Pull-up vs. Chin-up: Muscle mass Labored, Variations, and Variations
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The pull-up and chin-up look nearly an identical.
Each contain hanging from a bar by your palms, pulling your physique upward till your chin is over the bar, then reducing your self till your arms are straight.
And since they appear so comparable, many individuals don’t perceive the distinction between the pull-up and chin-up.
On this article, we’re going to clear every little thing up.
In it, you’ll study the similarities and variations between the chin-up versus the pull-up, which muscle groups every works, which is healthier, learn how to do each workouts, the most effective chin-up and pull-up variations, and extra.
Pull-up vs. Chin-up: What’s the Distinction?
In the pull-up, you grip the bar with your palms facing away from you (pronated grip).
In the chin-up, you grip the bar with your palms facing you (supinated grip).
Most people also prefer to place their hands just outside of shoulder-width apart during pull-ups and about 2-to-3 inches closer during chin-ups.
Pull-up vs. Chin-up: Muscles Worked
The pull-up and chin-up train all of the muscles in your back, including your lats, traps, erector spinae, rhomboids, teres muscles, and infraspinatus.
They also train your core, pecs, deltoids, serratus anterior, and biceps to a high degree, making them highly effective exercises for gaining muscle and strength across most of your upper body.
The only subtle difference is that the pull-up is slightly higher at coaching your lats and decrease traps, and the chin-up is marginally higher at coaching your biceps.
(The chin-up additionally trains the pecs greater than the pull-up, although neither is a “chest” train.)
Nonetheless, these variations are so minor that they possible have little impact on long-term muscle progress.
Right here’s how the principle muscle groups labored by the pull-up and chin-up look in your physique:
Pull-up vs. Chin-up: Which Is Higher?
Neither train is healthier than the opposite—each practice the identical muscle groups to an analogous diploma.
Thus, the first causes to do one over the opposite are to maintain your exercises attention-grabbing and keep away from shoulder and elbow overuse injuries, which can occur when you do the same exercise for an extended period.
In other words, you can use chin-ups and pull-ups interchangeably in your training, though it’s best to alternate between them periodically.
A good way to do this is to include the pull-up in your program for 8-to-10 weeks of training, take a deload, then replace the pull-up with the chin-up for the following 8-to-10 weeks of training.
This is how I personally like to organize my training, and it’s similar to the method I advocate in my fitness books for men and women, Bigger Leaner Stronger and Thinner Leaner Stronger.
(Or if you aren’t sure if Bigger Leaner Stronger or Thinner Leaner Stronger is right for you or if another strength training program might be a better fit for your circumstances and goals, take Legion Strength Training Quiz, and in less than a minute, you’ll know the perfect strength training program for you. Click here to check it out.)
How to Do the Pull-up
- Grab a pull-up bar slightly wider than shoulder-width apart with your palms facing away from you.
- Lift your feet so that you’re hanging with your arms straight. You can cross your feet over each other if you prefer.
- Without swinging your feet or knees, pull your body up until your chin is above the bar.
- Once your chin has passed the bar, lower yourself under control to the starting position. Keep lowering yourself until your arms are straight and you feel a deep stretch in your lats.
(Tip: A helpful cue is to imagine pulling your elbows into the floor.)
How to Do the Chin-up
- Grab a pull-up bar with your hands around shoulder-width apart and your palms facing you.
- Lift your feet so that you’re hanging with your arms straight. You can cross your feet over each other if you prefer.
- Without swinging your feet or knees, pull your body up until your chin is above the bar.
- Once your chin has passed the bar, lower yourself under control to the starting position. Keep lowering yourself until your arms are straight and you feel a deep stretch in your lats.
The Best Pull-up and Chin-up Variations
1. Weighted Pull-up
In the weighted pull-up, you snatch a dumbbell between your thighs or strap a weight around your waist. This allows you to progressively overload the exercise when the bodyweight version becomes too easy.
2. Weighted Chin-up
Similarly to the weighted pull-up, the weighted chin-up allows you to continue progressing when the bodyweight chin-up is no longer challenging.
3. Lat Pulldown
Like the pull-up and chin-up, the lat pulldown involves pulling “vertically” (parallel with your torso) and trains each muscle in your again, which is why research exhibits that it’s simply as efficient because the pull-up and chin-up for gaining muscle and energy.
4. Banded Lat Pulldown
The banded lat pulldown is an efficient chin-up and pull-up variation in the event you’re very new to weightlifting, coming back from an injury and taking it easy, or if you’re traveling or training in a home gym and don’t have access to a pull-up bar or lat pulldown machine.
5. Eccentric Chin-up
To perform the eccentric chin-up, get into the top position of the chin-up and slowly lower yourself to the bottom position, taking at least three seconds to reach the bottom of the rep.
Research shows that solely doing the eccentric (reducing) portion of an train is superior to doing solely the concentric (lifting) portion relating to gaining muscle and energy, which is why the eccentric chin-up is so efficient at serving to you progress towards doing a full body weight chin-up.
+ Scientific References
- Dickie, J. A., Faulkner, J. A., Barnes, M. J., & Lark, S. D. (2017). Electromyographic analysis of muscle activation during pull-up variations. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, 32, 30–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JELEKIN.2016.11.004
- Youdas, J. W., Amundson, C. L., Cicero, K. S., Hahn, J. J., Harezlak, D. T., & Hollman, J. H. (2010). Surface electromyographic activation patterns and elbow joint motion during a pull-up, chin-up, or perfect-pullupTM rotational exercise. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 24(12), 3404–3414. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0B013E3181F1598C
- Ronai, P. (2019). The Lat Pulldown. ACSM’s Health and Fitness Journal, 23(2), 24–30. https://doi.org/10.1249/FIT.0000000000000469
- Doma, K., Deakin, G. B., & Ness, K. F. (2013). Kinematic and electromyographic comparisons between chin-ups and lat-pull down exercises. Sports Biomechanics, 12(3), 302–313. https://doi.org/10.1080/14763141.2012.760204
- Farthing, J. P., & Chilibeck, P. D. (2003). The effects of eccentric and concentric training at different velocities on muscle hypertrophy. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 89(6), 578–586. https://doi.org/10.1007/S00421-003-0842-2
- Friden, J., Seger, J., Sjostrom, M., & Ekblom, B. (1983). Adaptive response in human skeletal muscle subjected to prolonged eccentric training. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 4(3), 177–183. https://doi.org/10.1055/S-2008-1026031
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