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There’s no disputing
that the simple chin-up is a king among upper body exercises. However,
if you’re overfat, weak, and/or just plain out of shape, how can you
reap the benefits of this exercise?
A little explanation
is in order before we jump right into the nitty-gritty.
The reason chinups are so valuable is two-fold:
First, chinups build
upper body strength in short order, mostly because they require
a high level of effort for most trainees to complete.
Second, chinups
involve a great deal of upper body musculature; they work the lats,
biceps, pec minor, shoulders, and abs (in fact, chinups are one of the
BEST ab exercises you can do). As you know, exercises that
maximize the amount of muscles worked are great for fat loss,
which puts the chinup high on our priority list.
Whats the
difference between chinups and pullups?
Incidentally, you may
be wondering about the difference between chinups and their close
relative, pullups. Chinups are performed with your palms facing you,
with what’s known as an underhand or “supinated” grip, while pullups are
done with the palms rotated away from you (an overhand or “pronated”
grip).
You may also be
wondering why we advocate chinups over pullups. Well, we advocate
pullups as well – however, because the biceps have little leverage in
pullups, they are harder to perform than chinups. Since this article is
geared towards folks who can’t quite do chinups yet, we’d like to make
the progressions as easy to perform as possible – trust me, they’ll be
hard enough!
1. Reverse Pushup
I know what you’re
thinking – “What the? I thought this article was about Chinups!” Well,
it is, and the reverse pushup is the first progression of chinning we
teach. Despite the name, the reverse pushup is actually an upper body
pull, as you’re pulling yourself up to the bar. It’s best
performed on a Smith machine (one of the few valid uses of a Smith
machine), but can also be done by placing a bar between two benches or
during a rest period while bench pressing.
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Set up Smith
machine so the bar is at abdominal height.
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Get under the bar
and hang from it. Your hands should be wider than
shoulder width apart, underhand grip. Your body
should be held rigid, forming a straight line from
feet to head.
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Pull your chest
up the bar (or as close as you can). Hold for a
couple of seconds, then extend your arms to return
to the start position.
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Breathe freely.
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Don’t relax
between reps; stay tight.
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Work up to a set of
8-12 reps. Once you can do that, lower the bar.
2. Negative-Only
Reverse pushups are a
nice substitute exercise to help strengthen your “chinup muscles”, but
let’s jump into being able to do the real thing. By performing just the
negative, or lowering phase, of the chinup, you can slowly build up
enough strength to both lift and lower yourself.
Here’s a little
known fact: You can use as much as 40% more weight when performing
the negative vs. the positive (or lifting). How this happens is
physiologically complex, but you needn’t just take my word for it, try
it out for yourself: Grab a dumbbell that’s difficult for you to curl.
Curl it once – notice how much easier the lowering phase is?
Apply this trick to the chinup:
1. Find a chinup bar that has steps
(i.e., a chinup station at the gym) or alternatively, grab a bench or
some other step and place it below the chinup bar.
2. Stand on the step and use that to
position your body in the top position of the chinup (i.e., the
“contracted” position).
3. Lift your feet off of the step, and
lower yourself by extending your arms. Do this as slowly as you can.
Repeat until you can perform 5 slow, smooth reps.
Progress on this
exercise by adding weight to your body. Some good ways are by attaching
plates to a dip belt, wearing a weighted vest, or simply slipping the
additional weights into your pockets (not recommended with 45 pound
plates).
3. Isometric Holds
The next step up from
Negative Only reps would be isometrically holding yourself in the top
position of the chinup.
Little-known fact
#2 – You can support more weight in an isometric hold than you can
lift.
Let’s go back to our
earlier example of the simple dumbbell curl. While the dumbbell may be
quite difficult for you to curl, holding the dumbbell with your arm bent
at 90 degrees (i.e., the “midpoint”), while not easy, is far easier than
curling it. In fact, you’re likely to find that you can hold your arm
in that position for quite a long time.
Holding a weight in a
static position is easier than lifting it, but not as easy as lowering
that same weight. So in terms of strength,
You are strongest in
the negative (or lowering) phase,
You are weaker in an
isometric (or static) hold, and
You are weakest in the
positive (or lifitng) phase.
We can apply that
knowledge to our chinup progressions by adding a 5-10 second isometric
hold at the top of each rep. This will allow us to derive more
strength benefits from each rep.
Progression on this
variation is the same as in Negative Only: Add weight as you get
stronger.
4. “McKean” Chinups
This final variation
is for those of you that can manage none of the other variations in this
article. I’ve personally used it successfully with an elderly survivor
of three heart attacks, so I’m fairly certain most anyone will be able
to progress using this exercise (Hat tip to John McKean for this
exercise).
“McKean” chinups could
also be rightly called “One-legged” chinups. They are also slightly
embarrassing to perform, but it’s ok. You’ll be laughing at everyone
else in 6 months when you’re doing chinups and they’re still waddling
about on a treadmill
wondering why they aren’t losing any fat.
This exercise is best
done using a Smith machine, but setting up a bar in a squat rack or
power cage will work as well.
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Set the bar to
mid-chest height.
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Grab the bar with
your hand slightly less than shoulder width apart,
palms facing you.
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Extend one of
your legs out in front of you. It should be bent
slightly.
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Lower yourself by
extending your arms and bending your planted leg.
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Stop before your
elbows straighten (keep your elbows slightly bent).
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Slowly pull
yourself back up using mostly your arms; only give
as much assistance with your leg as is necessary to
help you complete the rep.
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Repeat.
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Work up to two sets of
10 reps. Stand on your left leg for one entire set, then stand on your
right leg for an entire set.
Silly? Perhaps.
Effective? No question.
The chinup is a great
exercise, but not readily accessible for everyone. These 4 chinup
progressions will help you on your way to being able to perform chinups
and accelerate your upper body development.
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About the Author:
Eugene Thong, CSCS, was born a weak, skinny,
bespectacled child. Now, thanks to a steady diet of martial arts,
scientific inquiry, and heavy compound movements, he's no longer weak.
His scientific bent, Zen-like demeanor, and efficient but intense
methods have made him one of New York's most sought-after personal
trainers.
 When
not helping clients cultivate their own inner 6-packs, Eugene can be found
arm barring opponents at Renzo Gracie's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy or
sailing through the air on his snowboard. Read Eugene's semi-weekly musings
on exercise, fitness, and fat loss
at his blog
Eugene is Mike's co-author of The Black Book of Secrets. You can purchase
it by clicking
here.
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