Chin-ups are one of the most well-known bodyweight exercises in addition to crunches and push-ups. They’re great for building strength and power while helping you reach your aesthetic goals. The FizzUp trainer will tell you everything you need to know about chin-ups. To get a V-shaped and muscular back with prominent biceps, we’ll teach you how to do this strength training exercise that’s sometimes a bit tricky, but always effective.
In order to do chin-ups correctly, you need to have at least some upper-body strength and power, as well as the right instructions on how to get started. Here are some basic rules you should follow to maximize your results and avoid getting into bad habits.
Starting position: Stand under the pull-up bar. Grasp the bar with a supinated grip, meaning that your palms are facing toward your face and shoulder-width apart.
Step 1: As you exhale, lift your body using your arms and back until your chin comes just above the bar.
Step 2: As you inhale, start to gradually lower your body until your arms are almost completely straight. That makes one chin-up repetition. Repeat the exercise to continue the set.
“Avoid straightening your arms completely”: Keep your elbows unlocked. You’ll reduce the risk of pain and even injury in your biceps as you protect your joints.
“Engage your core to keep your body stable”: Doing proper chin-ups means you need to use the stabilizer muscles in your torso. They’ll help you keep your body straight, avoid arching your back and keep your legs still during the exercise to reduce the risk of pain and boost the effectiveness of your workouts.
“Focus on your breathing”: Beginners tend to hold their breath during strength training exercises, which is an absolute no-no. To help you breathe properly, remember that you need to exhale as you lift your body and inhale as you lower it. Remember that you can take deep breaths to help you maintain steady breathing, making you look like a true warrior.
Whether you’re doing chin-ups or pull-ups, you target the same muscles in general: back muscles, arm muscles, abs and even pecs. But you can target the muscles differently, depending on the variation. For example, chin-ups work your biceps more.
Arm muscles: This strength training exercise is great for building your biceps. It also works your forearms.
Back muscles: Many back muscles come into play when you do chin-ups. Not only do you strengthen your lats, teres major and rhomboids, but also your traps, especially their middle and lower parts.
Secondary muscles: With chin-ups, you’ll work your abs to a lesser extent, which helps you keep your back straight and your legs still during the exercise, as well as the outer part of your pecs.
Because chin-ups and pull-ups require significant strength and lead to high muscle fatigue, beginners typically aren’t able to do them completely without any experience. In this case, it’s better to ease into it with half chin-ups or equipment-free rowers, which is an excellent exercise to strengthen your biceps and back muscles.
Half chin-ups: This variation is pretty much the same as regular chin-ups; the only difference is that it uses a smaller range of motion. Instead of coming down all the way, just lower your body until your biceps are parallel to the floor. Reducing the range of motion makes this exercise easier.
Rowers: Start seated with your buttocks and heels on the floor. Your knees should be slightly bent. The exercise involves using the strength of your arms, shoulders and upper back to pull your thighs toward your torso. Next, you can start to return to the starting position as you use the strength in your arms to resist the movement of your legs in one smooth movement. As soon as your feet touch the floor again, you can repeat the exercise to continue the set. Throughout the exercise, your legs are like dead weight and shouldn’t be working at any time.
It’s up to you to get your body in shape. With chin-ups, you’ll build your upper-body muscles in no time. Now you know what you have to do to feel amazing in your own body.
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