How can you enhance your strength training routine without equipment. What makes chin-ups and push-ups effective compound exercises. Why should you try the chin-up/push-up challenge for a full-body workout.
The Power of Bodyweight Exercises: Chin-Ups and Push-Ups
When it comes to building strength and improving overall fitness, bodyweight exercises are often underestimated. Two of the most effective bodyweight movements are chin-ups and push-ups. These exercises offer numerous benefits and can be performed virtually anywhere, making them ideal for those without access to a gym or fancy equipment.
Why Chin-Ups and Push-Ups Are Essential
Chin-ups and push-ups are compound exercises that engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously. This makes them highly efficient for building strength, muscle mass, and improving functional fitness.
- Chin-ups target the back muscles, biceps, and core
- Push-ups work the chest, triceps, shoulders, and core
- Both exercises improve overall upper body strength and stability
Are chin-ups more challenging than push-ups? Generally, chin-ups are considered more difficult because they require you to lift your entire body weight. This is why the chin-up/push-up challenge incorporates a 1:2 ratio of chin-ups to push-ups.
The Chin-Up/Push-Up Challenge Explained
The chin-up/push-up challenge is a countdown workout that alternates between these two exercises. It’s designed to push your limits and provide a comprehensive upper body workout in a short amount of time.
How the Challenge Works
The basic structure of the challenge is as follows:
- Start with 10 chin-ups followed by 20 push-ups
- Decrease reps by 2 for chin-ups and 4 for push-ups each round
- Continue until you reach 2 chin-ups and 4 push-ups
Here’s the full workout routine:
- 10 chin-ups, 20 push-ups
- 8 chin-ups, 16 push-ups
- 6 chin-ups, 12 push-ups
- 4 chin-ups, 8 push-ups
- 2 chin-ups, 4 push-ups
Is this challenge suitable for beginners? While the challenge can be intense, it can be modified to accommodate different fitness levels. Beginners can start with fewer reps or use assisted variations of the exercises.
Maximizing the Benefits of the Chin-Up/Push-Up Challenge
To get the most out of this challenge, it’s important to follow certain guidelines and maintain proper form throughout the workout.
Key Guidelines for Success
- Minimize rest between sets to maintain intensity
- Focus on proper form for each repetition
- Adjust the number of reps based on your fitness level
- Progress gradually to avoid injury
- Increase reps as you become stronger
How often should you attempt this challenge? For optimal results, aim to complete the challenge 2-3 times per week, allowing for adequate recovery between sessions.
Proper Form and Technique for Chin-Ups and Push-Ups
Executing proper form is crucial for maximizing the benefits of these exercises and preventing injury. Let’s break down the correct technique for both chin-ups and push-ups.
Chin-Up Technique
- Grip the bar with palms facing towards you, slightly narrower than shoulder-width
- Hang with arms fully extended and engage your core
- Pull yourself up until your chin clears the bar
- Lower yourself back down with control
Push-Up Technique
- Start in a plank position with hands slightly wider than shoulder-width
- Keep your body in a straight line from head to heels
- Lower your chest towards the ground by bending your elbows
- Push back up to the starting position
Can you modify these exercises if they’re too challenging? Yes, assisted variations like band-assisted chin-ups or knee push-ups can help build strength until you can perform full repetitions.
The Science Behind Compound Exercises
Compound exercises like chin-ups and push-ups offer numerous benefits over isolation exercises. Understanding the science behind these movements can help you appreciate their value in your fitness routine.
Benefits of Compound Exercises
- Increased muscle activation and growth
- Improved functional strength and stability
- Enhanced hormonal response for muscle building
- Greater calorie burn and metabolic boost
- Improved coordination and neuromuscular efficiency
How do compound exercises compare to isolation exercises in terms of muscle growth? Research has shown that compound exercises generally lead to greater overall muscle growth and strength gains compared to isolation exercises alone.
Incorporating the Challenge into Your Fitness Routine
The chin-up/push-up challenge can be a valuable addition to your existing workout regimen. Here are some tips for integrating this challenge effectively:
Strategies for Implementation
- Use the challenge as a standalone workout on days when you’re short on time
- Incorporate it as a finisher after your regular strength training sessions
- Alternate the challenge with other bodyweight workouts for variety
- Track your progress to stay motivated and monitor improvements
Should you replace your regular workouts with this challenge? While the challenge is effective, it’s best used as a supplement to a well-rounded fitness program that includes various exercises and training modalities.
Progression and Variations
As you become stronger and more proficient with the basic chin-up/push-up challenge, you can explore variations to continue challenging yourself and prevent plateaus.
Advanced Variations
- Weighted chin-ups and push-ups
- One-arm push-ups
- Clap push-ups
- L-sit chin-ups
- Archer push-ups
How can you make the challenge more difficult? In addition to trying variations, you can increase the total number of reps, reduce rest time between sets, or add isometric holds at the top or bottom of each movement.
Nutrition and Recovery for Optimal Performance
To support your progress and recovery from the chin-up/push-up challenge, proper nutrition and recovery strategies are essential.
Nutritional Considerations
- Consume adequate protein to support muscle repair and growth
- Stay hydrated before, during, and after workouts
- Include complex carbohydrates for energy
- Incorporate healthy fats for hormone production
Recovery Techniques
- Get sufficient sleep (7-9 hours per night)
- Practice active recovery on rest days (e.g., light cardio, yoga)
- Use foam rolling and stretching to alleviate muscle tension
- Consider contrast therapy (alternating hot and cold treatments)
How important is post-workout nutrition for recovery? Consuming a balanced meal or snack containing protein and carbohydrates within 30-60 minutes after your workout can help optimize muscle recovery and replenish energy stores.
The chin-up/push-up challenge offers a simple yet effective way to boost your strength, endurance, and overall fitness. By incorporating this challenge into your routine and following proper form and progression strategies, you can experience significant improvements in your upper body strength and functional fitness. Remember to listen to your body, adjust the challenge as needed, and stay consistent to achieve the best results.
As you progress through the challenge, you may find yourself capable of performing more repetitions or tackling more advanced variations. This growth is a testament to the effectiveness of bodyweight exercises and the power of consistent training. Whether you’re a beginner looking to build a foundation of strength or an experienced athlete seeking a new challenge, the chin-up/push-up challenge can be adapted to meet your needs and help you reach your fitness goals.
Have you considered tracking your progress over time? Keeping a log of your performance can be highly motivating and help you identify areas for improvement. You might be surprised at how quickly you can progress with dedicated practice and proper recovery.
Ultimately, the key to success with any fitness challenge is consistency and patience. Don’t be discouraged if you struggle initially – with regular practice, you’ll likely see significant improvements in your strength and endurance. Remember that fitness is a journey, and each repetition brings you one step closer to your goals.
By embracing the chin-up/push-up challenge and making it a regular part of your fitness routine, you’re not only building physical strength but also mental resilience. The discipline and determination required to complete this challenging workout can translate into other areas of your life, fostering a sense of accomplishment and boosting your overall confidence.
As you continue to push your limits and strive for improvement, consider setting specific goals related to the challenge. For example, you might aim to complete the entire workout without rest, increase the number of repetitions in each set, or progress to more advanced variations. Having clear objectives can help maintain your motivation and provide a sense of direction in your fitness journey.
Remember that while the chin-up/push-up challenge is an excellent standalone workout, it’s most effective when incorporated into a well-rounded fitness program. Consider complementing this challenge with lower body exercises, core work, and cardiovascular activities for a comprehensive approach to your physical fitness.
Lastly, don’t underestimate the importance of rest and recovery. As you push your body through this challenging workout, ensure you’re giving yourself adequate time to recuperate between sessions. This balance of intense effort and proper recovery is key to long-term progress and injury prevention.
By committing to the chin-up/push-up challenge and approaching it with dedication and consistency, you’re setting yourself up for impressive gains in strength, endurance, and overall fitness. Embrace the challenge, celebrate your progress, and enjoy the journey towards a stronger, more capable you.
Gym Geek The Toughest Chin-up/Push-up Challenge You’ll Ever Face!
As of this writing, many of you will probably be in your “off season” bulking modes and will be focusing on bulking up and adding mass to your physiques, as opposed to tone and definition. The winter time is the perfect time for bulking up, as it provides us with the perfect excuse to consume far too many calories, to let our cardio slip, and to hide away our expanding waistlines with loose fitting, baggy clothing.
With that being said however, whatever your goals may be, that still does not give you the excuse to simply sit on your butt and do absolutely nothing for the next few months, as the off-season is the perfect time to make brand new gains.
When it comes to making gains, and indeed, to just generally increasing your health and fitness in the process, many people will tell you to centre your workouts around heavy, free weight, compound exercises for the majority of your time in the gym. In reality however, you should never underestimate the sheer power and importance of bodyweight exercises.
As far as making gains and progress is concerned, in order to really keep your motivation levels sky high, you are going to need to find ways of keeping your workouts fresh and exciting, which is where various challenges can prove so incredibly useful. One challenge in particular, which is guaranteed to push you to your absolute limits, both physically, and mentally, is the chin-up/push-up challenge, so let’s take a more in-depth look, shall we?
