Chin Ups Exercise

Сontents

1 How To Do Chin Ups Exercise

How To Do Chin Ups Exercise

Chin Ups. Initial position – hang from a fixed bar with a very wide overhand grip:

Inhale and pull the chest up to the level of the bar.
Exhale at the end of the movement.

Chin Ups Performance of the Exercise

Performance of the exercise

The chin-up may be performed by bringing the back of the neck almost level with the bar.

Return to the initial position with a controlled descent and begin again.

This exercise takes a certain amount of strength and is excellent for developing the latissimus dorsi and teres major and, when the shoulder blades come together at the top of the chin-up, the rhomboids and middle and lower portions of the trapezius. It also works the biceps brachii, brachialis, and brachioradialis.

Attention: to avoid tendinitis ol the distal tendon of the biceps brachii (the biceps tendon that insorts at the radius), keep the elbows slightly bent.

Variations: By sticking out the chest you can raise your chest to chin level. To increase the intensity, wear a weight belt. Keeping the elbows in next to the body during the movement contracts mainly the external fibers of the latissimus dorsi and develops the width of the back.

Bringing the elbows back and the chest out as you raise the chin to the bar mainly solicits the upper and central fibers of the latissimus dorsi and those of the teres major. This exercise develops the bulk of the back when the shoulder blades come together and the rhomboids and the upper and lower portion of the trapezius are used equally.

Comment: Although not as strongly contracted, the pectoralis major works with the latissimus dorsi and teres major to create the angle between the arm and the trunk.

Chin-ups Variations

1. Bringing the bar to the neck with arms alongside the body.

Bringing the elbows alongside the body mainly solicits the lateral fibers ot the latissimus dorsi and develops the width of the back.

2. Bringing the bar to the chest with elbows behind.

Pulling the elbows back to raise the chin to the bar mainly solicits the upper and central fibers of the latissimus dorsi. This variation is excellent for developing the bulk of the back.

Originally, the teres major and latissimus dorsi muscles of our far-off ancestors played a role in their getting around on all fours by helping them to push off with the front paws.

As our ancestors became tree climbers, these muscles became powerful, specializing in vertical displacement. Returning to the ground, our more recent ancestors adopted bipedal displacement without losing the possibility of climbing. For this reason we possess powerful back muscles capable of pulling our bodies up, still allowing us to climb trees.

Comment: The main difference between our locomotor mechanism and that of our close simian relatives is the development of lower extremities that allow us to walk on two legs. Our chest and upper extremities have not developed differently and have the same structure and proportions. Contrary to popular opinion, apes do not have relatively big arms; we just have big legs!