How To Do Chin Ups

Lily

B.R
Staff member
For many young people a muscular physique is at the top of their wish list. Broad shoulders with bulging biceps have been in and out of the dreams of everyone who wants to look good. But though one may be born with a handsome face, for a robust physique, one has to work for it. For anyone looking to strengthen their upper body cannot give chin up exercises a miss. This exercise focuses on working out the back, shoulders and the abdominal muscles to an extent that it makes them strong. Another feature about chin up exercises is its fewer requirements. All you need is a bar to perform the exercise. Any overhead bars like rafters, tree branches, eaves and patio beams can do fine as chin up bars. Make sure that you are able to grasp the bar with your palms and that it is not too high. The next thing that you should do is to warm up before doing the exercise. Chin up exercises involves a lot of stretching of the muscles. As such, if you miss on the warm up, the muscles may suffer from wear and tear. Before doing chin up exercises, stretch the entire muscles of the body for 15 minutes. Once that is done, you are ready for chin up exercises. Read the article below to know how you can perform chin up exercises.

Chin Up Exercises

Classic Chin Up
This chin up exercise strengthens the upper body, shoulders and forearms. To do this chin up, grasp the bar with the palm and fingers pointed forward. Keep the arms straight and hang on the bars without swinging the legs. Before pulling up, relax the shoulders and the body. Pull the body up without jerking and bring the chin over the bar. Keep that position for a few seconds and then lower the body.

One Arm Chin Up
This is an excellent exercise to increase the strength of the body. Hold the bar with one hand and grasp the wrist with the other arm. Now pull the body up with the hand holding the bar and using the other arm that grasps the wrists to assist.

Chin Up Side Crunch
This exercise strengthens the torso and abdomen. Hang onto the bar with the palms at shoulder width distance. Lift both the legs to one side and hold the position for 5 seconds. Put the legs down and lift them to the other side and hold on for five seconds. Repeat four sets of this exercise.

Lock-Off
Lock off improves both the strength and the endurance of the exercise. First grasp the bar with the palms close together. Now, lift the body up, slowly till the chin crosses the bar. Hold that position for 15 seconds. Then come down slowly. Hold the bar with the palms spread apart. Lift the body up, hold for 15 seconds and then come down. Do 4 sets, alternating between the palms spread near and apart.

Tips

  • Chin ups can be especially tough for beginners. First timers may find it hard to pull their entire body up with their hands. As such, to make the exercise easy, beginners can place a small stool under the bar and standing on it, use their legs to push their body up. Regular chin ups will strengthen the upper body, making it easier for the exerciser to hoist the body up, without the help of the stool, with time.
  • Slowing the speed of the chin up improves the endurance. Once you push yourself up, hold that position for some time. If the hands get tired drop one arm, give it a shake and then bring it back. Then drop the other arm and shake. Do at least four sets and rest for a few seconds after each set.
  • For strength, the trick is to do as much chin up as you can. But limit this in four sets. To increase the strength, you can also add ankle or waist weights or you can do one arm chin ups. This would increase the resistance power. However, add the resistances only after you have done 15 chin ups.

 
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