The big three compound movements (the deadlift, squat and bench) are the undisputed kings of growth and progress in the gym. But to limit this number to just three ignores the growth stimulating merits of one other compound exercises that makes its case for a big four.
The chin-up (including variations) is an exercise that targets the lats, biceps, infraspinatus as well as delivering stimulation for the traps, pecs and triceps.
For many, gripping a bar and pulling our bodyweight up so that our chin is at said bar’s level for a set of eight to 12 reps, regardless of whether we’re talking wide-grip, close-grip, hammer-grip or underhand, might seem a fantasy. See you at the lat pull down machine.
As PT Juliette Vagg describes in her recent video, there are some exercise variations of the chin-up that you can use as stages of progress. Follow these steps and progress over time, and we could see you repping out, with extra weight around your waist, on the chin-up bar before you know it.
Stage 1 — Inverted Row
This is the most regressed version of the movement. Racking a barbell across a Hammer Strength Rack, place the hands about shoulder-width apart with an overhand grip.
We’re looking to pull our chest up towards the bar, locking shoulder blades at the top of the movement. Pull up with an explosive movement and then lower yourself slowly, building both the concentric and eccentric phase of the movement. A quick tip: think chest to bar and elbows to floor on the concentric movement.
The beauty about this exercise is that you can increase the height of the bar gradually to build resistance and bring you closer to that elusive bodyweight chin-up.
Stage 2 — Band-assisted Chin-up
In a band-assisted chin-up, hitch the band to the chin-up bar so that you are able to loop it beneath you. This allows you to gain some assistance from the tension in the band.
If you use a thick band with more tension, this provides greater assistance, while a thinner band with less tension provides less assistance.
There are two ways to execute this movement: you can either place the tension on the band underneath your knee or your foot. Using your foot will create more tension and tightness again, delivering more assistance. Using the knee will deliver less assistance.
So like the inverted row, this stage allows you to work progressively, starting with a thick band and using your foot, then progressing to the knee, and from there, moving through the different band thicknesses until your assistance is only minimal.
Stage 3 — Bodyweight Chins
The third and final stage is executing the bodyweight chin-up. Start with an underhand grip, as this is an easier version of the chin-up to executed. Grip the bar shoulder width apart, palms facing inwards, pull yourself up towards the chin-up bar, bringing your chin-up to the level of the bar.
Use a step if you need the extra starting height, and execute as many as you can, before moving to the more challenging variations of the movement, such as the wide grip.
The wide grip variation does a better job of targeting the back muscles, with the close, underhand grip recruiting more biceps.
Ultimately, the chin-up is an upper-body, compound exercise that we’d all love to work into our programs. If it was as easy as the other big compound movements to start small and progressively overload over time, we’d all be doing it weekly. Now you can. With Juliette Vagg’s three stages of progress to the chin-up, you’ll be there in no time.
