Exercise library / Back
Chin-ups
Back · Bodyweight
Chin-ups are pull-ups with the palms facing you. That small change gives the biceps a much larger role, and most people get two or three more reps.
That makes them the right place to start if your goal is the first rep. It also makes them one of the best biceps exercises there is, even though they live in the back programme.
Sets, reps and RIR
Load is fixed, so progress by adding reps first, then by slowing the lowering phase, then by adding weight.
RIR means reps in reserve: how many you could still have done when you racked it. RIR 2 is two short of failure.
How to do it
- Grip the bar at shoulder width with your palms facing you.
- Hang with straight arms and depress the shoulder blades before the elbows bend.
- Drive the elbows down and slightly forward, as if tucking them to your ribs.
- Rise until your chin clears the bar without craning your neck for it.
- Hold for a moment at the top with your chest near the bar.
- Lower under control to a full hang. Do not drop.
Common mistakes
- Kicking with the legs
- Kipping is a different exercise with a different purpose. Cross your ankles and keep them still.
- Half hangs between reps
- The bottom is where the lats stretch most. Straighten the arms.
- Craning the chin over the bar
- Stretching your neck does not count as a rep. The chest goes up, not the chin forward.
- Grip too narrow
- Narrower than shoulder width strains the wrists and elbows. Shoulder width is enough.
How it differs from the neighbouring variants
Pull-ups with the palms facing away give the lats more and the biceps less, and are harder for most people. When chin-ups get easy, pull-ups are the natural next step.
The assisted pull-up machine is closest to the real thing when you cannot do any yet. The close-grip lat pulldown gives the same grip and direction with selectable weight. The inverted row is a horizontal version that is easier and a good place to build pulling strength from scratch.
What it suits
Chin-ups go first in a back session. Once you clear ten good reps, add weight rather than reps. If you train arms the same day, remember chin-ups have already given the biceps a hard session.
Muscles worked
Primary: Lats, Biceps.
Secondary: Upper back.
What it is called elsewhere
- Norsk Chin-ups
- Svenska Chins (underhandsgrepp)
- Dansk Chin-ups
- Deutsch Klimmzüge im Untergriff
- Español Dominadas supinas
- Italiano Trazioni presa supina
- Português Barra fixa (pegada supinada)
- Русский Подтягивания обратным хватом
- Français Tractions supination
Related back exercises
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