No one cares about chin-ups

[denarii]

blahas toy plastic chain, lol

[Go 4 It]

I think Chin ups / Pull ups are essential, been doing them religiously since I was a kid, I think they help in every aspect width, thickness, detail..proof is in the pudding

[Taffin]

Now THAT was a brilliant link that I would never have stumbled across!  Thanks dude 

[calfzilla]

I think Chin ups / Pull ups are essential, been doing them religiously since I was a kid, I think they help in every aspect width, thickness, detail..proof is in the pudding

lol you still claiming natural brah?

[wes]

Dude,you look fucking great......nice thickness in the back/lats area.

Props!!

[wes]

Now THAT was a brilliant link that I would never have stumbled across!  Thanks dude 

Perfect chins on the second guy especially.

[wes]

Go4It.....work your erectors bro and your back will be friggin` perfect.

[Henda]

Great back gay4it

[Al Doggity]

Seriously, how many chin-ups do you think Kai or Phil or Coleman or Yates could actually do?   Not many if any at all.  But, huge backs.

I agree with you to a certain extent. I think they are a lot like push-ups. They build strength and muscularity, but you reach the point of diminishing returns pretty early on IF your goal is to be a very large, very strong bodybuilder.  Definitely not an essential exercise for building a lot of mass or strength.

(For reference, I  have started multiple posts about how overrated I think deadlifting is. I think chin ups/pull ups are similar in the sense that a lot of it comes down to "practice", but I chin regularly. )

Great back on go4it, but he has a slimmer build that chin ups would be beneficial for.

[FREAKgeek]

I agree with you to a certain extent. I think they are a lot like push-ups. They build strength and muscularity, but you reach the point of diminishing returns pretty early on IF your goal is to be a very large, very strong bodybuilder.  Definitely not an essential exercise for building a lot of mass or strength.

(For reference, I  have started multiple posts about how overrated I think deadlifting is. I think chin ups/pull ups are similar in the sense that a lot of it comes down to "practice", but I chin regularly. )

Great back on go4it, but he has a slimmer build that chin ups would be beneficial for.

You can do them weighted with a dip belt, no?

[The Abdominal Snoman]

There's a video somewhere of Brock Lesner around 280 pounds doing endless pullups. Pretty impressive from a guy that big...

[HTexan]

I can't believe no one has said bay watch 

[Al Doggity]

You can do them weighted with a dip belt, no?

A few years back, I was doing workouts with bodyweight-type stuff at the top half followed by free weights. I progressed  to 3 plates (for about 4-5 reps) so ridiculously fast that I thought I was the shit. And people in my gym were constantly congratulating me because a lot of people couldn't even do 4-5 regular chins. Also, I'm a decent sized guy.  

In retrospect, I don't think it was as impressive as I felt it was at the time. I have a theory about why deadlifting is overrated and it applies to chins to a certain degree, too. You engage so many muscles in deadlifting that you can compensate for a weak point in your lift without really gaining strength like you would on most compound exercises, back or otherwise.  Chins are a back and arm exercise, but they also engage abs, legs and chest in a way that seated lat pulls don't. (You're probably saying "if you use legs to do chins, you're doing them wrong", but even doing them strictly, there is a degree of body motion that you use to complete a rep. The more difficult the rep, the more you use. Check out the leg movement on the guys in the video posted upthread.) I think chins can do a lot for your strength and physique, but I think there's a limit to how close it will get you to a bodybuilder-type back, even with added weight.  


I didn't make this a booklength post, as people have complained about those from me in the past, but I can imagine that anyone who is interested probably sees some things to pick apart.  Feel free. I have some other examples and observations that I'm sure won't change anyone's mind.

[cephissus]

lol you still claiming natural brah?

x2

On the one hand he gets a pass for being a get bigger

On the other

[Taffin]

I can't believe no one has said bay watch 

Just for you then... 

[Parker]

I agree with you to a certain extent. I think they are a lot like push-ups. They build strength and muscularity, but you reach the point of diminishing returns pretty early on IF your goal is to be a very large, very strong bodybuilder.  Definitely not an essential exercise for building a lot of mass or strength.

(For reference, I  have started multiple posts about how overrated I think deadlifting is. I think chin ups/pull ups are similar in the sense that a lot of it comes down to "practice", but I chin regularly. )

Great back on go4it, but he has a slimmer build that chin ups would be beneficial for.

There is a vid of Kai showing a guy Adduction and abduction of your scapula when doing pull ups.
Also, one thing that I have noticed is that the bbers that do pull ups tend to have better back detsil. And that it possibly helps in developing a better mind muscle connection. It's not necessarily developing a lot of mass, but developing that detail. Also, chin ups are a very good biceps exercise, good for helping to develop one's peaks. And also the old school guys used to do pull ups and chest exercises---having the blood in the upper body area.

[FREAKgeek]

A few years back, I was doing workouts with bodyweight-type stuff at the top half followed by free weights. I progressed  to 3 plates (for about 4-5 reps) so ridiculously fast that I thought I was the shit. And people in my gym were constantly congratulating me because a lot of people couldn't even do 4-5 regular chins. Also, I'm a decent sized guy.  

