Chin ups sets

8 - 10 is a decent amount of reps. Try pull ups as well or neutral grip to see how the difficulty changes. A minute or two of rest is fine. Taking a ten minute coffee break between sets is probably too much. Once you get to ten reps or higher you should consider getting a dip belt to add weight.

With the palms facing each other. Some doorway pull up bars have extensions that allow for a neutral grip.

Chin ups use a supinated grip, palms facing inwards. Pull ups use a pronated grip, palms facing away.

When you say coming off are you losing your grip?

Spartan Race has a good program to improving your pull ups/chin ups:

https://life.spartan.com/post/how-to-do-pull-ups

Bobthedog3232 wrote: »

Can’t do pull ups yet can do about 8 chin ups then have to come off because exertion
Then second go around it’s 5 max it’s like decline every time leave the bar and start again
Doing negatives and lat pull downs but it’s very hard

You can’t do a pull-up but you can do 10 chins? That makes no sense. Pull-ups are harder but not so much that you shouldn’t be able to do any. What’s your range of motion on these chin-ups you are doing?

Paul Wade's "Convict Conditioning" includes a great, gently progressive pull up regimen that will have you doing them one armed--eventually. There are ten steps to get you there. Sounds like you might be on step four or five already. The main reason I recommend checking it out is it will guide you forward from where are you are now but unsure how to progress.

Bobthedog3232 wrote: »

Can manage about 8 to ten chin ups door frame home bar
But can’t do much more without coming off
What is a good amount in a set and how much rest should be in between thanks

Do you have a goal in mind? Are you looking to be able to knock out x amount of chin up/pull up in a single set?

Pondee629 had mentioned 20 reps and the Marine Corps, so were you thinking of going for that number?

Adding weight on a dip belt helps a lot but isn't necessary. Be careful if that's the route you're taking because you said you were using one of those bars that hooks to the door frame and I would hate for that to come crashing down.

Grip is often the limiting factor with hanging exercises. Hanging from the bar for extended hold periods can help but make sure to take care of your shoulders.

I would say if you are having problems maintaining a consistent level of performance for reps on each set then it's necessary to do a few things:
1) Don't take your sets to failure. So if you can do 8 all out to failure, try doing sets of 5 or 6. Keep your form in check.
2) Try cluster sets.
Instead of doing 8 all out, break it down to something like 2-2-2-2-2. Rest 20 to 30 seconds in between each set of 2 then after you hit all 10 reps, rest for a few minutes.
3) Rest longer between sets. Against popular opinion, more rest will allow you to recover fully and be able to hit it hard again next set. You can take your first set to failure then rest 3 to 5 minutes before doing the next set.

There's a lot that goes into program design but these tips helped me a lot to knock out 25 in a single set.

Also, how often are you doing getting on the bar per week?

pierinifitness wrote: »

@MT1134 thank you for your sage training wisdom with pull-ups. I’m a pull-ups junkie and have tried all of your suggestions in my journey to improve pull-ups performance. It’s a perpetual work in progress and I’m currently chasing some pull-ups goals ad we speak.

Right on. I hope that helped others as well. Pull ups are an all time favorite of mine, so much that I have had to battle tennis elbow (or is it golfer's elbow?) for months. I wasn't following any program and had no goal in mind either. I was just putting them into my daily workouts at will. BAD IDEA.

What are your current goals that you're chasing pull up wise?

pierinifitness wrote: »

@MT1134, one of my current goals is to complete 100 reps (alternating between pull-ups and chin-ups) in 20 minutes or less, I’m very close.

I’d like to test and complete 10 wide-grip behind the neck pull-ups, something I’ve done in the past. I’d like to improve my load doing weighted pull-ups and chin-ups. About a dozen years ago, I was doing 80 lb. weighted singles for pull-ups and 100 lbs. for chin-ups.

I’m 64 now so reclaiming what I’ve done in the past may or may not happen but I’ll have fun trying. Never had grip failure as an issue or elbow problems other than when I first began my pull-ups journey.

Thanks for asking, train smart and be safe.

That's quite the feat at any age. Very impressive. Please keep us updated as you work towards your goal.

You may be having some form issues on pull-ups if it's really hurting.

Think of it as any other weight lifting workout - form matters.
And rest between sets can be the same 2-4 min if reps is so low it's like a SL workout.
Do 5x5 even, if limiting 5 at start really allows doing 5 at end.

Why more chinups than pullups?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfGNjYogpiE