In part 2 of my 'how to achieve your first chin up' blog, I am going to dive into some other important factors in order to help you make progress towards your first chin up.
It is helpful to first discuss the three key positions of a chin up: the bottom, middle and top position.
We can then see what muscles and muscle actions act on each of these component parts - don't worry I will keep it simple.
Starting with the bottom position, the biceps, lats and upper back are fully lengthened and stretched.
It is important to not pull straight up from this stretched position without first engaging the muscles in the upper back. As the shoulders are not biomechanically in a safe or efficient position to pull from.
Therefore, to initiate the chin up from this position, we need the scapular to pull back and down on your shoulder. This will help the prime movers in the chin up work best.
We therefore need to increase the strength of the muscles around your shoulders, especially the muscles around your scapular.
Pro Tip 1
Specific and targeted exercises such as 'scapular pull ups' can be fantastic to increase the strength of these muscles. A great goal would be to build up towards 3 sets of 10-15 reps with a slow tempo on the scapular pull ups. We can show you how to do this.
Other exercises such as farmers carries and shrugs can further strengthen this area.
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Once the shoulders are pulled back and down, you can then initiate the first pull with the biceps.
From here we need to increase the strength of the biceps muscles in your arms. This is often a weak link for most individuals wanting to perform chin ups.
Pro Tip 2
Perform seated incline dumbbell biceps curls to isolate and strengthen your biceps muscles.
The incline bench is important here, as it allows you to both fully stretch your arms behind your body while also keeping strict form. It is very easy to cheat standing up while performing curls! A great goal would be to build towards 3 sets of 10 reps with a slow tempo on seated incline dumbbell biceps curls. We can show you how to do this.
The key thing here is we progressively overload the biceps and get them stronger week by week by gradually adding more load.
So integrating specific arm work into your programme will be a crucial step towards achieving your first chin up.
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As you ascend up into the chin up, your lats will be the prime mover, especially around the mid way point.
We therefore need to increase the strength of the lat muscles in the upper back.
Pro Tip 3
Perform one-arm and dual arm row variations to isolate and strengthen your back muscles.
A great starting point would be 3 sets of 10 reps with a slow tempo on single arm, kneeling dumbbell rows. We can show you how to do this.
Improving your strength on this exercise is absolutely key towards building a strong chin up.
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The final stage of the chin up is the clearing your chin above the bar and making sure your shoulders are back and down.
Strengthening your upper back will contribute towards a stronger top position on the chin up.
This can be achieved through both practising chin ups in the way as described in part 1 and also strengthening your other weak links in the chain as described above.
When you strengthen your weak links and practice the movement pattern, you will get strong enough and with plenty of practice, you will be well on your way to performing chin ups in no time!
If you want help learning the above and are interested in improving your chin ups, apply today to find out how we can help you.
- Coach Alex
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