Why chin-ups and push-ups?
There are many bodyweight exercises out there, each one designed to benefit your body in its own specific way, so what is it about chin-ups and push-ups that health and fitness experts find so appealing? Well, to begin with, both of the aforementioned exercises are absolutely perfect examples of compound exercises working at their finest.
Chin-ups for example, are utilized by bodybuilders, fitness competitors, and athletes in general, to help them add mass, strength, and definition to the various different muscle groups located on the back. Chin-ups work the upper and lower back muscles, and, by simply adjusting your grip, you can also bring various other muscle groups into the mix as well.
As for push-ups, these exercises are perfect for adding size to the chest, yet they also work the triceps, the core, and even a little of the deltoids as well.
What is the chin-up/push-up challenge?
Doing a push up on the floor
This workout is absolutely ideal for those of you who don’t have access to a gym and fancy equipment, and for those of you who don’t like messing around and who simply want to get your workout done and dusted as quickly as you possibly can.
It is basically a type of countdown challenge in which you will alternate between chin-ups and push-ups. The basic premise, is that you start with a number of Chin-ups, 10 for example, and then perform double the amount of push-ups, which, in this case, would be 20 push-ups.
The reason being that push-ups are generally easier to perform than chin-ups, so to compensate and put you through your paces, you will need to perform more.
The workout Routine:
10 chin-ups
20 push-ups
8 chin-ups
16 push-ups
6 chin-ups
12 push-ups
4 chin-ups
8 push-ups
2 chin-ups
4 push-ups
Things to consider and basic guidelines
So there you have it, on paper, or indeed, on a computer screen, the workout itself looks pretty simple and basic, but don’t let that fool you.
If you execute perfect form, and follow the guidelines we’ll be listing for you below, by the time you finish this workout, not only will your muscles feel as if they’re on fire, in a good way, of course, you will also have burnt off a significant amount of calories, making it a great workout for keeping your weight under control in the process.
Although you are only doing 30 chin-ups and 60 push-ups, by the time you have finished, you will feel like you’ve been put through your paces. Here’s a look at a few basic guidelines that you must follow to get the most out of your workout challenge:
- Move between sets as quickly as you can with as little rest as possible.
- Execute perfect form.
- If the number of reps are too high for you, change them so that they’re easier.
- Take your time, don’t rush, and don’t try to run before you can walk.
- If it is too easy for you (or you’ve done it several times) then add a few extra reps (in roughly the same ratio as they are now).
Want to do more? Check out our guide on the best push up variations.
The One-Month-Long Beginner Pull-Up Program
If the deadlift is the ultimate test of pure strength, then the pull-up is the best move around to test your functional strength. The reason being that to do a pull-up, you need to be strong, stable, and relatively lean (since you’re pulling your own body weight). Also, if you’re ever dangling from the edge of a cliff (we hope not, but, hey, stuff happens), deadlifts aren’t going to do you much good.
The main issue with pull-ups is that they’re hard to do. If you’re too heavy and/or not very strong, the move is a nonstarter. That said, there are variations and alternatives you can use to work up to your first-ever pull-up. We’ll go over those below, in addition to outlining a month-long program to take your pull-up game up a few notches.
BarBend’s Pull-Up Program Video
Here’s another great pull-up program option geared towards beginners. It involves minimal equipment and is an approachable starting point for anyone hoping to nail their first pull-up.
One-Month Pull-Up Training Program
The program below is a month-long, three-day-per-week plan to help beginners achieve their first pull-up. While this program is geared towards beginners, it can also be used to help non-beginners breakthrough pull-up plateaus and as an accompaniment to your back training.
Perform each of the three workouts below every week, with at least a day of rest between each, for four weeks. Each workout consists of three to four exercises, totaling about 30 minutes per workout. Progressions can be done using a heavier load. Challenge yourself to add weight each week, yet not so much that you can’t feel the back muscles working.
Day One
- Dead Hang: 4 sets of 30 seconds, resting 45-60 seconds between sets. (Add weight if you can, using a belt and weight around hips.)
- Isometric Pull-Up Hold: 4 sets of 10 seconds, resting 60-90 seconds between sets. (Perform a 10-second hold at the top of the pull-up.)
- Inverted Barbell Row: 4 sets of 5 reps, resting 60-90 seconds between sets (Use a pronated grip, slightly wider than shoulders. Add weight and go heavy.)
- Lat Pulldown: 4 sets of 6-8 reps, resting 60-90 seconds between sets (Add weight and go heavy, perform controlled eccentric and get a full lat stretch between reps by elongating the arms at the top. )
Day Two
- Towel-Grip Dead Hang: 4 sets of 30 seconds, resting 45-60 seconds between sets (Add weight if you can, using a belt and weight around hips.)
- Eccentric Pull-Up: 4 sets of 5 reps, resting 60-90 seconds between sets (Lower yourself to a count of 3 to five seconds.)
- Band Assisted Pull-Up: 4 sets of 5 reps, resting 60-90 seconds between sets (Choose a band that will make you struggle for your last rep, yet still maintain good form. Don’t use the momentum from the band to propel yourself back up.)
- Supinated-Grip Dumbbell Bench Supported Row: 4 sets of 8-10 reps, resting 60-90 seconds between sets (Be sure to have palms facing away from you as you row.)
Day Three
- Fat-Grip Dead Hang: 4 sets of 30 seconds, resting 45-60 seconds between sets (Add weight if you can, using a belt and weight around hips. )
- Band Assisted 1 ½ Pull-Up: 4 sets of 3-5 reps, resting 60-90 seconds between sets (Start at the bottom of the pull-up. Pull your chin over the bar, and perform a slight pause to engage the back muscles. Go down about halfway so that your elbows are in line with your eye. Pull yourself back up. That is a 1 ½ pull-up.)
- Lat Pulldown: 4 sets of 8-10 reps, resting 60-90 seconds between sets (Add weight and go heavy, perform controlled eccentric and get stretch between reps by elongating the arms at the top.)
- Seal Row: 4 sets of 8-10 reps, resting 60-90 seconds between sets.
How to Do the Perfect Pull-Up
Below are five key points every lifter should know — from newbies to gym veterans — when doing pull-ups.
- Find the Right Grip: Grip the bar with both hands slightly wider than shoulder-width with palms facing away from you. You can vary this based on your goal. However, you should master the pull-up with this grip before taking a wider or narrower grip. When you are set up, think about getting as much of your palm on top of the bar as possible. You should apply pressure with your pinky into the pull-up bar, which will help you engage the lats more.
- Start from a Dead Hang: Unless you perform eccentric pull-ups, you should start your pull-ups in the dead hang position — with your arms fully extended and feet off the ground.
- Stabilize Your Core and Set Your Shoulders: Before doing a rep, pull your belly button navel inwards, brace the core, and pull the shoulders down away from your ears. This specific position will ensure that you’re pulling with mainly your lats and not engaging your traps or arms more than you need to.
- Elbows and Pinkies to the Hips: By thinking of applying pressure to the bar through the pinkies, you can increase lat engagement. Make sure your knuckles stay on top of the bar and pretend that you’re driving your elbows to your hips through your pinkies.
- Pause at the Top, Lower Under Control, and Repeat: Once you get to the top of the pull-up, be sure to lean back slightly and hold yourself briefly, flexing the back muscles. Then, lower yourself slowly as you feel the stretch in the lats. Lowering yourself downwards under control is a great way to increase muscle growth and is called the eccentric training phase of the movement.
Benefits of the Pull-Up
Below are three main benefits of the pull-up. It’s important to note that pull-ups are one of the most beneficial exercises (when done correctly and not in excess) for upper body strength and back growth and improve your back health for many other lifts and movements.
MilanMarkovic78/Shutterstock
A Bigger, Stronger Back
The pull-up is an effective exercise to increase back strength and muscle hypertrophy. Pull-ups can also improve the width of a person’s back muscles, as they’re an easy movement to provide progressive overload with (either by increasing weight via a weight belt, increasing repetitions of the movement, or decreasing the amount of band assistance).
Carryover to Other Lifts
The back muscles trained by pull-ups can play a large role in carryover to improvements across other lifts. For example, building stronger lats and traps using pull-ups can have indirect carryover to squats and deadlifts, as these muscles are crucial for their success.
Improved Sense of Accomplishment
Think back to that time you nailed your first pull-up. It was an awesome feeling, right? A pull-up is a fantastic tool for tracking upper body strength and progress and can be a great tool for boosting confidence. Additionally, being able to master a pull-up allows you to unlock a whole new level of fitness and strength outside of the gym!
What to Do If You Cannot Do a Pull-Up?
Pull-ups are hard, and you shouldn’t feel embarrassed if you can’t do one yet. First, strengthen your back with other, more accessible back exercises. Below, we go over a handful of variations and alternatives that will help you work up to your first pull-up.
