TRAINING & EQUIPMENT

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Getting Back to Chin-Ups

Th e fast track to developing upper body pulling power

BY KIM GOSS, MS

n July 16, 1956, President the middle of a court and saying, “Play!” Many of these women had to go through Dwight D. Eisenhower My PE classes were about 90 minutes; remedial training to pass the general fit- Oestablished the President’s we had to suit up, and each class started ness requirements of the Academy – and Council on Youth Fitness, a governmen- with about 30 minutes of hardcore the major problem was chin-ups. tal organization that was created after a calisthenics followed by a 440-yard If you’re wondering why chin-ups study found that American youths were (not a jog, but a sprint). Only aren’t a part of programs to help kids less physically fit than youths in Europe. after that “warm-up” did we start playing get stronger, that’s a good question. I’ve In 1966 President Lyndon B. Johnson a sport. So it was no big deal to see my been involved in the strength coach- created the Presidential classmates whipping out about a dozen ing profession since before it became a Award. When I was in high school in the chin-ups when it came to test time. profession. And I’ve seen the profession ’70s, earning that award was a big deal. Moving forward 20 years to when go through several phases of emphasis, And for boys, one of the requirements I was a strength coach at the Air Force such as the plyo and core training phases, to get that coveted patch was to perform Academy, I was shocked by the number and more recently the posterior chain chin-ups – a lot of them. of incoming female cadets, a majority and strongman phases. All these types of Consider that at the time, PE wasn’t of whom had been varsity athletes, who training have value, which is why there simply a matter of throwing a ball into could not perform a single chin-up. are so many components to the BFS

