Chin-ups differ from pull-ups because of the underhand, narrower grip. While doing traditional pull-ups with an overhand, slightly wider than shoulder-width grip. In addition, with chin-ups you engage the biceps a little more, while with pull-ups you involve a little more of the lats in the exercise. Apart from that, the choice of pull-ups or chin-ups is mainly a matter of preference. In this article we explain to you in ten steps how to get the optimal result from your chin-ups.
1. GOAL
With the chin-up you train your entire upper back: the latissimus dorsi (lats), the trapezius (traps), the rhomboideus, the erector spinae and the posterior deltoid. But the biceps also participate and even the chest a little. The involvement of biceps and chest is greater in chin-ups than in pull-ups, while that of the lats is slightly less. Finally, you also train your core, including your abdominal muscles.
In short, the chin-up is an all-round exercise for your entire upper body.
2. GRIP POSITION
For pull-ups, use a grip position that is slightly narrower than shoulder width. As mentioned, it concerns an underhand grip, so with your palms facing you.
Avoid extreme grip positions (super narrow or super wide). This is for the health of your shoulders.
3. DON’T WAVE
When you swing in your reps, you won’t know if you’ve gotten stronger or just better at swinging. Leave your ego at home and focus on performing the exercise in a controlled manner, even if you can do fewer repetitions.
4. RIGHTS POOR
Your arms should be straight at the start of each rep, but not hanging dead. During the entire set you therefore use a ‘down’ position with the shoulders ‘packed’. This means squeezing your shoulder blades downward, which activates the rhomboids. So don’t shrug your shoulders.
5. ELBOWS
Don’t let your elbows flare out too much: keep them close to your body.
6. TOP POSITION
Come up until your chin is level with the bar, without arching your back. The top position is where your elbows touch your lats (sides).
Try to pull your chest towards the bar as much as possible. This allows you to activate your back muscles better.
7. CORE
Keep your glutes and abs tight. This will help you stop swinging.
8. NO HALF REPS
If you can no longer get a full rep (you’re reaching the point of muscle failure), the set is finished.
9. ADJUST DIFFICULTY LEVEL
With chin-ups, too, you must aim for the right level of difficulty to get the right training effect. To this end you use progressive overload.
Are chin-ups still a bit too heavy for you? Then start with the lat pulldown. Then you get started on the assisted chin up machine (aka graviton), which can be found in most gyms. Another possible stop is negative chin-ups. These will help you get stronger in the lowering phase of the exercise.
Have chin-ups become too easy for you? Then add some weight as you go. You can do this by using a belt or simply holding a dumbbell between your feet.
Don’t forget to take the changes in your body weight into account. As you get leaner, chin-ups will become easier.
10. PROGRAMMING
A full-fledged back training program consists of a horizontal pull (such as the barbell row), a vertical pull (such as the lat pulldown, pull-up and chin-up) and some isolation exercises for the traps, lats and rear shoulder joint.
You divide these exercises over the training volume of the average natural bodybuilder: 10 to 20 sets per week, spread over two to three training sessions per week. In practice, this means that you do the chin-up once or twice a week, always with three sets. We recommend six sets per week so that you can quickly become stronger in this exercise.
Train your sets to near muscle failure.