A band-assisted pull-up is a great option if you cannot perform a strict pull-up. However, they’re usually performed incorrectly. Common faults, such as body swinging (lack of body tension), sloppy repetitions, and lack of muscular control with the lats at the top and throughout the movement, can all lead to stalled results. Additionally, too many beginner lifters use too much band assistance and never force themselves to struggle to pull themselves up for sets of two to three reps (which actually will build the strength necessary to pull your body weight up, rather than higher reps of 10 or more).
Eccentric reps — when you jump up and then lower yourself down slowly — are also a great option to build pull-up-specific strength. You can do a few sets of three to five reps after every back workout. Another great option is simply getting your chin over the bar and holding yourself there for as long as possible. Time yourself, and then aim to beat your time during your next workout. Try this pull-up hold three to four times per week.
Keep grinding away with other back-building movements, and then try to do a pull-up every so often. Eventually, you’ll get a rep.
Pull Up Variations
In the below program, we incorporate a wide array of pull-up variations and alternatives to help you build a stronger foundation for back strength and muscle mass and ultimately help you master your pull-up technique. Below, we will discuss a few of those pull-up accessory exercises.
Chin-Up
Many lifters will be able to nail a chin-up before they can do a pull-up, primarily due to the arms being involved to a higher degree (biceps and anterior shoulder). While the chin-up can be a great movement for building serious upper body pulling strength, it is important to do it correctly, not overuse it, and not neglect pull-ups.
Isometric Pull-Up Holds
Isometrics pull-up holds, such as the towel-grip pull-up and hold, can be a great way to increase muscular strength necessary for a pull-up as they can help increase force output and tension development at specific areas of weakness (such as at the top, middle, or bottom of the movement). Many beginners will benefit (advanced lifters will benefit as well) from doing these, which are included in the three-day pull-up program for beginners above.
Eccentric Pull-Ups
Training the pull-up’s eccentric phase is a great way to increase muscle growth and strength for beginners who struggle to master the pull-up. To do this, have the lifter start at the top of the movement (maybe combine this with an isometric hold at the top), and then have them lower under control for five to 10 seconds. Once they are at the full lockout position, have them jump back up and repeat.
Tempo Banded Pull-Ups
As discussed above, banded pull-ups are a good pull-up option for beginners as they decrease the amount of force and strength needed at the weakest phase of the pull-up (from the full arms extended position). That said, adding in tempos (similar to tempo pull-ups) can truly maximize muscle growth and strength to help beginners establish greater muscle coordination, activation, and growth.
Jumping Pull-Ups
The jumping pull-up is a good way to scale high rep pull-ups in WODs or when trying to develop muscle endurance in the back and grip. By jumping, you allow the lifter to approach the sticking point with movement, in which they can more easily break through and complete the pull-up. They can also adjust how high they jump to make the movement more challenging to bridge the gap between jumping pull-ups and strict pull-ups.
Kipping Pull-Ups
The kipping pull-up is a pull-up variation that can increase muscle endurance and is specific to many functional fitness workouts. To master the kipping pull-up and/or the strict pull-up, lifters should make sure to devote time to each variation as there are distinct benefits and risks associated with each. Be sure to read up on our guide, Kipping Pull-Ups vs. Strict Pull-Ups, to learn more.
Pull-Up Alternatives
In the below program, we discuss a few pull-up alternatives you can use in place of pull-ups to increase back strength, pull-up muscle endurance, and grip strength.
Barbell Row
The barbell row is a classic back strengthening exercise used by nearly every bodybuilder, strength athlete, and recreational lifter. While not done at the same angle as the pull-up, the bent over row is a great back exercise to add into your training as it allows you to move heavier loads that are more relative to your own body weight.
Lat Pulldowns
Machine training, such as the lat pulldown, allows you to isolate the specific muscle groups needed to perform a pull-up. While many band pull-up variations and isometrics are key, machine-based training will allow a beginner lifter to add more loading to stress the muscle fibers enough to greater muscular damage without being limited by grip strength, body control, and/or general total body fatigue.
Suspension Rows
Suspension rows can be done on the rings or a TRX suspension trainer and are a great way to increase upper back strength, body awareness, and grip strength — all of which necessary for the pull-up. Using the suspension row, you can also quickly adjust the difficulty of the movement for all levels in between sets or even during a set, making it great for all levels of training.
Seal Row
The seal row is a barbell row alternative that is great for beginners and advanced lifters alike who are on the quest for a bigger, stronger back. The seal row is a row variation that does not require the lifter to support their body in the bent over position.
This can help beginners who may not have good posture control and cannot train the back hard enough due to poor body positions. This is also a great way to add extra back training with lifters who may have lower back issues or fatigue (especially post squats or deadlifts).
Lastly, the seal row limits the amount of momentum that can be used to move the load, all equating to increase back strength and isolation.
Dumbbell Row
The dumbbell row is a unilateral back exercise that all levels can perform. This is a great exercise to increase grip strength and endurance while simultaneously improving back strength and body positioning (flat and/or arched back). Additionally, the dumbbell row can be done for strength, muscle hypertrophy, or muscle endurance, making it a very diverse exercise for any fitness level.
More Pull-Up Training Tips
If you’re interested in taking your pull-up game even further, here are some more articles from BarBend that you should read.
Featured image: MilanMarkovic78/Shutterstock
Forterra donates to 24-hour chin-up challenge in aid of Northampton Saints Foundation
Posted: 10/06/21 by Northampton Saints Foundation
Northampton-based building products manufacturer Forterra has donated £2,000 to Jack Fleckney, who is attempting a world record-breaking 5,500 chin-ups, which equates to four reps every minute, for 24 hours this weekend (Saturday 12th June )
Jack Fleckney is taking part in the chin-up challenge in aid of Northampton Saints Foundation – Jack(127)
The chin-up challenge is in aid of the Northampton Saints Foundation, based in Northampton. The foundation is a stand-alone charity centered around the values of the Northampton Saints Rugby Club. The foundation works with disadvantaged young people in the Northampton area and further afield in the Midlands.
Jack is hoping to raise £100,000 through the world record attempt, with the money raised supporting the Foundation’s Engage programme and enabling the Foundation to expand its classroom space and be able to support even more young people to a positive future.
The Foundation’s Engage programme works with children between the ages of 10 and 16 who are facing difficulties within mainstream education. The programme offers on-site learning and inclusive on and off-site activities for children with the aim of improving their personal, social and life skills.
Jack said: “I’ve taken on a lot of challenges before and these have been more suited to my strengths, so this challenge will really test my abilities and endurance. I really wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone, because the Northampton Saints Foundation is a charity very close to my heart.
“A lot of the children the Foundation works with feel like the odds are against them, so I wanted to do a challenge where the odds are against me to show them that you have to keep going.
“The Northampton Saints Foundation is a fantastic charity that I have worked with before and to be able to see the benefits of fundraising for these children is a wonderful feeling.”
Stephen Harrison, Chief Executive of Forterra, said: “We are very pleased to make this donation towards Jack’s remarkable world record attempt and to support the Northampton Saints Foundation. The work of the Northampton Saints Foundation and their Engage programme for disadvantaged young people in our area is incredibly important and we wish Jack the best of luck in completing his challenge.”
For more information about Forterra, please visit www.forterra.co.uk
If anyone else is interested in learning more about this challenge and supporting the Foundation to please contact Sue 07483 078363
The Chin-Up Hypertrophy Guide – Outlift
Chin-ups are a great lift for your upper back, abs, and grip strength. They’re even a great lift great for improving your cardiovascular fitness. What they’re most famous for, though, is building absolutely killer biceps.
In fact, the only other lift that’s as good for bulking up our biceps is the biceps curl. But given that curls are a smaller single-joint movement, they’re better thought of as an assistance lift to the chin-up anyway.
The chin-up is one of our Big 5 bulking lifts, and in this article we’re going to go over the best strategies for integrating it into your bulking routine, getting the most muscle mass and strength out of it as possible.
In this article, we’ll cover:
- How to bulk up your arms, back, and abs with the chin-up.
- Whether you should use a neutral grip, overhand grip, or underhand grip as your main chin-up variation.
- How to assess your weaknesses and then fix them.
- The best assistance lifts for improving your chin-up strength.
- How to use accessory lifts, such as biceps curls and rows.
What is a Chin-Up?
The chin-up is a compound exercise that works our upper backs and biceps. It’s done by hanging from a bar with an underhand grip and then pulling your chin over the bar, hence its name.
The word “chin-up” is often used interchangeably with the word “pull-up,” but most experts use the different names to refer to two different lifts. The chin-up is done with an underhand grip, as shown above, whereas the pull-up is done with an overhand grip. We’ll talk about the differences in a minute, but the chin-up is a big compound exercise, whereas the pull-up is a much smaller lift.
With that said, you can do chin-up in a variety of different ways. You can use an angled bar or gymnastics rings to make them easier on your elbow joints. And you can do them with your bodyweight for as many reps as possible, or you can load them with weights and do heavy sets.
How to Do Chin-Ups
Chin-ups are a fairly simple lift. We grip the bar slightly wider than shoulder width, then we pull ourselves up. There’s a bit more nuance to it. For instance, it helps to brace your abs so that your torso doesn’t wobble around. But most people can learn the technique quite easily.
