My favorite part of filming these videos is the pump from that B-roll.
What's going on nation and welcome back to my dumbest mistake series in these videos
I pick apart common exercises to help you all not only understand how to do them properly
But what mistakes specifically you need to look out for and today we're going to be covering chin-ups now
chin-ups are a great exercise to have in your exercise arsenal because they involve shoulder extension
and elbow flexion, which means if done properly
They will effectively target your lats and biceps for muscle growth
In fact, the majority of you would see more gains in your biceps if you started to incorporate more chin-ups into your back workouts
Especially weighted chin-ups, but what if you can't even do one chin up right now does this mean that chin ups aren't for you?
Absolutely not and I have a video called pull-up progressions for beginners that you can check out later
And even though the title says pull-ups the same techniques apply to chin-ups as well
but the other half of the equation is what if you can do 8 to 10 chin-ups with body weight or even
Weighted but you've plateaued and can't seem to progress anymore. Well these four mistakes
I'm about to show you could be responsible for restricting your true potential and after we fix them
I guarantee you'll be able to add two and maybe even three more chin-ups to your working sets
But before we get started
I've got two $100 gift cards to Jed North that I'm giving away and winning is easy
All you have to do is make sure you subscribe to my channel and Jed north and then leave a like and comment on
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Comment Scott sent me on their most recent post
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That might be worth more just saying and the contest is gonna end on Monday September 23rd. So good luck guys.
Mistake number one
Obsessing with getting your chin over the bar guys
I know it's called a chin up
But it's not called Chin over you do not necessarily
Have to get your chin over the bar and if you're currently unable to do so that's perfectly fine
And I'll explain why
The main goal of this movement is to hammer your lats and your lats will be worked throughout the entire range of motion
but during the top portion of the movement your biceps will actually be emphasized a bit more than your lats now the exact
Opposite holds true for the static portion of the chin up which is why a full lockout or a dead
hang is so important when you dead hang from the bar and
Initiate the movement your biceps are not in an optimal position to pull which means your lats will engage more while being fully
Stretched to get your body moving upwards and therein lies the first mistake
Most people are so concerned with being able to complete the top portion of the movement that they skip the dead
Hang at the bottom by performing half reps and thus miss out on huge amounts of muscle and strength gaining potential
So what does proper form actually look like? Well proper form begins with a dead
Hang on every rep not just when you start with your arms fully locked out
Depress your shoulder blades by using your lower traps and lats and
then stop bending at the elbows and pulling with your arms and lats together
Next bring yourself as high up as you can without obsessing over getting your chin above the bar
Of course
it would be best to go as high as you can and work your biceps as hard as you can at the top of the
Movement, but the main focus here is growing your back, right?
So I'd rather you guys lose a couple inches at the top but be able to progress with more weight and reps over time
Doing the dead hang mistake number two using momentum to perform more reps now
I'm not talking about my cheat and recover technique here guys. That's something totally different
I'm talking about using momentum or kipping on every single rep because that's the only way that you're able to perform even one repetition
But first you need to decide what your goal is, right? So why are you performing chin-ups?
Is it because you want a bigger back or it's because you want to be able to do more repetitions?
Well, if it's the former then need to tone down the kipping and cheating and focus on proper form to make sure the correct muscles
Are activating during the movement
Mind muscle connection plays a crucial role in mastering any exercise, especially
Before applying advanced techniques like heavy negatives
So the best way to master the chin-up is to utilize an explosive concentric phase followed by a slow and controlled
Negative and then a brief pause during the stretch portion of the movement, which is the dead hang
This is why you should check out my pull-ups progressions video because if you're thinking right now
How can you utilize this tip if you can't do a lot of reps and don't have access to a pull-up assist machine?
Well, that is where bands come in just find the right one that gives you just enough help to complete your reps
Oh and one more thing
Even though I'm saying be explosive on the concentric phase you'll notice that I'm still not going super fast
But fast enough to remain in control and ensure the right muscles are activating throughout the entire repetition
Mistake number three not bracing your core also known as flapping around all over the place
Rocking back and forth during reps is very common and easy to fix but the reason why it's a mistake is because you're basically
Leaking all kinds of energy that could be going towards more repetitions. Your body is basically working overtime
Allocating energy trying to keep your body from swaying back and forth
When it should only be focusing on activating the muscles it needs to go up and down. So what's the solution?
Well, it's actually quite simple. All you need to do is flex, but not your biceps
but not just your core either you want to activate your abs lower back lats glutes quads and even your
Hamstrings the tighter and stiffer your body is the less swaying that will occur as you perform your repetitions
but by activate I don't necessarily mean squeeze all these muscle groups as hard as you can
I mean just engage them enough in order to keep your body stabilized and in one place and finally mistake number four
Never progressing with the movement now
This one is for you guys who've been stuck at five or six repetitions for a while
And you just can't seem to increase your reps and the solution may be that you simply need to
Overload the movement and there are a few different ways that you can do this
The first thing you should try out weighted chin-ups now if you're currently only working with your bodyweight
Try adding an extra 5 to 10 pounds, you'll find that your reps will be cut down by one or two per set
but after a few weeks of doing this when you return back to bodyweight chin-ups
You'll suddenly be able to squeeze out an extra two or three repetitions now
I would even recommend getting as many complete reps in as you can and then
Finishing off each set with two to three jumping negatives when you're doing your weighted pull-ups
Anything you can do to get your body to feel the strain of more weight will help you progress
faster with this
Movement while building more muscle and strength a different strategy you can do to progress with the chin up is to simply increase the amount
Of volume of your chin-ups throughout the week
For example, if your program currently has you performing chin-ups once a week just try adding in a second day
It's that easy by doubling or even tripling your chin up volume
Your body will have no other option but to adapt and grow in size and strength
You could even get a chin up bar for home and try hitting four sets of maybe five to ten repetitions
Every other morning the only way you'll know what you can handle is to apply yourselves
So don't hold back and push your limits guys
as for sets and reps and when to incorporate chin-ups into your current training program
I would make sure that they're at least the first or second exercise you're performing
for your back on your back day whether it's part
of a push-pull legs program or a 5-day bodybuilding split
It doesn't matter and as you've seen throughout the video you can easily
Progress with this movement by increasing your volume and overloading with more weight for muscle gain
I would stick within the 6 to 8 rep range and you guys know I like to keep things simple and because the chin-up
Heavily targets the back and biceps like we talked about in the beginning of the video
I would push for at least five to eight sets
utilizing all the tips that are given here whether it's jumping negatives or using bands for assistance each and every single one of you can
complete 5 to 8 sets of the movement.
You just have to grind and push hard for it
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