Women and chin ups

Jeff92se

Wait, I think I'm confused now. The difference between pull ups and chin ups is the way your hold the arm/the way your arms face right???

Chin up = palms facing you. They are a bit easier and engage the biceps more

Pull up = palms facing out. Harder to do but engage the back more

FlyeredUp

Yes, they do get easier. However, just a word of caution. When I was 18 and training for Mrs.Fitness( I had already been in steady training for over year with a personal trainer who ran the Golds gym, I tore my bicep while doing chin ups. It didn't hurt, but obviously not good. My arm turned purple and grew about twice its normal size. If you've ever seen pictures in muscle mags you'll no what I mean its totally gross and unbelievable that theres no pain. Funny eh. Anyway, practice cautiously if you are new try fewer reps and try supporting your weight either by having a spotter or chair to support a bit of weight, or lower bar you can stand under letting your crossed legs touch the ground a little.

Great point!! You need to use caution doing any lifting exercise. Two nights ago a girl got her pony tail caught in the lat pulldown cable/bar and was to embarressed to ask for help and when she finally couldnt hold the bar any more and had to let it go hurt her neck.

amyindm

Ouch! That sounds painful ;|

I'm working on this goal. I think I've heard that chinups are slightly easier than pull-ups but I'm not sure about that and if so, why. Pullups are with palms away, chinups are palms toward you yeah?

Our gym has the assisted pull-up machine but I've also heard of using a bar on a squat rack and setting it about hip height... then getting under it and pulling your chest up to it, if that makes sense. Like a 45 degree angle and then progressively decreasing the angle to make it harder.

I have heard about the chair too but haven't tried it yet. Is this a better option if you can't even do one yet?

I have liked using the assisted machine because I like to see the help needed decrease over time. I geek out over the numbers. Hehe!

FlyeredUp

Ouch! That sounds painful ;|

I'm working on this goal. I think I've heard that chinups are slightly easier than pull-ups but I'm not sure about that and if so, why. Pullups are with palms away, chinups are palms toward you yeah?

Our gym has the assisted pull-up machine but I've also heard of using a bar on a squat rack and setting it about hip height... then getting under it and pulling your chest up to it, if that makes sense. Like a 45 degree angle and then progressively decreasing the angle to make it harder.

I have heard about the chair too but haven't tried it yet. Is this a better option if you can't even do one yet?

I have liked using the assisted machine because I like to see the help needed decrease over time. I geek out over the numbers. Hehe!

Yes and thank you for bringing it up! Like amyindm said you can use the squat rack and keep adjusting the angle as you make progress. But I still recommend using the assist machine or a chair.

Jeff92se

sbrBirdy

@Jeff - Love love love the photo.... that's awesome.

b0t23

6-7 months ago I could barely do 1 half assed chinup
and not 1 pullup

a few months ago I bought a pull-up bar doorway thing

now i can do 10 chinups, 8+pullups

I do wide grip, narrow grip, all sorts of stuff.

even do hanging leg raises and hanging bent knee leg raises along with some core workout

I love it!

mes1119

I must say, I rocked those when I was 12 years old. I would do more than the boys in the class....and more than I can do now.

that being said, when I was a college swimmer the max I think I ever got to was like 3... and I was strong and fit.

they are just plain difficult. but I've always figured that losing weight would help, less weight to "pull up."

usmcmp

Try adding a flex arm hang, it helps! Basically start in the up position with your chain over the bar and hang like that as long as you can. Don't just drop, lower down as slow as you can until your arms are straight.

Punktorian

You can try using a resistance band. wrap one end in the middle of the pull up bar and loop the other one under your leg.

trail_rnr

What Punktorian said. That method requires you to stabilize more.

For some reason, for me pull ups are much easier than chin ups. I have no idea why.

I love this guy. He's my bodyweight exercise hero:

Regular pull ups: http://www.alkavadlo.com/2010/09/learning-to-do-a-pull-up/

Australian pull ups: http://www.alkavadlo.com/2010/01/all-about-australian-pull-ups/

Other things that matter aside from strength and coordination for pull ups are length of lever (your arms--harder for people with longer arms) and of course your weight.

Once upon a time, when I was stronger, I could actually do muscle ups on rings. And I'm a woman. Keep at it, girl!

lipglossjunky73

Yes!!!

I finally did my first full one after months of practice!!!

I did it several times a week - 3 sets of 5 twitchy attempts, until one day - BAM - it just happened!!! Now I need to do 2!! :laugh:

Flippiefloppies

They definatly do. I was not able to do any when I first started weight training. Now I can get 3 out haha. But, I do not try to do them very often. If I worked at it I know I could work up to at least 6. My workout partner is up to 10 I think.

Jeff92se

Picola1984

Nope, no assisted machine!! Booooo

I will learn the hard way!

Some good replies thanks!

MariaMariaM

I have a pull up bar I use for my p90x workouts at home. I have a chair I use to assist with the chin up n pull ups. I started with 1/ chin up and zero pull up. 12 weeks later I was able to do 11 chin ups and up to 4 or 5 pull ups. It gets better as you get stronger.