Here’s a tutorial video of Marco teaching the chin-up:
The trick with chin-up is that you need to be quite strong to do them, and the more you weigh, the stronger you’ll need to be. If you can’t do 2–3 full chin-ups yet, you can do lowered chin-ups instead, jumping up to the bar or using a stool, and then lowering yourself back down. You’ll still develop the same muscles and get the same benefits. (And we have more beginner strategies below. )
What Muscles Do Chin-Ups Work?
Main Muscles Worked
As covered in the last section, chin-ups are incredible for bulking up your back and biceps. But chin-ups will also work your other forearm flexors, both in your upper arms (brachialis) and forearms (brachioradialis). And they’ll work your grip, your upper chest, your rear delts, and even your abs. In fact, they’re one of the very best ab exercises, easily beating out crunches and sit-ups (reference).
Chin-ups are the biggest upper-body lift.
This makes chin-ups one of the biggest compound lifts, and certainly the biggest lift for your upper body. But even so, chin-ups still aren’t a complete back exercise. After all, they won’t grow your upper traps or spinal erectors, both of which are big muscles, important for general strength, and contribute quite a lot to our appearance. That’s where the deadlift and barbell row come in, hitting all of the muscles that the chin-up misses.
With chin-ups and deadlifts, you’ll be able to build a truly fearsome back. Add in some smart assistance and accessory lifts, such as rows and curls, and men will cower before you. Or, rather, cower behind you.
Do Chin-Ups Train the Triceps?
Yes, chin-ups work the triceps. You might have noticed that your triceps get sore from doing chin-ups, and that’s totally normal. Chin-ups work the long head of the triceps similar to how a pullover works the long head of the triceps. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the chin-up will work your triceps hard enough to build much muscle back there.
The long head of the triceps is a biarticular muscle that crosses both the elbow and the shoulder joint. It can extend the elbows, as in a skull crusher, and it can also extend the shoulders, as in a pullover. This means that when you flex our triceps during chin-ups, they pull your elbows back towards your torso, which helps, but they also open your arms, which hurts. As a result, we can’t fully engage our triceps for fear of interfering with our biceps. So the long head of your triceps will work, but it might not work enough to stimulate much muscle growth.
If you want to bulk up the long head of your triceps, chin-ups can certainly help, but skull crushers and overhead extensions are better bets. On the other hand, if you’ve already bulked your triceps up, chin-ups will be more than enough to maintain their size, and maybe even gain a bit of size.
- If you’re intentionally trying to build bigger triceps, it can help to include triceps isolation lifts like skull crushers and overhead extensions.
- If you’re focusing on other areas or building a minimalist workout routine, chin-ups and pressing movements are more than enough to maintain or make slow progress on your triceps.
The Best Chin-Up Variations
There are a few different ways to grip the bar when doing chin-ups. We’ve already covered the difference between chin-ups (using an underhand or neutral grip) and pull-ups (using an overhand grip). And we’ve already covered why chin-ups tend to be better for building muscle. They have a larger range of motion and do a better job of engaging our biceps.
But there are a few different variations of the chin-up, each with their own pros and cons.
Underhand Chin-Ups
The traditional way of doing chin-ups is to use a straight bar, and grip it with a shoulder-width underhand grip. This variation has a huge range of motion and does a good job of bulking up both our biceps and back muscles.
What’s interesting about using this underhand grip is that it puts a greater stretch on our biceps, improving muscle growth. However, this comes at the cost of our other elbow flexors (brachialis and brachioradialis) having a harder time contributing to the lift.
Neutral-Grip Chin-Ups
Neutral grip chin-ups are done with our palms facing one another. They require a special bar, but there are some notable advantages to them:
- All of our elbow flexors (biceps, brachialis, and brachioradialis) are engaged instead of putting the emphasis on just our biceps. However, our biceps aren’t stretched quite as much, which may be a disadvantage for biceps growth.
- Our shoulders are in a neutral position. This doesn’t necessarily make them safer, per se—all chin-up variations are fairly safe—but it makes them a good choice for people with cranky shoulders.
- We can lift the most weight. With all of our elbow flexors engaged and our shoulders in a pleasantly neutral position, most people are able to lift more weight. And that’s great.
Angled-Grip Chin-Ups
Doing chin-ups with an angled grip is a happy middle-ground between the underhand and neutral grip. People tend to be quite strong at it, it’s still quite good for growing the biceps, and it’s easy on the shoulders. It’s a great choice.
Gymnastic-Ring Chin-Ups
Using gymnastics rings let’s your grip rotate freely as you do chin-ups. That tends to make chin-ups easier on our elbows, and it’s also fantastic for muscle activation. This is a great option.
Overhand Pull-Ups
Pull-ups are done with an overhand, wider grip. The thing is, using an overhand grip prevents the biceps from engaging, and using a wider grip shortens the range of motion. That’s why we use the chin-up as our default variation.
The pull-up is done with a wider, overhand grip.
The advantage of pull-ups is that they work your lats just as hard as chin-ups, but with less work being done by your other muscles. So if you want a smaller assistance exercise that puts more emphasis on your lats than your biceps, pull-ups are great for that.
For more, we have a full article on chin-ups vs pull-ups, going over the differences in muscle activation and range of motion.
The Best Chin-Up Alternatives
We’ve already covered the best chin-up variations, including ones that are easier on our elbows and that emphasize different muscles. But sometimes people don’t have access to a chin-up bar. In that case, you can do rows, pullovers, and biceps curls. The row works many of the same upper back muscles as the chin-up, but the downside is that it doesn’t work our lats in a deep stretch, and it doesn’t do a very good job of challenging our biceps.
The dumbbell pullover, a great lat exercise.
If we add in the pullover, we can challenge our lats in a deep stretch. And if we add in the biceps curl, we have an exercise that’s perfect for our biceps. So by combining the row, pullover, and curl, we have a combination of exercises that will help us fully develop our backs and biceps.
I realize that replacing a single exercise with three different exercises sounds like a pain, but keep in mind that even if you’re doing chin-ups, it still helps to be doing rows, pullovers, and curls. Variety is always a good thing.
How to Improve Your Chin-Ups
Using a Deep Range of Motion
To perform a chin-up, you start by hanging from the bar with arms fully extended, from what’s called a dead hang. Then you explode out of the bottom, pulling yourself up with all of your might, and bringing your chest all the way to the bar.
It’s not a small isolation movement where you focus on keeping tension on the muscles or feeling the burn. It’s more like an upper-body deadlift. You reset at the bottom, gather your energy, and bring every ounce of force that you can muster into pulling yourself up.
The purpose of starting from a dead hang and bringing your chest to the bar is that you want to use the largest range of motion that you can manage. As a general rule, using a larger range of motion will improve your mobility, develop a more versatile kind of strength, and, of course, stimulate more muscle growth.
Now, to be clear, doing chin-ups with the largest possible range of motion won’t necessarily benefit your lats or your biceps. We’re actually going beyond their functional range of motion. Your lats will benefit from part of the extended range of motion, your biceps will benefit from another part of it, but the main reason you want that massive range of motion is that you’ll work dozens of other muscles along the way. At the bottom of the lift you’re going to need to bring in entirely different muscles to get you out of the hole. To pull yourself into the bar, again, more muscles will need to assist.
However, we don’t want to be too strict about range of motion, either. We don’t want to stop our sets as soon as we can’t touch our chests to the bar. That would be stopping too soon—long before our lats and biceps have been fully exhausted. That brings us to the next section.
How to Improve the Strength Curve
The strength curve of a lift is how challenging it is at various parts of the range of motion. This is important because our muscles only grow when they’re challenged, so if some parts of the range of motion are too easy, they won’t stimulate any muscle growth.
Most barbell lifts have a fairly similar (bell-shaped) strength curve, but pulling movements fall into their own unique category. When you’re training your back, you might notice that it’s relatively easy to get the weight moving, but then the last few inches become incredibly difficult. This is most pronounced with pull-ups and barbell rows, but it applies to chin-ups as well.
This isn’t because you have a strength imbalance that needs fixing, it’s because, first, the moment arms on most pulling exercises are longest at the top of the lift instead of in the middle (like the front squat) or at the bottom (like the bench press). Second, our muscles are able to contract far harder at the bottom of the lift (in the stretched position) than they are at the top (as they move towards full contraction).
There’s something else happening here, too. The lats, which are the main muscle we use when pulling, can’t bring the arms behind the body, meaning that with a lift like a barbell row, our strongest muscles can’t help us touch the barbell to our chests. Now, in some ways, that’s a good thing. Needing to use different muscles over the course of a single lift is one of the benefits of lifting with a large range of motion. I mean, why not build an even wider variety of muscles with that extra range of motion, right? However, since our lats are our strongest pulling muscle, if we limit how much we can lift based on how much weight our smaller muscles lift, then we won’t ever be lifting enough weight to challenge our lats, and our lats won’t grow.
Furthermore, it’s that bottom part of the lift—when our lats and biceps are stretched and we’re starting to pull ourselves up—that we stimulate the most muscle growth. It’s the bottom part of the range of motion that’s the most important.
