What is the difference? Does doing
one or the other really matter? There are differences and doing one or the
other does matter. It’s in how the exercises engage, strengthen, and develop
different groups of muscles. These are two movements that challenge you to lift
your entire body weight to complete. Not push-ups. Not lunges. There are others,
yes, but chin-ups and pull-ups are probably two of the most widely recognized
and hardest to perform.
I am sure that most of us are
familiar with lats and biceps; however, each exercise brings different muscles
into play in different ways. Additionally, there are a number of smaller
supporting muscle groups that come into play for each exercise, too.
Both are compound exercises, that
is they involve multiple muscles at one time. In each you are going to pull
your chin up over the bar. In many standards, clearing the bar with your chin
is adequate, for a deeper and more functional range of strength bring your
shoulders up to bar height.
The differences between the two
begin with the grips. Pull-ups are overhand, palms facing away from you while
chin ups are underhand with your palms facing you. The most complete range of
motion is from arms being completely straight to elbows directly under your
shoulders. This would be with the bar at about your shoulder. This fits with
the definition as set by the American Council on Exercise.
Grip width can be changed to change
the angles at which you are working the muscles. A wider grip is generally more
difficult than the standard shoulder width grip. A narrower grip engages other
muscles making this grip a bit easier.
Pull-ups hit a number of muscles.
The largest of which is the latissimus dorsi or lats.
In the forearm the muscles worked
are the brachialis and bracioradialis. These two are near the elbow. They help
to stabilize and move the forearm.
Of course, the biceps are engaged
in this.
Chin-ups engage more muscles than pull-ups.
There is overlap. Chin-ups involve the lats, brachialis, and brachioradialis
muscles. They also involve biceps, as do pull-ups; however, chin-ups activate
biceps to a greater degree. Additionally, if you lean back a little at the top
of the movement you can activate more of the muscles in the scapular (shoulder
blade region).
By leaning back, pinching your
shoulder blades tightly together, and bringing your sternum up to the bar you
can best complete the scapular muscles.
The more muscles you engage the
better the exercise event is going to be. Consequently, the better your results
will be. Make it a point to change your grip in order engage more muscles and
from a variety of directions.
Here are some of the government and military standards as a baseline:
US Army Rangers minimum of 6 in 2
minutes
US Secret Service is based on age
with no time limit;
20-29
– 7
30-39
– 6
40-49
– 4
50
and up – 2
Women
of all ages have to complete 2
Marines range from a minimum of 3
to maximum of 20
 | |
| Neutral Grip |
Grip width aside, there are a
number of variations on forms. By changing the style or form you use you can avoid
boredom, continually surprise your body and keep it growing, and challenge
yourself. Since you are already familiar with chin-up, pull-up, and varying the
width of the grip on these, let’s take a look at some of the others.
Neutral – Using parallel bars, like
on monkey bars, so that your palms are facing each other.
Commando – Similar to the Neutral,
but with a single bar. One repetition counted by pulling your to touch each
shoulder once to the bar.
Behind the Neck – This should only
be attempted if your shoulders are strong enough to support you through the
entire movement, otherwise you are liable to tear or strain the tissues in and
around the socket joint of your shoulder. Take a wide grip on the bar. When you
pull up lean forward so that the bar goes behind your neck. It should touch you
neck on the trapezius as far down to your shoulders as you can manage without
straining your shoulder joints.
Other than those, there are cheat
techniques like kipping to assist in getting more reps out than you could
normally do. While those kinds of cheats are fine, I don’t use them. Here at
the Basement Gym there isn’t the physical room for that. I have to curl my legs
up at my knees as the ceiling is barely seven feet. I do, however, use
negatives to burn out when positive muscle failure has been reached.
Pull-ups and chin-ups, like
push-ups, lunges, jump squats, and squats, can be done most anywhere. All you
need is a place to put up a proper bar. In addition to my basement area, I have
one of those doorframe contraptions that holds itself up. It also has two
handles for the neutral grip that are good for dips. This thing is worth more
than its weight in gold. You can find one for around $20 at most large
department stores and outlets.
