Top pick

This sturdy pull-up bar has thick, ultra-accommodating grips and can adjust for various doorway sizes, but it takes up more space than most.

The Ultimate Body Press Elevated XL Doorway Pull-Up Bar offers the most options to accommodate people with different heights, arm lengths, levels of strength, and door sizes. It is also the sturdiest bar we tested. Some testers referred to it as our “Texas” pick, because at 36 inches long — plus four large front handles — it is a behemoth of a pull-up bar (and even resembles the horns on a Longhorn steer). Its design curves up in the front, allowing for more vertical space for pull-ups (which is better for taller frames or people with longer arms).

It accommodates people of many sizes. The Elevated XL Doorway Pull-Up Bar has handles that curve up and away from the horizontal support crossbar, creating a higher point for the main grips. This allows taller people more room, whereas grips that are placed at the same height as the crossbar might mean that a taller user has to bend their knees when performing pull-ups. Smaller people shouldn’t be scared off because of its size, but if you have a tall doorway, you might need to use a step stool to reach the top bars. The bar is rated to support up to 300 pounds.

It fits doors of many different sizes. When assembled with the included crossbar extenders, the Elevated XL Doorway Pull-Up Bar can fit doorways up to 36 inches wide (3 inches wider than most bars available). Without the extenders, it can be installed in doorways as narrow as 24 inches.

It offers a strong sense of security. There is very little movement when doing pull-ups on the Elevated XL (sometimes a crossbar will jerk against your door). The bars are also bigger than the ones on other models we tested, measuring almost 1 inch thicker in circumference than those of our other picks.

It’s good for push-ups, too. Many pull-up bars are designed to support push-ups on the floor. We found the thicker, upward-curved bars to be steady, and they provided an ample anchor for both push-ups and dips.

The bar has a 10-year warranty.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Perhaps because of the sheer size and unique bar placement of the Ultimate Body Press Elevated XL, it took longer to assemble (around 30 minutes) than other bars. The instructions were also not the most straightforward — they consisted of a single diagram, without a written step-by-step guide.

It’s also bulky. If you plan on storing this pull-up bar when not using it, you’re going to need a lot of space. In one tester’s New York City studio, it didn’t fit underneath a bed and took up too much room in a 28-inch-wide closet, so it mostly laid out in a corner when not on the door.