The pull-up and chin-up are two of the gym's toughest feats of strength. As far as challenges go, executing a flawless pull-up is on par with successfully wearing denim on denim and going on a first date without spilling something on yourself.
“You’re pulling your whole body up and fighting gravity,” says Tyrone Brennand, personal trainer and founder of Be The Fittest. “Both work on your back muscles, core and biceps, so in my opinion they are two of the best foundation strength exercises you can do.
“The best part is you can do them anywhere – in a park, at home etc. They work a massive part of your upper body, but you can change the area they work based on your grip. The wider you go, for example, the more they work on lateral muscles.”
While pull-ups and chin-ups do aesthetic wonders for your lats and biceps, learning to do them right is important for reasons that don’t involve preparing for your next beach photo shoot, too. “It takes an insane amount of strength to raise and lower the weight of your body while suspended,” says Gabe Snow, master coach and founder of Lionhearted Health. “And the more you weigh, the stronger the muscles involved need to be.”
Natural ability is also at play here, but not necessarily in the way you'd think. “Difficulty level largely depends on the user’s experience,” says Brennand. “There are some people with natural body strength who are able to do them, but then there are people who find it really difficult to pull up their own body weight (particularly if they have high muscle mass, like a rugby player). If people have a light body mass or less muscle mass they are usually able to do pull-ups and chin-ups more easily.
“Having said that, it does depend on a person’s strength as both pull-ups and chin-ups are about moving your own body weight. If you are a person who weighs 100kg with a lot of muscle mass, then you should have the strength to be able to do them.”
Knowing the difference between the two exercises will help with your specific fitness goals. Luckily, those differences are pretty easy to spot. “With pull-ups, your palms are facing away from you, and with chin-ups, your palms are facing towards you,” explains Brennand. “Pull-ups are harder than chin-ups – chin-ups work on your biceps, whereas pull-ups work directly on your back muscles (lateral and trapezius).”
If you can’t yet crank out four sets of 15 without needing a literal boost, don’t fret. Try incorporating the following exercises into your routine – perfecting the building blocks of the pull-up and chin-up will help develop the back and arm strength necessary to get you up and over the bar. That denim-on-denim thing, though, is still on you to figure out.
Pull-ups
Six exercises for the perfect pull-up
Do it: Using an overhead grip, hop up to hang from a bar. Engage your core and tuck your tailbone, so that your body goes from straight to a crescent moon shape. Hold that position for 30 seconds, and then release your tailbone for 30 seconds. Do four sets.
Your trainer says: “The hanging hollow hold emphasises pressure in the hands, which increases your grip strength,” says Snow. “Act as if you are trying to snap the bar in half, placing large amounts of pressure from the outside of your hands.”
Do it: Using an overhand grip, hang from the bar (again). Draw your shoulder blades down and together, which will cause you to slightly raise your chest. It may feel like you’re trying to bend the bar above you. Relax and return to the start position. Do three sets of 12 reps.
Your trainer says: “This is a slight variation of the hanging hold,” says Snow. “In order to efficiently and correctly achieve a pull-up, we need to depress our shoulders – pulling them down, like a reverse shrug.”
Do it: Stand on the centre of a resistance band with your feet at a shoulder-width distance, bending forward slightly at the waist. Grab both ends and hold them just below your knees. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and lift the band up towards your upper ribs. Lower the band back to the starting position for one rep. Do three sets of 15.
Your trainer says: “You can use a band anywhere, which is what makes them so great,” says Daury Dross, trainer and founder of DrossFit. “Be sure to keep a proud chest, and to squeeze your shoulder blades together as you pull your elbows back to fire up those muscles.”
Do it: Grab either TRX straps or a power rack with an overhand grip, palms facing your thighs. Lower yourself into a dead hang – arms straight – with your hands positioned over your shoulders. Keep your legs extended, but if that’s too hard, it’s okay to pull your feet closer to your body, which will make you a little less horizontal and a little more vertical. Next, while engaging the lats and core, lift your chest to the bar or handlebars. Pause at the top, then slowly return to start for one rep. Do three sets of 12 reps.
Your trainer says: “This is one of the best ways to engage your back while pulling, which builds the mind-muscle connection, along with strength in the lats and rhomboids,” says Snow.
Do it: Start in a staggered stance, with your left foot forward and a slight bend in both knees. Holding a kettlebell in your right hand with your arm straight, hinge forward at the waist. Place your left forearm across your left quad. This is your starting position (and kind of looks like you’re getting ready to start a lawnmower). Using your back muscles, pull the bell toward your ribs. Do 10 to 12 reps, and then repeat on the opposite side. Four sets total.
Your trainer says: “Make sure you’re keeping a flat back throughout,” says Dross. “This will help to engage your core and keep away any lower back pain.”
Do it: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and arms down at your sides, holding a pair of dumbbells with your palms facing towards your torso. Bend your elbow and curl one dumbbell to shoulder level, but keep your palm static – in other words, don’t rotate the weight. Lower and then repeat on the opposite side. Do four sets of 12 alternating reps.
Your trainer says: “Pull-ups require strong biceps,” says Dross. “So make sure you’re recruiting strength from your biceps here, rather than swinging the dumbbells.” Cheaters never prosper. They also never make it to the bar.
Chin-ups
How to perfect your chin-up game, courtesy of Tyrone Brennand
- If you want to become better at chin-ups, I’d suggest working on a small bar (one that you can jump up on) and start working on isometric holds at the top. Jump on the bar, put your chin up over the bar and hold for 10 seconds. Once you can do that, try three or four sets, with rest in between.
- The next step would be to jump on the bar, hold for five seconds, then come down so your chin is in line with the bar. Pull yourself back up over the bar and come back down. Again, do this for three or four sets.
- After mastering that, slowly make your way even lower (so your chin is below the bar) and make your way back up. Work on that until you can come down and up easily.
- Once you're able to do full chin-ups, you can then play with time and tension (basically doing them more slowly).
- If you do them with your legs straight then you're relying on your core and back, so you are really training your whole body.