In retrospect, I don't think it was as impressive as I felt it was at the time. I have a theory about why deadlifting is overrated and it applies to chins to a certain degree, too. You engage so many muscles in deadlifting that you can compensate for a weak point in your lift without really gaining strength like you would on most compound exercises, back or otherwise.  Chins are a back and arm exercise, but they also engage abs, legs and chest in a way that seated lat pulls don't. (You're probably saying "if you use legs to do chins, you're doing them wrong", but even doing them strictly, there is a degree of body motion that you use to complete a rep. The more difficult the rep, the more you use. Check out the leg movement on the guys in the video posted upthread.) I think chins can do a lot for your strength and physique, but I think there's a limit to how close it will get you to a bodybuilder-type back, even with added weight.  


I didn't make this a booklength post, as people have complained about those from me in the past, but I can imagine that anyone who is interested probably sees some things to pick apart.  Feel free. I have some other examples and observations that I'm sure won't change anyone's mind.

3 plates is awesome. Yeah they work abs, esp heavy 2 - 4 reps,  high volume. The knees naturally want to go into tuck position. You feel the abs the next day if done right.

I used to hate chins cause I'd initially take each set to failure and it was energy draining. When I avoided failure and went for volume, then I discovered the true gem of the exercise. It's underrated IMO.

[Al Doggity]

Def not saying that chin-ups are worthless, just that I don't think they build prize winning bodybuilding backs. I think you could build a great fitness/physique competitor-style body using chins and dips as your only upper body exercises.  I don't think you could ever build a Phillip Heath-type back with chins, no matter how many you do, no matter how much weight you add.


(I do not think you could build a great body of any type using only deadlifts.)

[Never1AShow]

I think Chin ups / Pull ups are essential, been doing them religiously since I was a kid, I think they help in every aspect width, thickness, detail..proof is in the pudding

Don't get me wrong, if you can do them, go for it.  I would think they are helpful, just not essential to a good back.  Usually they are reserved for those light in the legs.

[Never1AShow]

A few years back, I was doing workouts with bodyweight-type stuff at the top half followed by free weights. I progressed  to 3 plates (for about 4-5 reps) so ridiculously fast that I thought I was the shit. And people in my gym were constantly congratulating me because a lot of people couldn't even do 4-5 regular chins. Also, I'm a decent sized guy.  

In retrospect, I don't think it was as impressive as I felt it was at the time. I have a theory about why deadlifting is overrated and it applies to chins to a certain degree, too. You engage so many muscles in deadlifting that you can compensate for a weak point in your lift without really gaining strength like you would on most compound exercises, back or otherwise.  Chins are a back and arm exercise, but they also engage abs, legs and chest in a way that seated lat pulls don't. (You're probably saying "if you use legs to do chins, you're doing them wrong", but even doing them strictly, there is a degree of body motion that you use to complete a rep. The more difficult the rep, the more you use. Check out the leg movement on the guys in the video posted upthread.) I think chins can do a lot for your strength and physique, but I think there's a limit to how close it will get you to a bodybuilder-type back, even with added weight.  


I didn't make this a booklength post, as people have complained about those from me in the past, but I can imagine that anyone who is interested probably sees some things to pick apart.  Feel free. I have some other examples and observations that I'm sure won't change anyone's mind.

This ain't no War and Peace.

[Henda]

3 plates is awesome. Yeah they work abs, esp heavy 2 - 4 reps,  high volume. The knees naturally want to go into tuck position. You feel the abs the next day if done right.

I used to hate chins cause I'd initially take each set to failure and it was energy draining. When I avoided failure and went for volume, then I discovered the true gem of the exercise. It's underrated IMO.

I agree I hate and suck at high reps so now with chins stick to multiple sets of 5 reps and can get more volume in this way

[Moontrane]

I agree I hate and suck at high reps so now with chins stick to multiple sets of 5 reps and can get more volume in this way

Last year I had some really bad injuries and complications from them.  Having done 25 chins (pullups, fool!) in the past made completing 3 seem worthless.  But I did sets of 2 or 3 as I recovered, finding my later sets started producing more reps.  I'll sometimes do sets of 3, 6, 9, 12, 9, etc.  Stuff works.

[balzac]

14:40 

[disco_stu]

chin ups build just as much mass as any other lat pulldown movement.

all this...its good for this and that is just BS simpleton stuff.

it all comes down to how many reps you can do on it.

its just like selecting a weight in a pulldown. when u want more weight, put on a belt.

it only starts to get impractical when the weight you carry becomes difficult for some reason like size of the plate stack.

[io856]

chin ups build just as much mass as any other lat pulldown movement.

all this...its good for this and that is just BS simpleton stuff.

it all comes down to how many reps you can do on it.

its just like selecting a weight in a pulldown. when u want more weight, put on a belt.

it only starts to get impractical when the weight you carry becomes difficult for some reason like size of the plate stack.

Don't forget a lot of people here struggle to do one with their drug bloat. So it's a bit biased.