The chin-up is a strength training exercise. People frequently do this exercise with the intention of strengthening muscles such as the latissimus dorsi and biceps, which extend the shoulder and flex the elbow, respectively. A chin-up is very similar to a pull-up with the exception of hand position. Chin-ups are performed with your palms facing your body, while pull-ups are performed with your hands facing away from your body.
Variations of Chin-ups
- Sternal chinups : this variant employs a fuller range of motion at the top, raising beyond the chin and touching the sternum to the bar. The elbows are nearly directly below the shoulders this way. This requires adequate scapular depression. If leaning back (arching the spine) a sternum-up can be done that is not a chin-up, this shifts to requiring scapular retraction.
- Weighted chin-ups : weight is added dangling from a dipping belt or via weighted belt or vest, ankle weights, chains, medicine ball between the knees, dumbbell between the feet or kettlebells on top of the feet.
- One arm chin-ups : one hand grips the bar and the other hand does not assist; a variation involves gripping the bar with one hand and the wrist with the other, but requires far less effort as two arms are still used.
- Supine chin-ups : in the supine position akin to a front lever, the arms are held perpendicular to the body as the grip the bar; the chest is pulled towards the bar instead of the chin. This exercise is performed in the horizontal (transverse) plane, whereas other chin-up variations are performed in the vertical (coronal) plane. As a result, this variation recruits the trapezius and teres major muscles much more than a vertical chin-up would, and is more commonly known as the inverted row or supine row. This would be better titled a form of sternum-up as the chin does not actually reach the bar.
How to do Chin-ups?
Like we said before chin-ups has a variety of different types.
- The movement begins with the arms extended above the head, gripping a hold. It may be fixed, such as a chin-up bar or moving, such as gymnastic rings or rotating handles.
- The body is pulled up, with the bar approaches or touches the upper chest. A chin-up is considered complete based on a variety of criteria in relation to where the chin should be in respect to the bar, or in respect to the hand grips.
- The body is then lowered until the arms are straight, and the exercise is generally repeated.
- Like any pull-up, chin-ups can be performed with a kip, where the legs and back impart momentum to aid the exercise, or from a dead hang, where the body is kept still. Performing the chin-up correctly can be tricky with a supinated grip, because of the natural tendency to do most of the work with the elbow flexors (largely biceps) rather than the shoulder extensors (largely lats).
- Initiating the pulling action with scapular depression may help avoid this problem. The exercise is most effective in stretching the working muscles when the body is lowered down to a full extension.