How To Do a Chin-Up (and Pull-Up)

Medically reviewed by Amy Kwan, PT

The chin-up is a bodyweight exercise that can help you build upper-body strength. The move is similar to a pull-up. The two movements are not the same, however, because of small differences in form.

Chin-ups can be challenging, but it's possible to work your way up to doing several reps of them in a set. Learn more about chin-ups, including how to build muscular strength to do them.

Related: How To Do a Plank: Try These 19 Plank Exercises

What Is a Chin-Up?

A chin-up is a bodyweight exercise that involves upper body muscles. You need a stable, elevated bar to do one. There are several benefits to doing chin-ups if you complete them with the proper form.

These benefits include:

• Improving your grip strength

• Increasing mental toughness since chin-ups are challenging to do

• Strengthening upper body muscles (e.g., arm and back muscles)

• Working on functional movements that involve upper body strength

Chin-Up vs. Pull-Up

Some people may refer to chin-ups and pull-ups as the same exercise. That's likely because they are similar upper-body strength movements that involve using a bar.

One main difference between the movements, however, is how you hold the bar. You face your palms toward you with chin-ups. Your palms face away from you with pull-ups. The muscles you use during these movements also differ slightly.

How To Do a Chin-Up

Follow these steps if you want to do a chin-up:

1. Stand under the bar you want to use. Bring your arms above your head, making sure your palms are facing toward you.

2. Grab the bar from the front by reaching, jumping, or lifting your body upward with your shoulder blades pulled down and back. You'll want your hands shoulder-width apart and your thumbs wrapped around the bar.

3. Lift your body up using a down-and-back motion with your elbows. Keep your back in a neutral position so you are not hunched over.

4. Safely attempt to lift yourself enough so your chin rises above the height of the bar.

5. Lower your body with control, which completes the rep.

There are variations to this exercise if you are unable to do it as instructed. The variations include using either a band or a barbell.

1. Band-Assisted Chin-Ups

This type of chin-up involves a thick rubber band attached to the chin-up bar to support your body weight. To do this chin-up:

1. Attach the band to the chin-up bar securely.

2. Put your knees in the band.

3. Do the same chin-up movements you would normally do without the band.

2. Barbell-Assisted Chin-Ups

A barbell is a free-weight bar that can hold weighted plates for weight adjustment. Here's how to do a barbell-assisted chin-up:

1. Grip the barbell as it rests on a rack like you would a chin-up bar. Make sure the barbell is secure.

2. Keep your feet on the ground.

3. Lift your body only slightly to reach the bar.

3. Pull-Up

You'll follow most of the directions for chin-ups to complete a pull-up. The primary exception is that you grip the bar with your palms facing away from you. Another slight difference is that your hands will be a little more than shoulder-width apart.

Exercises to Build Strength

It's important to build up the muscle strength needed to do a chin-up. The following exercises can help you get stronger.

Hollow Position

Start with the hollow position exercise to work on strength building for chin-ups. Here's how to do it:

1. Lie on your back, arms extended over your head, one hand on top of the other.

2. Straighten your legs out on the floor, ankles crossed.

3. Lift your arms and legs several inches off the ground so you create a slight V shape.

4. Make sure you engage your core and keep your lower back glued to the floor.

5. Hold for as long as you can without letting your form waver.

6. Aim to hold this position for a total of one minute per workout session. Try doing six 10-second holds, three 20-second holds, or two 30-second, depending on your skill level.
   

Stability Ball Roll-Out

Try out the stability ball roll-out exercise next to improve your strength. You can add two to four sets of five to 10 repetitions to your workouts.

Here's how to do it:

1. Kneel in front of a stability ball and place your forearms and hands on top of it.

2. Roll the ball forward so your body and arms extend long in front of you.

3. Roll out only as far as you can without allowing your back to hyper-extend. This may only be a couple of inches if you are new to this move.

4. Use your core to roll back to the starting position.
   

Push-Ups

Push-ups engage your core to help you prepare to do a chin-up. Try not doing these push-ups on your knees unless you have an injury that makes it uncomfortable to extend your legs.

Try elevating your hands to ease discomfort while pushing up. Use two yoga blocks, an aerobic step, or a bench to lessen the intensity of the movement. You can also attach a band to two pins on a power rack and then get into position above the band aligned with your hips.

Do at least 10 push-ups each day. Spread them throughout the day if you cannot do 10 in one set with good form. Try lowering yourself to the bottom of the push-up and then taking three to five seconds to slowly push back up to make the move more challenging.

Straight-Arm Hang

Add two to five straight-arm hangs to your exercise routine as often as you can. Here's how to do it:

1. Hang from an elevated exercise bar for as long as you can with your palms facing you.

2. Make sure you pull your shoulders down and together while you are hanging.

3. Keep your legs straight, your feet and ankles slightly angled in front of you.

4. Be sure you have an underhand grip, meaning your palms are facing you. An overhand grip, in which your palms are facing away from you, is a pull-up. These moves can help you master a pull-up, but it's typically a bit more challenging than the underhand grip.

Try bending your knees forward at a 90-degree angle like you are sitting in a chair as you become more comfortable and can hang with proper form for longer. You can hang with your legs extended straight in front of you and parallel to the floor if you are more advanced.

Isometric Hold

Here's how to do an isometric hold:

1. You may need to step up on a box or get assistance to lift you up above the bar.

2. Hang with your chin above the bar and bend your arms with a strong underhand grip.

3. Hold the position as long as you can with good form, repeating it two to five times during your workout.

Practice lowering yourself out of the move as it gets easier. The goal is to try to do it with control instead of collapsing to the ground.

Take three to five seconds to go from the isometric hold to the straight-arm hang position. Use a band to assist you in the movement instead of an assisted chin-up machine when you feel ready to try a full chin-up.

Eccentric Chin-Ups (Negative)

You might consider doing an eccentric chin-up, which can be good for building strength for pull-ups. An eccentric chin-up is essentially the reverse of a band-assisted chin-up:

1. Start the movement with your chin above the bar, using a thick rubber band, step, or jump to help you grab the bar. Keep your palms faced toward you.

2. Lower your body at a slow pace until you have fully extended your arms. The difficulty level increases with how slow you go as you lower yourself.

3. Raise your body again and repeat the movement.

Common Mistakes

One mistake is allowing more movement to help you get through the chin-up. The extra movement can negatively impact your grip on the bar and potentially cause an injury. Another mistake people often may make while completing chin-ups is only going halfway during the downward part of the exercise.

Related: How To Do a Romanian Deadlift

A Quick Review

Chin-ups are an exercise that can help you build physical upper-body strength. The move is similar to a pull-up. The two exercises differ based on factors like hand and shoulder position and muscle groups worked.

Try these five conditioning exercises to get closer to perfecting a chin-up: hollow position, stability ball roll-out, push-ups, straight-arm hang, and isometric hold. Remember to consider variations, such as a band-assisted and barbell-assisted chin-up.

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