How to Do Chin-ups the Right Way, According to Personal Trainers
As you go about your business in the weight room, have you ever glanced over at a personal trainer during one of their client sessions and idly asked yourself something like, Dang, I wonder if they ever happen to notice what I'm doing over here? Good news! While your gym's fitness professionals obviously can't leave their charges to deliver you some kind of stern pro bono talking-to, they do see you, and they have a lot of feelings to share about... all the myriad things you're doing wrong. (Perhaps this is, in retrospect, one of those questions to which you didn't want to know the answer.)
Fortunately, a few trainers have generously agreed to share with us the most common and most aggravating habits they see gymgoers developing—and a little free advice on how to fix them. This is, in effect, money in your pocket. Today: chin-ups.
Make it count
The chin-up is a full range of motion exercise, which means that if you want all the effort you're putting in to actually do something, you have to start in a dead hang—arms completely straight—and end with the chin over the bar. Position your hands about shoulder-width apart on the bar, although any width that allows for your palms to be fully rotated so that they are facing you will suffice. Maintain a strong midline by pressing your legs together and pointing the toes about three feet in front of you. (Don't rock, either.) Lastly, right before you start pulling, raise your chest by leaning slightly back, driving your shoulder blades towards your hips. —Mike Dewar, J2FIT Strength and Conditioning
Band together
The biggest mistake I see in the chin-up is people doing the exercise with something less than full range of motion. The biceps are only fully contracted when the chin is actually above the bar. (That is, uh why they call it a chin-up.) I suggest keeping yourself honest by holding a short isometric pause at the top of the movement. If you can't quite get that high yet, using resistance bands to assist the movement will help tremendously. Once you're up to 12 consecutive reps with the band—and with full range of motion—move on to using just your body weight. —Devan Kline, Burn Boot Camp
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Who needs curls?
It's okay to be negative...
If you're able to eke out a handful of chin-ups but can't quite get your head over the bar after a few reps, try doing reps that focus on the negative—the downward—part of the motion. Set up a step or box that allows you to reach the bar while standing. Hold the chin-up grip and jump up into the "full squeeze" position, and then tuck your knees and lower your body as slowly as possible. Once your arms are fully extended, hop back up on the step and repeat.
...but don't give up hope
If you still can't quite get the chin-up right, though, try first developing your strength in this movement using other exercises. Lay flat on the ground with your feet towards a cable machine and curl a straight bar to your chin. Use a weight that allows you to keep your elbows tucked tight to your rib cage, and that does not require your shoulders and upper back to come off the ground in order to compete each rep. —Ben Booker, Second Chance Fitness