Of all the pulling movements, the chin-up has one of the better strength curves, but even so, it’s normal to struggle to bring our chests all the way to the bar, and we shouldn’t necessarily stop our sets when that happens. After all, this is a chin-up, not a chest-up. As long as our chin clears the bar, it counts. (The same is true when we’re testing our 1-rep max. If our chin clears the bar, we’re all good.)
To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with bringing our chests all the way to the bar. For most of our reps, that’s a great goal. In fact, if we’re trying to leave a couple of reps in reserve, we might indeed stop our sets when we can no longer touch our chests to the bar. We just need to be clear that not being able to bring our chests all the way to the bar doesn’t count as reaching failure yet.
Point being, we should try to bring our chests all the way up to the bar when doing chin-ups, but we shouldn’t use that high standard to gauge whether we’ve reached failure. Failure is when we can no longer bring our chins all the way up to the bar. It is, after all, a chin-up.
Stretching Your Lats Between Sets
Recently, it’s been shown that stretching our muscles between sets may slightly increase muscle growth, perhaps by giving our muscles a bit of extra overall tension, and thus boosting our training volume a little higher (study). The research is still young, but so long as we aren’t stretching so painfully hard that we impair our strength, at worst it would have a neutral effect. Plus, since we’re stretching during our rest times, it won’t even increase the length of our workouts.
This technique, called interset stretching, involves stretching the prime movers of a lift for thirty seconds between sets to the point where we can feel a hearty but not painful stretch. If we stretch harder or longer, other research shows that it could start to impair our performance on subsequent sets, which would do more harm than good. We want to make sure that this stretching still allows us to lift just as heavy and hard as usual.
So in this case, what we want to do is stretch our lats between sets of pull-ups and perhaps barbell rows. Because our lats are often hard to bring close to failure during those back exercises, this can help give them a bit of extra stimulation, and so will likely give us some extra muscle growth.
Giving our lats a hearty but comfortable stretch for around thirty seconds between sets of chin-ups and rows could help boost muscle growth.
How to Do More Chin-Ups
As beginners, our strength on the chin-up is measured by how many bodyweight repetitions we can get. At first, we might only be able to do lowered chin-ups, or maybe grind out a couple hard reps. That’s when we’re focused on doing more chin-ups, adding more reps to each set we do.
There are a few ways we can work on that:
- We can do lowered chin-ups (a beginner variation). If you don’t have the strength to do full chin-ups, these will overload your muscles, stimulating quite a lot of muscle growth. These are especially valuable because they train the exact muscles that we need to do chin-ups. All of the strength you develop will improve your chin-ups.
- We can do exercises that work a similar movement pattern (assistance lifts), such as doing underhand lat pulldowns, band-assisted chin-ups, or using an assisted pull-up machine. These exercises aren’t quite the same as chin-ups, and they don’t work quite the same muscles, but there’s quite a lot of carryover. Most of the strength you gain will help you improve your chin-ups.
- We can do exercises that build muscle mass in the relevant muscles (accessory lifts), such as doing barbell curls for our biceps, pullovers for our lats, and barbell rows for our upper backs. Some of the strength you gain will improve your chin-ups.
So as a beginner, we want to focus most of our attention on doing a beginner variation of the chin-up, since it has the best carryover to our chin-up performance. After that, we want to use some assistance lifts, such as lat pulldowns. And then we want to spend a bit of time bulking up the relevant muscles, such as by doing barbell curls and pullovers.
So maybe every week, you work the following exercises into your workout routine:
- Lowered chin-ups: 4 sets of as many repetitions as you can do. Maybe do these twice per week, giving you 8 total sets per week.
- Lat pulldowns: 3 sets of 8 reps. Perhaps do these twice per week, giving you 6 total sets per week.
- Barbell curls: 2 sets of 10 reps, done just once per week.
- Pullovers: 2 sets of 10 reps, done just once per week.
Over time, you’ll get stronger at the chin-up, your reps will start to climb. When you can do 6–12 reps, you can start adding weight to your chin-ups. You don’t have to ever add weight, but since chin-ups are quite taxing, it can help to do them for 6–12 reps so that your cardiovascular system doesn’t start to limit your performance.
How to Get Better at Chin-Ups
Once you’re able to do at least 6 chin-ups in a row, starting from a dead hang and bringing your chin over the bar, you’re past the beginner stage. Now it’s not about doing more chin-ups, it’s about doing heavier chin-ups. Now we’re trying to get stronger at the chin-up. This is when we buy a dip belt (like this one) or start holding dumbbells between our legs.
To get stronger at the chin-up, we want to take the same approach that a beginner would take.
- Main variations: the best way to get stronger at chin-ups is to do more chin-ups. So we prioritize chin-up variations (straight bar, neutral grip, gymnastics rings, and so on). These give us the most bang for our buck, and all of the muscle and strength we can will directly make us stronger at the chin-up. (And they’re amazing for building muscle.)
- Assistance lifts: after we’ve done our heavy chin-ups, we do some assistance lifts, such as pull-ups, lat pulldowns, and rows. These will make us stronger in a variety of similar movement patterns, and most of the muscle we build will improve our chin-up strength.
- Accessory lifts: we also want to hit the relevant muscles from different angles and make sure that we’re giving all of them a chance to get close enough to failure. In this case, we have the biceps curl for our biceps and the pullover for our lats.
You don’t need to do all of these lifts every time you do chin-ups. You can spread them out over the week. Maybe you do chin-ups and curls on Monday, rows on Wednesday, and pull-ups and pullovers on Friday. That way you’re stimulating your muscles 3 times per week, which is perfect for building muscle, and you’re adding up enough sets per week to maximize your rate of muscle growth.
There’s plenty of room for customization, though, especially as you get more and more advanced. Let’s go over the pros and cons of the assistance and accessory lifts so that you know how to choose the ones that are best for you.
The Best Assistance Lifts
The best assistance lifts for the chin-up are pulling lifts that work our back and biceps at the same time, such as underhand lat pulldowns. The movement is very similar, but it’s a lighter and easier variation that isn’t as fatiguing, allowing us to sneak in some extra volume. We can also use assistance lifts like the pull-up or row to work our upper backs and forearms.
Here’s a more complete list of chin-up assistance lifts:
- Pull-Ups: using an overhand grip removes your biceps from the exercise, but still works your lats and forearms just as hard. This will force you to use lighter weight, making the pull-ups quite a bit easier to recover from. It’s a good assistance lift for guys with lagging lats.
- Underhand Lat Pulldowns: using an underhand grip while doing pulldowns is a great way to train the same muscles as the chin-up through the same range of motion, just with a lighter weight.
- 1-Arm Lat Pulldowns: you do these by attaching a one-handed grip to a lat pulldown machine. They’re absolutely fantastic for your biceps, lats, and rear delts. If you haven’t tried these yet, I highly recommend giving them a shot.
- Overhand Lat Pulldowns: these are great for emphasizing your lats and forearms, but keep in mind that the overhand grip won’t do a good job of engaging your biceps, and so you’ll need to use a lighter weight.
- Underhand Barbell Rows: if your lower back and spinal erectors aren’t overly fatigued from your deadlifting, these are a good assistance lift for both your chin-ups and deadlifts. Be careful about fatiguing your lower back, though. There’s only so much it can take.
- Dumbbell Rows: these are a fantastic lift for bulking up your lats and forearms. There are a bunch of different variations: 1-arm, 2-arm, chest-supported, with your hand resting on a bench, and so on. All of these variations are great, but the classic 1-arm dumbbell row with your hand on a bench is a good default.
- Chest-Supported Rows: If your lower back is already getting beaten up from your deadlift training, this is a great way to train your upper back without stressing your spinal erectors even more.
The Best Accessory Lifts
The best accessory lifts for the chin-up are the ones that work our biceps or lats under a deep stretch. For our biceps, barbell curls are great for engaging our upper backs and forearms, whereas incline curls work our biceps in an even deeper stretch. Both are fantastic. For our lats, we want to look at lifts like pullovers and straight-arm pulldowns. Both of those challenge our lats in a deep stretch with a great strength curve. These lifts don’t engage as much overall muscle mass as the chin-up, but they’re perfectly ideal for bulking up our lats and biceps one by one.
Here are more examples of chin-up accessory lifts, along with their pros and cons:
- Barbell and Dumbell Curls: biceps curls are a classic, no-brainer accessory lift for the chin-up. Your biceps are one of the main muscle groups being trained in the chin-up, and curls will do a great job of bulking them up. A lesser-known fact is that heavy biceps curls (especially with a barbell or curl-bar) are also great for your upper back, given that it needs to stabilize the weight.
- Preacher Curls: preacher curls have the advantage of working our biceps harder in a stretched position, which seems to improve biceps growth by quite a lot. These are perhaps the best biceps isolation exercise. The downside is that they require a preacher curl bench, which brings us to …
- Sissy Curls: if you don’t have access to a preacher curl bench, you can create a similar effect by leaning back when doing barbell curls. You do this by bending at the knees and ankles, not at the lower back. Here’s our guide to doing sissy curls. Again, because these challenge our biceps in a stretched position, they may stimulate more biceps growth than a standard curl.
