Factors affecting skill level
Strength and control over the target and assisting muscles is vital
for achieving chin ups and for keeping the number of reps going
up steadily as strength increases. It is also important to learn
how to use strength and control to prevent other muscles from
overworking in the movement (because of strength imbalances and
compensatory muscle recruitment), so that the vast majority of the
work remains on the target muscle groups throughout the exercise.
Body weight is also an important consideration when first trying
to achieve a chin up, as the heavier a client is, the heavier the weight
they are trying to lift. So, if a client is overweight, it isn’t ideal to set
chin ups as the primary goal at that point in time. Rather, it should
be set as a second stage goal, with fat loss as the initial target.
Interestingly, fat is not all that can affect chin ups, in terms of body
weight: if a client also has a goal of getting stronger or bigger legs,
hypertrophy of lower body muscle groups will count as ‘dead weight’
as far as a chin up is concerned. Again, this can be managed through
goal prioritisation or simply understanding that if both goals are to
run concurrently, the chin ups may take longer to achieve.
Muscles, grip and positioning
There are several components to a chin up, so to maximise the
success your clients achieve, you must have exercises in place
to address all of these. It is common knowledge that the lats are
the primary driving muscle in chin ups, and that the biceps assist
in the pulling, so exercises that strengthen these muscles should
unquestionably feature in the program. Unfortunately, it is much
less common to see grip work and scapular positioning mentioned
in articles on chin ups and pull ups, which may be why you have not
always been successful in helping your clients achieve their chin up
goals. So let’s remedy that.
Grip strength
Grip is particularly important for women, given that generally female
clients are smaller than males and, in most cases, less likely to
be involved in both professional and domestic work that requires
greater grip strength. Unless they work in a profession that involves
manual labour, or have a sporting background, they will have had
limited opportunity to work on grip, and so you may find that some
of your female clients are initially unable to hold onto a bar with their
full body weight suspended. This is problematic, as a full chin up
cannot even begin until a client is able to hang from, and hold their
entire bodyweight on, a bar for at least a few seconds.
Scapular positioning
Scapular positioning is vital for preventing rotator cuff issues that
can emerge over time through dysfunctional movement patterns.
Correct scapular positioning also helps maximise strength in
the movement, as it allows the target muscles to work optimally.
Therefore, you need to help your clients learn how to use the lower
traps, rhomboids and rear delts to depress and retract their scapulae
prior to commencing a chin up, and to hold this scapular position
throughout the entire repetition. This helps avoid shrugging, and
therefore overusing the upper traps and consequently struggling to
adequately activate the lats. Because many people who do not yet
have a strong training background struggle to feel what their back is
doing, this will involve body positioning and movement awareness
drills, as well as strengthening exercises.
NETWORK WINTER 2018 | 11