You’re in the process of constructing your very own at-home gym.
You’ve researched the best exercises, you’ve giddily perused Amazon for gym equipment, and you’re about to make your dreams a reality.
But slow your roll! You might’ve forgotten the most important part of an at-home gym: pull-up bars.
Specifically, you’ll want pull-up bars that can support your physique transformation throughout. That’s where wall-mounted pull-up bars come in.
One of the smartest purchases you can make for building your body into something massively impressive.
Here is a quick summary:
| Image | Product | |
|---|---|---|
Simple & Elegant
| Rogue P-5V Garage Pull Up System
| View on Rogue Fitness |
Multi-functional
| XMark Commercial Multi-Grip Wall mounted pull up bar
| View on Amazon |
Most Affordable
| Ultimate Body Press Wall Mounted Pull up Bar
| View on Amazon |
Heavy Duty
| Titan Fitness Wall mounted Pull Up Chin Up Bar
| View on Amazon |
Variable
| Stud/Ceiling Mounted Pull up Bar
| View on Amazon |
Best Wall-Mounted Pull-up Bars
- Rogue P-5V Garage Pull Up System (Top pick – Functionally simple and elegant design)
- XMark Commercial Multi-Grip Wall mounted pull up bar (Multi grip for largest range of muscles worked)
- Ultimate Body Press Wall Mounted Pull up Bar (Most affordable and small footprint)
- Titan Fitness Wall mounted Pull Up Chin Up Bar (Heavy duty for weighted pull up training)
- Stud/Ceiling Mounted Pull up Bar (Ceiling mount for various ceiling heights)
In this article, we’ll be going over what wall-mounted pull-up bars are, the benefits of owning one, how it compares to ceiling-mounted pull-up bars, and considerations before buying.
Also, we’ll go over the top wall-mounted pull-up bars you can get today.
Time to “mount up” and learn about pull-up bars!
Related: Best Outdoor Pull Up Bars
What Is a Wall-Mounted Pull-up Bar?
The name itself is fairly self-explanatory, but we’ll indulge.
A wall-mounted pull-up bar is a bar secured to a wall on which you can perform pull-ups, as well as a multitude of other calisthenics exercises.
They can have a variety of grips or holds, such as neutral (bars parallel to each other) or plain horizontal, where you can do pronated or supinated pull-ups.
These wall-mounted pull-up bars also come in different shapes and sizes, meaning it’s a good idea to have some space surrounding where the mount is to be installed.
Normally made out of steel or another sturdy metal, pull-up bars are known to hold massive amounts of weight and can be mounted with confidence that it won’t collapse on you mid-rep. (Unlike their cousin, the pull-up bars that attach on door frames; that’s just asking for trouble.)
Simple as that!
Read Also: Best Plyo Boxes for your Home Workouts
Benefits of Wall-Mounted Pull-up Bars
There are some obvious advantages of having a wall-mounted pull-up bar, and some not-so-obvious. Here are the biggest benefits:
- Easy to install: The beauty of pull-up bars with a wall mount is that you mount them to a wall. This is less complicated than it sounds. Simply connect the brackets to a space on the desired wall using an electric drill. Mount the bolts into studs and you’re good to go! (However, you’ll want to be extra careful that you get the pull-ups bars An uneven pull-up bar is a one-way ticket to unilateral complications.)
- A plethora of bodyweight movements: Pull-up bars can help you do much more than just pull-ups. Say hello to an entire workout regimen, complete with dips, levers, pull-up variations, rows, hanging leg and knee raises, L-sits, windshield wipers, and muscle-ups …all from one bar! Your entire physique can transform with this one piece.
- Super convenient: Having a wall-mounted pull-up bar in your very own home means zero excuses. You can’t skip the gym when the gym is ten feet from your living room. You can crank out a decent training session in the time you could binge-watch an episode of your favorite TV show on Netflix. This convenience means more sessions in the “gym”; more sessions means a bigger, badder you.
- Inexpensive compared to a gym: Most wall-mounted pull-up bars clock in at under $100. How much is a gym membership again? Oh yeah, a helluva lot more! If you value getting a solid workout in with a ton of bang for your buck, a wall-mounted pull-up bar just became your new best friend.
- Safe and effective: Again, compared to the pull-up bars that you mount on door frames, wall-mounted ones are incredibly safe and secure. They can withstand enormous amounts of weight and can withstand multiple years of workouts. Plus, you can be sure that you’ll get a great workout from such an effective piece of equipment; pull-ups and the other exercises you can do on a pull-up bar are on the table and are tremendous for building lean, dense muscle. An effective training routine is the best training routine; wall-mounted pull-up bars help in this regard.
As you can see, the pros of owning a wall-mounted pull-up bar are crucial for your physical development as an athlete.
You’ll get stronger with a solid piece of workout equipment in the comforts of your own home. What more can you ask for?