- Power Curls: power curls are similar to biceps curls, except instead of using strict form, you throw some hip drive in there. This will let you use heavier weights. The trick is to make sure that you’re contracting your biceps with full force all throughout the lift. Really try to accelerate that weight up. Then, to get the benefit of the heavier weight, lower the weight down under full control.
- Pullovers: pullovers are great for training both your lats and the long head of your triceps, which will help you pull your elbows to your torso while doing chin-ups. You can do these with dumbbells until you get so strong that you need to use a barbell or curl-bar. These challenge our lats in a stretched position, making them a great lat hypertrophy exercise.
- Texan Skullcrushers (aka heavy lying triceps extensions): if you add a pullover movement to your skull crushers, you’ll engage both your triceps and lats. That turns skull crushers into a great accessory lift for both the bench press and the chin-up. (This variation was popularized by Mark Rippetoe in the Texas Method.)
Summary
The chin-up is perhaps the single best lift for bulking up our upper backs and biceps, and is one of the very best compound lifts for gaining overall muscle mass. There are many different ways of doing chin-ups, but the underhand chin-up is the heaviest variation that works the most overall muscle mass. The only variations that rival it are the neutral grip, angled grip, and gymnastics rings variations, all of which are similarly heavy and work the same muscles.
The pull-up is equally popular to the chin-up, but because it uses and overhand grip, it prevents our biceps from engaging. Because our biceps don’t engage, they don’t grow, and they also don’t help us lift more weight. So the pull-up becomes a smaller, more advanced lift. It’s still a great lift, but the chin-up is better for gaining overall muscle mass.
To get better at chin-ups, we want to focus most of our efforts on doing chin-ups themselves. (Or, if you can’t do 2–3 chin-ups yet, doing lowered chin-ups instead.) But we also want to use a wide variety of similar exercises, such as lat pulldowns and rows, and to work our muscles in different ways, such as with curls and pullovers. That’s how we build a balanced workout routine that will develop all of our muscles while making us stronger at the chin-up itself.
If you want a customizable workout program (and full guide) that builds these principles in, then check out our Outlift Intermediate Bulking Program. Or, if you’re still skinny or skinny-fat, try our Bony to Beastly (men’s) program or Bony to Bombshell (women’s) program. If you liked this article, you’ll love our full programs.
Shane Duquette is the co-founder and creative lead of Outlift, Bony to Beastly, and Bony to Bombshell, and has a degree in design from York University in Toronto, Canada. He’s personally gained 65 pounds at 11% body fat and has ten years of experience helping over 10,000 skinny people bulk up.
Marco Walker-Ng is the co-founder and strength coach of Outlift, Bony to Beastly, and Bony to Bombshell, and is a certified trainer (PTS) with a Bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences (BHSc) from the University of Ottawa. His specialty is helping people build muscle to improve their strength and general health, with clients including college, professional, and Olympic athletes.
My Top 5 Favorite Pullup and Chinup Workouts | Physical Living
5 Complete Pullup and Chinup Workouts to Help You Build Muscle, Increase Your Strength, and Skyrocket Your Numbers
I’ve written about pullup training many times before (see links below), and even published a complete 3 month pullup training program that I’ve used with my clients quite successfully over the years. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t more fun to be had from this great exercise. And so, I present to you five of my personal favorite pullup and chinup workouts. These are just too much fun to NOT share with you! And get this – they actually work!
I’ve used each and every one of these to build both my and my clients pullup numbers and increase strength and hypertrophy when the goal has been there. And if probability is on my side, these can work for you, too.
Once you’ve learned these workouts, zounds of people will gather around you – just begging for a turn!
5) The “Can’t Lie To Yourself” Max Effort Workout
This one is extremely simple, and also extremely brutal. I don’t like doing this one very often, but when I do, I’m always glad once I’m finished because it’s quite an accomplishment.
Here it is:
5 sets of maximum pullups – rest no longer than 3 minutes between sets
Simple, but definitely not easy. If you’d like to make this one a little more bearable, and play it smart, then after your warmup, complete the workout like this:
-set of pullups at 80% of maximum intensity (e.g. if you can only do 10 reps, then you will do 8 this set)
-set of pullups at 85% of maximum intensity
-set of pullups at 90% of maximum intensity
-set of pullups at 95% of maximum intensity
-set of pullups at 100% of maximum intensity (leave nothing left, and don’t let go of the bar unless you’re about to fall off)
*no more than 3 minutes of rest between sets
So, I’ll leave it at that. You can get back to me on this one, right?
Note: It should go without saying, that you should also perform a proper warmup and cooldown routine during these workouts. Some of them can act as part of an activity-specific warmup (e.g. the pyramid workout below), but it would be time well-spent to do some joint mobility and movement/muscle activation drills beforehand and some yoga or stretching afterwards.
4) The 100 Reps in as Little Time as Possible Workout
If you’re short on time, but want to get a decent bit of work in, then a timed workout is a great option. It doesn’t necessarily have to be 100 reps, and you can apply any time limit depending on your schedule, but the idea is to get as many pullups done in as little time possible.
So, if you select 100 reps, and you commit to 10/minute, that workout will only take 10 minutes (or 20 minutes if you commit to 5/minute, etc.).
Suggestion: when deciding on a repetition amount, I suggest using a minimum of 25 to get a training effect. If you’re a beginner, and you’re not even thinking in terms of full pullups yet, then you can substitute assisted repetitions, negative repetitions, or flexed-arm hangs.
Another spin-off from this workout is to do 100 reps in as few sets as possible. For example: 15, 13, 12, 12, 11, 10, 10, 9, 8 reps = 100 total reps.
It’s very tough, but hey, at least it won’t take long!
3) The Death Climb Pullup and Chinup Workout
This is another tough one, and you’ll enjoy it if you’re a glutton for punishment. Plus, it’s great if you have a decent bit of time available and want to max out on training volume.
Instructions: Select a repetition amount based on approximately 20-30% of your maximum. So, if you can do 10 pullups, then you would use sets of 2-3 reps. Perform a set of 2-3 pullups, and then rest for a short time (ie 10-30 seconds – the shorter the better), then perform another set, and repeat that sequence until either a) you can no longer perform pullups with good technique, or b) you’re experiencing any significant discomfort, or c) you start seeing stars, throw up, or forget where you are. The goal is to do as many good repetitions as possible, so rest accordingly.
Note: This is a great workout to vary the type of grip you’re using each set: pullup grip, chinup grip, parallel-grip pullups, etc. Check out some other grip ideas here.
2) The Pullup and Chinup Pyramid Workout
I’ve enjoyed pyramid training ever since I got serious about fitness training, and it’s because there are so many great things about doing a pyramid workout built right into the design. With pullups and chinups, I like doing pyramids in 1-repetition increments like this:
The progression 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 = 100 pullups
Rest only as needed to complete the next set. You’ll notice that this workout has a built-in activity-specific warmup and cooldown that occurs naturally as you progress up and down the pyramid. Alternatively, you can climb the pyramid in increments of 2’s, 3’s, etc.
I like to vary my grip each set with pyramids, too. The highest I’ve ever gotten is 15 – how high can you get?
1) The Personal Record Pullup Workout
This is by far my favorite stand-alone pullup workout, and I like to use this protocol in many different workouts, too (not just pullup workouts). This is a great way to set a new personal record, and my personal training clients have seemed to like it for that reason, too.
1st set (warmup set) – After a general warmup, usually some joint mobility exercises if you’re training with me, you will perform one – just one – warmup set of pullups/chinups/whatever exercise you’re testing that day. The goal is not to expend much energy or fatigue yourself at all. It is meant to prime the working muscles and, more importantly, practice and reinforce good technique for the following two sets. Keep your exertion level no higher than 40% of your maximum ability. When finished, rest for two minutes.
2nd set (set for building intensity) – Perform a set of pullups for enough reps to reach 60-80% of your maximum ability. Do not push past 80%! Save it for the last set. You can think of this set as an opportunity to send your body a signal that you’re about to work very hard, but don’t allow yourself to over-exert yourself. It’s priming you for the last set. Once finished, rest for 2-3 minutes.
3rd set (maximum effort set) – This is a max effort set and is where you’ll be going for a new personal record. Give it everything you’ve got, and go for a 100% performance. Decide ahead of time that you’re going to set a personal record and commit beforehand that you’re going to push yourself even when it gets tough, even when you think you can’t do another repetition. Then do it. Once finished, rest as needed and then bask in your glory.
And if you still need some help with technique, training ideas, or program design, then check out the links below. Mi casa es tu casa.
Update: Want to do more pull-ups? Check out my free 5-day Pull-up Training Crash Course. I’ll hook you up with a free program, some special reports and tutorials, and my very best tips on mastering the pull-up and chin-up exercises. If you want to improve your pull-up strength and performance as soon as this week, then Click Here to learn more about the free course.
