What a camera can see in a chest-to-bar pull-up
The range criterion carries more weight here than in any other pulling movement, and its top band requires a tighter elbow angle than the standard pull-up rubric does. That threshold is also what the identity gate uses: a rep that closes only as far as a normal pull-up is rejected as chest-to-bar rather than scored poorly. The hip angle is checked too, because a rep with the hips folded is toes-to-bar.
How ScoreRep scores a chest-to-bar pull-up
The rubric declares 4 scored criteria. The strongest single camera angle is the left side view. Every criterion below is available from that angle.
The score is the points earned divided by the points the recorded angle could support, so a clip filmed from a limited angle is never quietly marked down for what the camera could not see. At least 60% of the applicable weight has to be measured before a result is ranked at all.
| Criterion | Points | Measured from the athlete’s pose | Full marks when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full range, chest to the bar | 40 | smallest elbow angle in the rep | 40° or less |
| Body control | 25 | largest torso lean away from vertical | 15° or less |
| Eccentric control | 20 | ratio of lowering time to lifting time | 0.8 or more |
| Consistency across the set | 15 | drop in rep speed between the fastest and the slowest rep | 15% or less |
Criteria that depend on the camera angle
These criteria are excluded, not estimated, when the recorded angle cannot support them. That is why the same set filmed twice from different positions can produce two valid scores out of two different totals.
- Body control — needs a left side, right side, left oblique and right oblique view.
Does this chest-to-bar pull-up rep count?
ScoreRep answers that in two separate steps. First, the clip has to read as a chest-to-bar pull-up at all: every check in the table below has to pass, and a reading the camera could not take counts as a fail, never as a pass. A clip that fails is returned unranked with the reason attached, rather than scored low against the wrong rubric, and no template can override a failed check.
Second, the scoring criteria award points. Falling short of a full-marks threshold costs points, not the rep. Every number here is read from version 2 of the chest-to-bar pull-up rubric, the same file the scoring engine runs.
- Compare the chest-to-bar pull-up standard with the other 29 movements on the movement standards page.
- How the rep counter decides between a valid rep and a no-rep, station by station.
| Reading | Has to be | Otherwise rejected because |
|---|---|---|
| Vertical travel of the shoulders across the rep | 0.05 or more | the shoulders do not travel far enough vertically |
| Smallest elbow angle in the rep | 70° or less | the elbows do not close far enough, which reads as a standard pull-up rather than chest-to-bar |
| Whether the hands finish above the shoulders | yes | the hands do not stay above the shoulders, so this does not read as chest-to-bar on a bar |
| Smallest hip angle in the rep | 90° or more | the hips flex too far, which reads as toes-to-bar |
What the recording has to contain
Eligibility decides whether a result can enter a leaderboard. Failing it does not block the feedback — the clip is still scored and returned, but marked unranked with the reason attached, so a bad camera position never silently becomes a bad score.
- A pose has to be detected in at least 55% of the frames.
- The camera angle has to be one of: front, back, left side, right side, left oblique and right oblique.
- At least 1 complete repetition has to be detected.
What is deliberately not scored
Identity, repetition counting, eligibility and the score are derived only from the athlete’s pose. Measurements that come from tracking an external object — the path of a barbell, for example — are drawn on the review overlay but are deliberately outside the scoring contract, so they never affect the number.
Reading the result
On this movement the identity gate does most of the useful work. A set that comes back rejected is a set of pull-ups, and that is worth knowing before the next set rather than after the workout. Once a clip is scored, the criterion to watch across the set is eccentric control: it falls first and it is the clearest early signal that the remaining reps will be shorter.
A technique score is educational feedback about visible movement. It cannot tell you whether a load is safe for your joints, whether pain means something, or whether a programme suits you. Those judgements need a coach or clinician who knows your history.