the funyun system

i haven't been able to get one cause my doorframes are too thick but i LOVE pull-up bars and would buy myself one in a heartbeat if i could find an adjustable one

You can get a better variety of exercises with dumbbells, so I'm voting for them here. Pull-ups feel really fucking good though.

Dumbbells seem pretty flexible but pullups are rad so I'm split

Hmm ok i think a pull up bar will be more versatile and better long term. Dumbbells are great but the problem* is that you will get too strong for the weight you have and want to go up in weight.

*Point

Pull ups are a lot harder than dumbbell curls etc, so unless you're sure you can do them, I would go with the dumbbells. (I definitely CANNOT do a pull up.)

If setup and teardown is a concern, like if you're having people over or the door needs to close regularly for that doorway, a pull up bar may have more work associated with its use than a dumbbell

thinking about my own exercises i definitely use dumbbells more often than anything else, other than like a full on bar

pull-ups will make any visitor think 'whoa they cool' in a way that dumbbells are simply not capable of

Dumbbells! You'll outgrow them but I find it hard to have intermediate steps with a pullup bar? Just my preferences though, my ideal is barbell anyway!

Dumbbells are nice, but you'd probably want to get an adjustable pair, so that you don't need to worry so much about how heavy you want them, and so that you don't outgrow your old pair and need a new pair too soon. Some adjustable dumbbells are far fancier than necessary, making them a real rip-off, so watch out. Dumbbells are more flexible than a pull-up bar, but a pull-up bar gives you access to some great bodyweight exercises, so if you've been enjoying pushups, a pull-up bar would be a great way to continue in that direction.

Oh yeah, I see people discussing the difficulty of starting with pull ups and I just thought I'd share that there are good progressions and scaling for pull ups! My suggestion would be jumping pull ups (lower the bar or stand on something)->banded pull ups (with a resistance band)->kipping pull ups->strict pull ups->weighted pull ups. You can do a lot with body weight!

Weights are amazing but i feel like you need a lot of them and racks to get the most out of them, plus you want expert training, so I'd do that at a gym, personally.

Pull-up bar is the best if you can make use of it but it isn’t versatile. Upper back is really important to maintain if you’re working at a desk so the lack of versatility is IMO worth it.

If you can’t do a pull-up then doing pull-up negatives as has been suggested is great. The other option would be to get a band and do assisted ones so you can work on concentric and eccentric (negatives will only train eccentric- which doesn’t really matter for development but is harder to see progress and is more impactful). Bands with a bar can also be repurposed to do trap exercises (face pulls), abdominal things, and then bands by themselves can hit biceps, legs, etc.

https://www.atemi-sports.com/resistance-bands-for-pull-ups/

Another option is a good behind the door off brand TRX kit, which isn’t as good as a pull-up bar but a bit more versatile and can tuck away between workouts. You can still have crazy workouts but it isn’t as full body as dumbbells.

Something like this: https://www.amazon.ca/Fitness-Training-Suspension-Professional-KEAFOLS/dp/B07BQQRT68/ref=mp_s_a_1_11?crid=24TAG5RLP4FD2&keywords=trx+kit&qid=1669264773&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIyLjQ0IiwicXNhIjoiMi4xMyIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=trx+kit%2Caps%2C209&sr=8-11

Kettlebell!