More Pullup and Chinup Training Information:
Pull-up Training 101: The Basics on How to do More Pull-ups and Chin-ups
My FREE 5-Day Pull-up Training Crash Course
The Right Way to do Pullups and Chinups (Pullup Technique How-To Video)
How to Rapidly Increase Your Pullup Numbers in 3 Months or Less (Complete Program)
How to Achieve Your First Unassisted Pullup
The 1 Minute Pullup Challenge
9 Different Types of Pullups (Demo Video)
The Kipping Pullups VS Deadhang Pullups Debate Finally Put To Sleep
Doorway Pullup Bar – Everyone Needs One Of These!
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Poliquin Chin-Up Challenge Melbourne!
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Requirements:
You have an existing business which makes money, delivers a fabulous product or service (or multiple of!) which helps people, you know who you are and who you’re here to serve (while always welcoming deeper clarity!), and you have a proven track record for getting results to those people … even if it’s on a scale, so far, which, frankly, you consider outrageous. Since you know you’re here to do insanely big work in the world!
Oh, speaking of which – you know you’re here to do insanely big work in the world! And you’re ready to put the wheels on that NOW, and see your revenue – your growth of soulmate audience – your soul-led result-gettin’ systems – and all in all your own badassery – explode, stat!
You’re not afraid of doing the damn work (duh),
but you also know that there’s a simpler way, a more flow way, a more YOU way.
And you’re ready to get down to the nitty gritty of that now, and then roll it out like the take no prisoners mofo you are.
All with me – secret counsel to the worlds most elite game-changers, leaders, and revolutionaries – supporting you to know exactly what to do,
and exactly how to do it,
so you make MORE money,
reach MORE (of the right people),
the YOU way,
having more fun and flow than you ever dreamed possible,
and finally knowing you’re all in on you,
Now!
What you get out of this time together is simple:
* Identified opportunities for money-makin’ – minimum 3, up to 10+ (this is normal in these conversations with me)
* Specific to you simple soulmate audience growth strategy, which you can roll out right away, and will often involve only ‘tweaks’ rather than having to DO anything dramatically extra
* Confidence and inner tools as well as practical steps for improving / adding to / setting up (depending where you’re at) your automated income / funnels
* Personalised (to your personality / style / lifestyle / skillset) action plan for implementing
* Tweaks you can add in right away to increase sales on existing processes
* Daily / weekly ‘hustle flow plan’ individualised to you
All in all here’s what it comes down to:
>>> You will walk out with a complete action plan tailored to your business, very detailed and also very SIMPLE, with also a complete understanding of what you need to do and HOW to do it, to take you to the next major income level, and beyond.
This will include your next three offers (MINIMUM), up-sells, or funnel ad-ins, FULLY CREATED IN THE TIME TOGETHER!
Plus:
1:1 follow on support to help you implement and follow through.
I love doing this INTENSIVE deep dive work where we pull everything apart all at once, and then nail down the EXACT action steps for each person to take to get more paying customers and clients, who are soul-aligned, coming in NOW, who are also buying more things, because you’ve got all your damn shit in place!
This immersive day together is limited to 5-7 people per event.
If this is speaking to you PM me here to apply / for more info!
Chin contouring in Yekaterinburg
Chin contouring in Yekaterinburg
Chin contouring is the introduction of fillers into the chin area in order to get rid of a skin fold or add extra volume.
The procedure is performed for women after 30-35 years old.
Readings
It is necessary to carry out the procedure for the introduction of fillers into the chin area with a disproportionate size of the chin, in relation to other parts of the face.In case of asymmetry and displacement of the chin to the side, filler injections are also indicated.
Contraindications
In some cases, the introduction of fillers into the skin is not recommended:
- pregnancy and lactation;
- disorders in the blood coagulation system ;;
- autoimmune diseases;
- allergic reactions to the components of the preparation.
90,014 skin rashes;
90,014 infections;
At the initial consultation of the patient, the cosmetologist conducts a survey and examination.If diseases are detected, contouring should not be done.
Preparation
Within a few days, it is necessary to prepare for the mentoplasty. It is not recommended to consume alcoholic beverages three days before the procedure. Two weeks before the injection, stop drugs that affect blood clotting.
If the patient is taking any medications, the cosmetologist should know about this in order to determine compatibility.
Additionally, before performing chin plasty, it is necessary to visit the dentist and determine the correct bite.If correction is needed, first correct the bite, then perform contour correction.
Features of injections with hyaluronic acid
Filler injection does not take long. On average, the procedure lasts 20 minutes. Local anesthesia is performed using a cream or injection with an anesthetic.
Then the drug is injected and manual massage is performed to evenly distribute the filler.
Products based on hyaluronic acid are safe for the body.
Methods of filler injection
Different injection techniques are used to correct the chin area.
Bolus – into the deep layers of the dermis, the needle is inserted almost to the periosteum. A large amount of the drug is injected to replenish the volume.
Linear retrograde – the needle is inserted at an angle of 40 degrees, the entire preparation is injected until the needle is removed.
Fan Technique is similar to Linear Retrograde, but the needle unfolds in the skin and multiple injections are made.
Popular drugs
Products from different manufacturers are used to correct the chin and cheekbones.
The following lines are used in our clinic: Genyal (Switzerland), Hya Filia (Korea).
Radiesse (based on calcium hydroxyapatite) is also used.
Procedure steps
When visiting a beautician, indications and contraindications for mentoplasty are determined. If it is decided to correct the chin, the doctor determines the injection sites, marks the points if necessary.
Then the skin is cleansed and disinfected. Application of anesthetic cream or injection. Then a filler is injected, the doctor makes a massage of the chin area, distributes the drug.
There are three types of fillers:
- permanent – keep the effect up to 5 years;
- prolonged – up to 2 years;
- temporary – the effect lasts up to a year.
They have a different composition. Permanent ones are rarely used for severe defects: after injuries, unsuccessful plastic surgeries.They are dense, they are not manually spread. Prolonged and temporary are used more often to eliminate aesthetic imperfections.
Rehabilitation period
After contour plasty with fillers, the rehabilitation period is short. Swelling and bruising may persist for up to a week.
Immediately after the procedure (within 12 hours), you do not need to touch your face with your hands. Do not apply cosmetics to the chin area for a week. For 14 days, it is forbidden to visit the sauna, bath, exposure to high temperatures.It is recommended to give up alcoholic beverages for a month.
Consequences
The procedure itself is unpleasant. After it, edema and hematomas persist for some time.
Complications
The development of pathological reactions is rare.
Development is possible:
- purulent inflammation;
- tissue ischemia;
- tissue necrosis.
If the contouring is performed by a qualified specialist, there are no such complications.Choose clinics with proven doctors, do not use home services!
If you are not satisfied with the result
When the patient does not like the result of the procedure, drugs can be used to quickly dissolve the hyaluronic acid at the injection site. For this, hyaluronidase is used. The injections are carried out by the doctor, after examination.
Need to correct your chin without consequences? Contact us! Only highly qualified specialists and reasonable prices.
Payment methods: cash payment; payment by plastic bank cards MIR, VISA, Mastercard Worldwide
The main advantages of GENYAL
preparations
- Highly concentrated double-acting filler: contains 23 mg / 1 ml of reticular hyaluronic acid with the addition of free hyaluronic acid, which has a biostimulating effect;
- Ultra High Molecular Weight Product (3 ppm)Dalton), which allows, along with the formation of cross-links, to maximize resistance to the destructive action of hyaluronidase and ensures the retention of the drug in the tissues;
- Minimal Risk of Allergic Reactions: Cross-linking occurs using butanediol diglyceedyl ether (BDDE), recognized as the safest reagent;
- single-phase formula: All GENYAL products are single-phase, i.e. free of microparticles, which guarantees uniformity of the gel and excellent results.
Our specialists
Head branch
Elena
Vyacheslavovna
Kazarinova
Nurse
Irina
Vladimirovna
Belobusova
Doctor – cosmetologist
Larisa
Ildarovna
Tikhonov
Chin and neck plastics – plastic surgeon’s appointment
Mentoplasty – plastic surgery to correct the shape and increase the chin with implants.
Platysmoplasty – an operation to tighten the skin of the neck.
Chin plasty
With the help of mentoplasty, you can correct the shape and size of the chin, get rid of hereditary defects and past injuries.
The operation is performed with an asymmetrical, small or too large chin. Chin surgery allows you to make the proportions of the face more harmonious.
To ensure the most required and safe result, the plastic surgeon conducts an hour-long consultation with the patient.He listens to wishes and marks on the body to show how you can tighten your neck or change the contour of the chin.
In “Scandinavia” (Ava-Kazan) they use Sevoran gas anesthesia, thanks to which patients after surgery do not feel the unpleasant consequences of anesthesia, such as distraction, headache and visual impairment. However, consultation with an anesthesiologist is mandatory – this is a standard that avoids undesirable consequences.
After the consultation, it is necessary to pass tests for blood clotting, tests for HIV and hepatitis, undergo fluorography and ECG.The Scandinavia multidisciplinary clinic (Ava-Kazan) has its own laboratory – all tests can be passed at once in one building in a few days.
