Chin Up
Hang from an overhead bar with the palms facing you and pull until the chin clears the bar. Also called Chinup, Chin-Up and Chin Ups.
- Pattern
- Pull down or up
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Works
- Lats, biceps, upper back
- Loads
- Shoulders, elbows, wrists
If something hurts
Not medical advice. Sharp pain, numbness or swelling needs someone qualified to look at it.
Each swap below spares one joint.
Shoulder Seated Row (Cable)Try it if it feels okay
Horizontal pull: the shoulder never reaches overhead and the wrists hold a handle instead of a hang.
The elbow stays straight, unlike a pull with a bent arm.
Wrist Seated Row (Cable)
Horizontal pull: the shoulder never reaches overhead and the wrists hold a handle instead of a hang.
When it stalls, these usually help
Chin-ups lean on the biceps more than other pulls, so direct curls carry over.
Horizontal pulling that builds the mid-back a chin-up leans on.
The same pull at a weight you choose, so you can add the sets the bar will not let you.
How Swolver coaches it
This lift is read from your own sessions. When it goes flat for four weeks, Swolver names the likely cause in plain words, such as weekly sets that dropped, and the one change to make. The rules are all on the method page.