips. Ten controlled reps with the shoulders staying down and back, no bouncing out of the bottom.

How much weight should you add?

Less than you think, because you are not adding weight to a bodyweight exercise — you are adding it to a load that is already most of your bodyweight. This is where the number above changes how you program.

An 80 kg lifter adding 5 kg has gone from 76 kg of system weight to 81 kg. That is a 6.6% jump. On a barbell lift you would call that an aggressive week. Adding 10 kg is a 13% jump, which is not a progression, it is a different exercise.

• First jump: 2.5 to 5 kg, once you can do 10 to 12 clean reps unweighted.
• After that: add weight when you can do 8 clean reps at the current load, not when you can grind out one.
• Increment: 2.5 kg at a time once you are past the first few jumps. Smaller if you have the plates — a pair of 1.25s buys months.
• Watch bodyweight: if you gain 3 kg over a bulk, your system weight went up 3 kg without you adding anything. That is real progress, but it is not the same progress as adding to the belt.

Belt, vest, or dumbbell between the feet?

All three load the same total. They differ in how the load sits and how high you can take it.

• Dip belt. The load hangs below your hips, close to your centre of mass, and scales as far as you will ever need. It is the only option that works past about 20 kg. The chain length matters more than people expect: too long and the plates hit the floor at the bottom of a dip.
• Weighted vest. Distributes the load across the torso, which feels better for higher-rep work and for dips. Most vests cap out around 10 to 20 kg, and the load sits higher, which subtly changes the movement.
• Dumbbell between the feet or knees. Free, and fine for the first few kilos. It stops working quickly because holding the dumbbell becomes its own limiting task, and dropping it mid-set is how people hurt an ankle.

Whichever you use, keep it consistent while you are tracking a progression. Switching from a vest to a belt mid-block changes the movement enough to break the comparison.

Weighted dips are the same maths, different factor

A dip lifts effectively all of you, so the factor is 100% rather than the 95% used for pull-ups. That is why the same lifter with the same belt gets a higher number on dips: an 80 kg lifter with 20 kg added is at 96 kg on pull-ups and 100 kg on dips.

It also means dips and pull-ups are not directly comparable by belt weight, which is the mistake behind most "I can dip more than I can pull" confusion. Compare the system weights, not the plates.

How to use this while you are actually training

1. Weigh yourself first. System weight moves when your bodyweight moves. A 3 kg bulk flatters every number on the belt.
2. Count band assistance honestly. A band gives the most help at the bottom and almost none at the top. Use the bottom figure and be consistent with it, because consistency is what makes the trend readable.
3. Compare like with like. Chin-ups and dips are different factors, so their system weights are not interchangeable.
4. Track the total, not the belt. Adding 2.5 kg to the belt is a 2.5% jump on a barbell curl and roughly a 2.5 kg move on a 96 kg system — a much smaller relative step than it feels like.

Common questions

Is this the same as my one-rep max?

No. System weight is what one rep of that set weighed. If you want an estimated max from a set of several reps, use the 1RM calculator.

What if the band takes off more than my bodyweight?

Then the arithmetic goes below zero, and this page says so instead of showing you a comfortable number. It usually means the assistance figure is an overestimate — measure what the band actually pulls at the bottom of the rep.

Does the unit matter?

No. The factor is a proportion, so the maths is identical in kilograms and pounds. Just keep every field in the same unit.

Stop doing this in your head between sets. THYMOS logs weighted pull-ups with the system weight already worked out, offline, with no account and no trackers.