Chin augmentation
It is possible to enlarge the chin with the help of implants. In endoprosthetics, the plastic surgeon makes an incision either on the inside of the lower lip or in the chin fold.
A special bed is prepared for the implant; after its installation, cosmetic sutures are applied.
The implant is selected in consultation with a doctor – it can also be double
You can also increase the projection of the chin using your own fat – if it is enough, lipofilling is performed. By reducing the chin, the surgeon removes excess bone and cartilage.
Removal of the double chin
In order to get rid of the sagging skin on the neck, either liposuction or corset platysmoplasty is performed.In liposuction, excess fat is pumped out using a vacuum through special hollow tubes with a blunt end.
Corset platysmoplasty is used to reduce skin tone, sagging of the subcutaneous muscle of the neck and excessive deposition of subcutaneous fat in the region of the cervico-chin angle.
In this case, the plastic surgeon makes an incision in the natural fold under the chin, sutures and tightens the superficial neck muscle and applies a cosmetic suture.This allows you to form a clear contour of the neck. The operation takes about two hours, after which a special supporting bandage is applied.
To obtain the most harmonious lifting and correct age-related changes, corset platysmoplasty is combined with lifting the lower two-thirds of the face.
After operation
Ten days after the operation, the stitches are removed, the main bruises and swelling disappear in two weeks.The final result of the operation can be assessed in six months – during this time, the tissues heal completely, and the edema subsides. The result can be assessed in 6-8 months – during this time tissue shrinkage will occur and edema will completely disappear.
For a couple of months, you should give up solid food, physical activity and trips to the sauna.
Contraindications to lip plastics
Cheiloplasty is not performed for herpes, unhealed wounds on the lips, blood clotting disorders, diabetes mellitus, mental disorders, cancer and infections.
Comfortable conditions “Scandinavia” (Ava-Kazan)
It is better for the patient to spend the first day after the correction of the neck and chin in the clinic.
Scandinavia wards (Ava-Kazan) are equipped with wi-fi, comfortable beds and a nurse call button. Individual wards are suitable for those who want to hide their stay in the clinic.
Contraindications to plastic surgery of the neck and chin
The operation is prohibited for blood clotting disorders, diabetes mellitus, mental disorders, oncology, infections and endocrine diseases.
Name of service | Prices (RUB) |
---|---|
Chin and neck plastic | |
Chin plastic surgery using an implant (mentoplasty) | 48000 |
Plasty of the soft tissues of the anterior regions of the neck (corset platysmoplasty) | 41000 |
Chin plastic with lux-class implant (mentoplasty) | 79000 |
* prices are for individuals
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90,000 prices for a facelift and an appointment with a plastic surgeon at MEDSI in St. Petersburg.
Chin and neck surgery is one of the most difficult ways to correct your appearance. That is why it should only be entrusted to an experienced surgeon. A qualified physician will immediately determine how the intervention will be performed.
There are several correction options. They all differ in a certain set of features.
Medial lift (median)
This intervention is carried out by stretching the subcutaneous muscle of the neck.The correction allows you to create a clear line in the neck and chin area. The technique is the most popular. With medial platysmoplasty, only one incision is required (in the groove under the chin). It is through him that the tightening is provided. At the end of the intervention, the doctor will apply a cosmetic internal suture.
Lateral plastic
With this intervention, the subcutaneous muscle is exfoliated from the skin, and excess fat is excised. Then an incision is made near the temple.The surgeon guides him behind the ear with an enveloping line. The subcutaneous muscle is pulled and fixed behind the ears. This allows you to give the face a more youthful look.
Important! Medial and lateral plasty are often performed together. This allows you to achieve the most pronounced correction result.
Hollywood Neck Lift
This operation is aimed at eliminating the double chin and correcting the blurred angle between the chin and neck.The name of the intervention is due to the fact that it is popular with Hollywood stars. Hollywood plastic surgery of the lower part of the face and neck is recommended for overweight patients.
Corset brace
Such an intervention is recommended if the skin in the neck area is not elastic enough. Plastic surgery involves the removal of the flaps. It is advised to do it also with a large number of wrinkles and folds on the neck. After the intervention, the skin gains noticeable elasticity.The effect of such an operation lasts for 8-10 years.
Endoscopic plastic surgery of the face and neck
Correction is carried out with unexpressed sagging of the skin. Endoscopic equipment is used for lifting. The operation is minimally invasive. To access the tissues, the surgeon makes only two small punctures in the chin area through which the instrument is inserted. The main advantage of this neck skin plasty is the absence of a noticeable scar.No one around you will ever guess that you did the operation. In addition, endoscopic intervention is characterized by a minimal rehabilitation period.
Chin and neck contouring is also performed. This procedure is not a surgical procedure. It is performed on an outpatient basis using various drugs. The procedure allows you to smooth out wrinkles, eliminate depressions, and form a clearer oval of the face. The result from it is relatively short-lived, but fillers can be re-introduced if desired.
90,000 Remove the double chin in Makushina Lane, Tomsk – 1st place ? (address, reviews)
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- We have compiled a rating of the 1st place “to remove the second chin” in Makushina lane;
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Interesting facts
Most often people are looking for “remove the double chin”, but there are other formulations,
for example, removal of a double chin.
The most popular features of the found places: microcurrents for the face, myostimulation, face plastic, vaccinations, pediatric surgery.
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Laser hair removal in St. Petersburg in the medical center “ODONT”
Laser hair removal is a modern way to get rid of unwanted body hair without pain using a laser. The essence of this method is to heat cells containing melanin with a laser beam, and, as a result, to destroy the hair follicles. At the same time, the treated skin surface is not damaged in any way.
It is important to remember that only visible hairs (3-5 mm) that are in the stage of active growth can be removed.The action of the laser beam is very narrowly directed, in addition, there are always “invisible follicles”, which are activated after some time, since the hair does not all grow at the same time. That is why one session of laser hair removal is not enough and it may take from 6 to 10 sessions, depending on the area to be treated.
Laser hair removal does not cause pain and is ideal for hair removal in the bikini area, on the chest, arms, neck, back, armpits, on the face (above the upper lip), on the abdomen and chin.
For this procedure, the contrast of the hair and the skin is very important so that the laser absorbs the melanin contained in the hair and not in the skin. That is, owners of dark hair on dark skin or light hair on light skin should choose a method of epilation that is more suitable for them.
Advantages of laser hair removal:
- Almost complete absence of unpleasant sensations during the procedure
- Long-term effect from the course
- The appearance of scars, scars and age spots is excluded
- No side effects
- Short session duration
But, like many other hardware techniques, laser hair removal has its own contraindications:
- Cancer
- Active herpes
- Infectious diseases
- Pregnancy and breastfeeding
- Skin diseases
- Varicose veins
- A large number of moles and birthmarks on the treated area
If you do not take into account the above contraindications, then from laser hair removal you will only get harm, not benefit.In addition, so that everything goes without unpleasant consequences, it is important to contact only qualified specialists.
In St. Petersburg, laser hair removal is carried out in many clinics and salons of the city, but we recommend that this procedure be carried out only by professionals with medical education. Cosmetologists of the “ODONT Medical Center” will tell you in detail about laser hair removal during the consultation, take into account all the features of your skin and hair, sensitivity to sunlight, sensitivity threshold, and also determine the number of procedures and the price you need.
90,000 Biorevitalization and mesotherapy in Perm
Injection techniques used in modern cosmetology for rejuvenation and getting rid of cosmetic defects of various etiologies are rightfully the most effective means of fighting to prolong youth and improve appearance.
With the help of these methods, the skin regains its lost elasticity and relief, wrinkles are smoothed, lips acquire clear outlines and volume, a double chin disappears, which makes it possible to achieve a visual effect of rejuvenation.Injection techniques can be both a prophylactic agent that prevents age-related changes in the skin, and corrects the already existing manifestations of its aging. The most effective methods among Perm women today are mesotherapy (intradermal injections of drugs), contour plastics (filling) and injections of botulinum toxin preparations.
Mesotherapy
Indications for mesotherapy are correction of the face contour, elimination of a double chin, leveling of complexion, restoration of skin tone and elasticity, reduction of its graininess, prevention of age-related changes, as well as treatment of warts, papillomas, hypertrophic scars.
A large arsenal of drugs for administration, the ability to adjust their use in the course of therapy, taking into account the individual characteristics of the patient, make mesotherapy a universal method that has practically no contraindications.
Indications for the botulinum toxin procedure are deep horizontal frontal, glabellar and nasolabial folds, crow’s feet in the corners of the eyes. The visual effect of botulinum toxin injections is comparable to plastic surgery, which allows you to achieve a perfectly flat skin surface and maximize wrinkle smoothing.
The result after the administration of the botulinum toxin preparation appears after 3-14 days and lasts from 3 to 10 months, depending on the zone of administration and the dosage of the injected drug, which makes it possible to achieve the desired degree of correction.
The high efficiency of injection methods has long been proven in practice, however, carrying out these procedures requires the professionalism of a doctor, on whose actions a significant proportion of the result depends.