Read Also: Best Battle Ropes for your home gym
Ceiling-Mounted vs. Wall-Mounted Pull-up Bars
Wall-mounted pull-up bars aren’t your only option for a sturdy pull-up bar experience at home. Ceiling-mounted pull-up bars are similar, except of course they attach to the ceiling, not the wall.
This creates some small yet significant differences in both installation and experience while performing exercises on the bar.
There are some benefits to having a ceiling-mounted pull-up bar. For one, it’s out of the way: You can attach it to a corner of the ceiling, whereas walls usually have shelving or other things crowding out the space.
Related: Best Dip Belts for adding weights to your pull ups and dips
For two, you can put a ceiling-mounted pull-up bar away from the walls.
This gives you significant range of motion and more opportunities to explore new movements.
However, there are also some adverse things to keep in mind. One is that some ceilings are too high off the ground–installing the damn thing, let alone using it on the regular, could very well be impossible.
Also, will there be enough room above the bar to perform exercises such as dips and muscle-ups? Another point is that it might not be as secure as mounting your bar to studs in the walls.
Sure, ceilings can be holding up an entire floor or two above, but if you attach it incorrectly, it could spell trouble for your ceiling.
In any case, if you really want to have a ceiling-mounted pull-up bar, many of the wall mount models can easily be attached to the ceiling.
Presto: impromptu ceiling-mounted pull-up bars! As far as Athletic Muscle is concerned, wall-mounted pull-up bars provide enough benefits to be slightly better than their ceiling-mounted counterpart.
Related: Weighted Calisthenics – What is it, and best workouts
Considerations Before Buying
Don’t just go buying the first wall-mounted pull-up bar you find online willy-nilly. You’ll want to be thorough with this.
Here are some considerations to have in mind while shopping for your wall-mounted pull-up bar:
- Load Capacity: Basically, how much weight can the bar hold? You’ll want to find one that can support both your body weight and any additional weight you might want to hang off your body once you progress to weighted pull-ups. A load capacity of 300-600+ pounds should do the trick.
- Wall Clearance: You don’t want to be crashing into the wall every single rep. How far away from the wall does the actual bar jut out? It should be far enough away for you to raise your knees in front of you and not have them scraping against the wall. Two feet (or 24 inches) should be the absolute minimum; the bar should be constructed securely to be able to support that kind of wall clearance.
- Height: How high up on the wall your bar is will be up to you and your tape measure. But the length of the wall it takes to mount your pull-up bar is a different thing entirely. The “height” of your pull-up bar’s bracket tells you how much space it will take up, as well as how sturdy it will be (usually, the longer the height, the sturdier it is). Again, two feet or more is sufficient.
- Versatility: This is alluding to the number of exercises you can do. How many grips and holds are there on the bar? Is it a simple horizontal bar with no bells or whistles? Or does it have a variety of bars juxtaposed from one another? This will be a personal preference. If you want a normal pull-up bar, go with simplicity. If you want differing grips and more opportunities for exercises, go with a multi-bar approach.
Related: Bodyweight Biceps Exercises to Look Like Johnny Bravo
- Quality: Of course, you get what you pay for. You’ll want quality materials, like solid steel brackets and bars, comfortable grips, and thick bolts. These will ensure you don’t fall and hurt yourself due to shoddy materials, as well as a terrific workout experience because of the grip. Quality can usually be determined by price and brand, so don’t skimp.
- Adjustability: How easy can you move your bar? For some of them, once you set it, you might as well forget it. Others, however, you can set up again and again and again without ruining your walls or the bar itself. Unfortunately, most of the wall-mounted pull-up bars on our list are of the former variety. Therefore, it’s crucial to know where you want to place your bar; put it somewhere you like, where it won’t be in the way.
Most vital of all, you want to feel comfortable with your purchase. This is an important piece for your at-home gym; you should only settle for the best option available to you.
As for which one that is…well, that’s up to you, sir or madam.
Related: Best Squat Racks with Pull up stations for your home gym
Top Wall-Mounted Pull-up Bars Reviewed
Rogue P-5V Garage Pull Up System
- Celing, or Wall Mountable
- One or two bars for different heights
- Designed for variable stud/ceiling joist widths
Rogue Fitness is known for high quality, well thought out designed product made in the United States. They do not disappoint with their Rogue P-5V garage pull up system. This system is versatile in many ways.
You can mount it to the wall or to the ceiling. It was designed to be adjustable for different joist, or stud widths, which can generally be a problem depending on how your home is built, or where you would like to mount it. It can be daisy chained to create multiple bars for CrossFit boxes. And the list goes on.
It has two slots for the pull up bar on the bracket. If it is ceiling mounted, that give you height adjustability. The bar itself is a standard 1″ steel pipe (1.25″ outer diameter), so you can just get a spare one from your local hardware store to put in the other slot.