42 | BIGGER FASTER STRONGER JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012 Total Program – it’s not just a weight face each other), increases the stress on chin-up bars. From a liability standpoint, training workout. But in the quest of your rhomboids and lats. I would not recommend leverage chin- strength coaches to find the best training For anyone confused about the dif- up bars because they can easily become tools and methods, chin-ups have been ference between pull-ups and chin-ups, dislodged and cause injury (just do a all but forgotten. a pull-up is performed with a pronated search on YouTube for some dramatic Oddly enough, there is a quasi- grip (palms facing away from you) and examples). political factor contributing to the a chin-up is performed with a supinated During the time I was volunteer- neglect of this great . Some time grip (palms facing you). In terms of the coaching at the high school level, I found ago, pull-ups and other strenuous exer- effects of these two variations, a study that chin-ups were impossible for the cises started to be considered discrimina- about this topic using EMG analysis was female students to perform. Instead, I tory against not just girls but also bigger published in the December 2010 issue of had them do assisted chin-ups, which kids. And with the increasing incidence the Journal of Strength and Conditioning can be performed two ways. One way is of obesity in the US, the number of boys Research. Said the authors of the study, simply to flex one leg and have a train- who can do a single pull-up is steadily “The pectoralis major and brachii ing partner grasp your ankle and give decreasing. In the spirit of “No child had significantly higher EMG activa- as much assistance as needed. You also left behind,” many schools decided that tion during the chin-up than during can perform assisted chin-ups without a when designing physical fitness programs the pull-up, whereas the lower training partner by using a power rack. for their students, it would be best to was significantly more active during the Simply stand inside the power rack and leave chin-ups behind. pull-up.” The researchers also found place a barbell across the safety pins set that both variations were initiated by the about mid-thigh height, and this will A Strong Case for Chin-Ups lower trapezius and pectoralis major, and reduce the amount of weight you lift. If you need any convincing of then completed by the biceps brachii You also can place your back leg on the value of chin-ups, just look at the and latissimus. However, consider that a BFS adjustable step-up platform or upper-back muscles of gymnasts, who because the lats are internal rotators of 4-in-1 bench. When doing these varia- use chins and dips as key in the shoulders, chin-ups are not a good tions, it helps to slow down the lowering their conditioning programs. And how exercise to reverse round shoulders. (negative) phase of the exercise, which about all those magnificent paintings To perform chin-ups you can use increases the time the muscles are placed of Greek Olympians? The Greeks built the crossbar in a power rack, or you can under tension. their magnificent physiques with basic use a multi-station unit such as the BFS Getting back to my story, some of callisthenic exercises such as chin-ups Corner Unit, which has pull-up bars the girls in the classes didn’t make the and dips. Oh, and don’t forget those attached; BFS also carries wall-mounted connection that these were variations brave soldiers who defend our country who get fighting trim with bodyweight For those who exercises. cannot perform From an anatomical standpoint, the chin-ups, the exercise can be chin-up works the latissimus dorsi, teres made easier by major, posterior deltoid, rhomboids, the the use of a bar- sternal portion of the pectoralis major, bell placed on safety pins in a the lower portions of the trapezius, and power rack (as the elbow flexors. How you position shown in the your hands determines which muscle two photos at left), or by hav- groups are emphasized. For example, ing a training chins with your hands about six inches partner provide apart will emphasize the biceps brachii, assistance by lifting on one while pull-ups with the same hand spac- leg. ing will focus more on the brachialis and brachio-radialis. Performing the exercise Luisa Angilau with a parallel grip (so that your palms www.biggerfasterstronger.com 1-800-628-9737 | 43 TRAINING & EQUIPMENT of the same exercise that could help their pull-up strength. After a few weeks I started asking the girls to try one pull-up without assistance. To their surprise, many of the girls could do more than one. Soon there were several girls who were performing a dozen or more pull-ups. This came as a shock to many at the school, but for some reason it wasn’t amazing enough to attract the attention of MythBusters! Regarding technique tips, strength coach Charles Poliquin offers this advice: “Initiate the movement by learning to retract the scapulae. A basic principle in biomechanics is that force production is a product of joint sum- mation. Using the scapulae retractors to initiate the movement produces more force. Concentrate on moving the elbows back and down. Most trainees overemphasize pulling with the elbow flexors to initiate the chin-up. Once you have retracted the scapulae, concen- trate on elbowing the gut of someone who is standing behind you. That action will activate the latissimus dorsi and the teres major, which are powerful shoulder extensors.” To prevent monotony and make faster gains, trainees need to continually Strength coach Carlos Castro vary their grip orientation and width – The use of an Assisted Chin- machine (above, left) can serve as a great introduc- you can also wrap a chin-up bar with tion to chin-up training; and using adding additional weight with the use of a chin/ dip belt can be used for advanced athletes. athletic tape to increase the thickness of the bar to increase the difficulty. Says s-IXED GRIPCHIN UP stack. The more weight you add to the Poliquin, “When you change the grip s3UBSCAPULARISPULL UP weight stack, the more upward force width and/or its orientation, you will Although the best exercises to is applied to the footplate and the less draw from a different motor-unit pool, improve chin-ups are chin-ups, a good strength is required to perform the exer- which will accelerate progress.” Some auxiliary would be a chin-up machine. cise. When your strength increases, you examples Poliquin provides to instill BFS introduced a machine that effec- can fold back the footplate and perform such variety include the following: tively reduces your bodyweight. It’s the exercises with bodyweight. s0ARALLEL GRIPCHIN UP called the BFS Assisted Chin-Dip As coaches grow beyond just fol- s.ARROW PARALLEL GRIPCHIN UP machine. lowing trends and look at what actually s-EDIUM GRIPANDWIDE GRIP This heavy-duty machine has works, hopefully we’ll see a resurgence chin-up a footplate that you stand on while of this great exercise in physical educa- s-EDIUM GRIPANDWIDE GRIPPULL UP you perform dips and chin-ups. The tion and sports fitness programs. In the s.ARROW SUPINATED GRIPCHIN UP footplate is connected through a pulley meantime, get a head start and get back s3TERNUMCHIN UP mechanism to a selectorized weight to the chin-up bar!

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