Body Parts/Muscle Groups Worked
Active- Lats, Rhomboids, Biceps, Forearms
Stabilizers- Muscles that make up Rotator Cuff
Difficulty Level
Difficult
Who it's good for and why
The chin-up is probably the most difficult bodyweight exercise to perform primarily because the non-mirror muscles (muscles you can’t see when you look at yourself in a mirror) tend to be underemphasized in most training programs designed for simply improving looks. To add to that, no one ever asks how many chin-ups you can perform; it’s all about how much you can bench. However, developing the muscles of the upper back are absolutely essential for sports that require a lot of pulling (wrestling, swimming, rowing), but are also important to develop to bring balance to the shoulder capsule of athletes involved in sports that require a lot of pushing (football, baseball/softball).
Basic Exercise Description
1. Approach the chin-up bar and take your grip. A chin-up is performed with and underhand grip while a pull-up is performed with an overhand grip. It is generally agreed that the wider your grip is, the more you’ll be emphasizing the lats while the more narrow your grip is the more you’ll be developing the biceps. A chin-up will develop all of the muscles listed above regardless of the grip. Muscles don’t just turn on and off depending on your grip, they just work harder sometimes because of it.
2. Make sure you can reach the bar comfortably so that when you’re done, or if you lose your grip, you don’t fall and hurt yourself. If you need to use a bench or an aerobic step to better enable you to get a comfortable grip on the bar without having to reach and overextend yourself.
3. Begin the exercise by pulling your chin above the bar. Avoid jumping on your first rep.
4. Once your chin is above the bar, lower yourself under control to a near straight arms position before beginning your next rep.
5. When you are done, lower yourself back to the ground or whatever you stood on to reach the bar.
6. Until you become familiar with how your body is going to respond while performing chin-ups try to cut yourself off before you become really fatigued. Doing so will decrease a sense of urgency to have to get back on your feet as quickly as possible as you may begin to feel your grip starting to fail.
Here is a clip of J.P. O’Connor performing some strict chin-ups. Notice how low he gets on each rep, how he doesn’t kick to finish a rep, and how he uses a small box underneath him so that he can get to the chin-up bar comfortably. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpmhsXEZxBY
Modifications
Easier- A great way to make the chin-up easier to perform is by using a band to assist you. Simply choke the band on the chin-up bar and place your knee through the loop at the bottom. I’ve also seen people put the band around their foot. Make sure you keep a straight leg position if you’re going to use this variation.
Harder- A great way to make the chin-up harder is by adding weight to a weight belt around your waist. The video above of J.P. gives you a good demonstration on how to wear the belt properly while you perform your weighted chin-ups.