The welding and the design of the brackets is extremely sturdy. While Rogue does not specify the weight capacity of this bar, it is likely not going to be an issue. This is one of the most popular bars used in CrossFit boxes, getting multiple repeat usage.
All in all, this has all the features required of a wall mounted pull up bar at a decent price, and is made from a reputable brand in this space. We highly recommend it.
XMark Commercial Multi-Grip Wall mounted pull up bar
- Wall mounted and very sturdy
- Multi grip for wide range of muscles to be worked
- Knurled handle grips
It is pretty obvious why this bar made it to the top 5 list of wall mounted pull up bars. The multi grip feature is unique, and gives you all the benefits of all other pull up bars, with the added functionality of working various muscles in your arms with the different grips.
The various chip up and pull up positions will work various forearm, shoulder, triceps, and deltoid muscles. Most importantly it gives you a break from the boredom of the using the same grips.
Like all other bars in this list, this one is very sturdy, and has a better design of the brackets compared to the other multi-grip bars available on Amazon. Since the grips need to be welded together, it gives it a seamless clean look and also makes for a very sturdy bar.
The mounting is designed for studs that are 16″ off center, a standard for American homes. That means you will be three studs apart when mounting the two brackets.
Lastly there are several knurled grip positions on this bar. This is helpful for those sweaty hands after a long routine which includes cardio or other calisthenics workouts.
Ultimate Body Press Wall Mounted Pull up Bar
- Three grips; widest at 36″
- Small footprint
- High density foam grips for softer hands
Next up in this list, we have the Wall Mount Pull-up Bar from Ultimate Body Press. This one takes the cake when it comes to quality, and price.
To start, this thing is tiny. The easy mounting templates are spaced just 16 inches apart. Plus, this bar has three separate grips at 10, 24, and 36 inches apart, giving you the ability to explore different holds and exercises.
The wall clearance is 14-21 inches and you can attach straps and other equipment to enhance your workout experience.
The high density foam grips on the bar keep your hands from getting roughed up after several workouts. This may be more of a concern if you are looking to avoid rough hands after a regular pull up workout
If you want a solid, multifaceted, affordable wall-mounted pull-up bar, put your trust in the Ultimate Body Press Wall Mount Pull-up Bar.
Titan Fitness Wall mounted Pull Up Chin Up Bar
- Heavy duty construction; up to 500lbs capacity
- Ceiling or wall mountable
- Designed for variable stud/ceiling stud/joist widths
Titan Fitness is another well known fitness equipment brand. Their Wall-Mounted Pull-up and Chin-up Bar can also be seen in various gyms and CrossFit boxes. Titan Fitness is a mainstay company in the fitness industry and comes swinging with another quality product in their pull-up bar.
With a capacity to support up to 500 pounds, this is one of the sturdier bars on this list.
It can be mounted via 16-inch wood studs on a concrete wall; this can be mounted for custom widths at 16, 32, or even 52 inches apart, which will help keep it steady.
Bracket height is 31 inches, while bracket depth is 32 inches, giving you plenty of room to maneuver.
The single bar’s length is a whopping 52 inches, making it the closest to a pull-up bar you’d see in a traditional gym. It’s made out of quality metal, giving you a piece of equipment that can stand the test of time.
If you’re looking for a heavy-duty pull-up bar that emulates one you’d find in a CrossFit Box or local gym, look no further than the Titan Fitness Wall-Mounted Pull-up and Chin-up Bar.
Stud/Ceiling Mounted Pull up Bar
- For variable ceiling heights(8ft, 9ft, 10ft ceilings)
- Two slots for bar – adjustable height
- Responsive customer service
Here we have a versatile pull-up bar that can be mounted on either a wall or a ceiling. The Stud Bar is a classic that gives you everything you want while removing things you don’t.
This pull-up bar is a beast. The 48-inch width attachments line up perfectly with the studs in your wall (or ceiling) for easy mounting.
It’s available in three different sizes to accommodate for ceiling height (8-foot, 9-foot, and 10-foot).
Plus it’s made out of gym-quality welded hammertone powder-coated steel, which gives you a weight capacity of 600 pounds.
That, with a lifetime warranty, nets you one beefy pull-up bar. The bar’s diameter is also thin enough to provide a comfortable grip.
The Stud Bar is well known in the fitness industry, and with good reason–it’s one of the best bars you can buy.
Conclusion
Congratulations! You’re now an expert on everything wall-mounted pull-up bar.
You know what they are, what the benefits of owning one are, how they compare to ceiling-mounted pull-up bars, and you know what to look for when purchasing yours.
Now, the next step is to review our list of the best wall-mounted pull-up bars again. Select the one that makes the most sense for your workout routine and wall situation.
The only way to know for sure whether it’ll work wonders for you or not is to order one, install it–which, remember, is super easy–and get to repping!
Your at-home gym just got a whole lot better.
