Chinup Question

[Steve80]

I just started doing chinups instead of lat pulls. Lat pulls didnt seem to help me. I will be honest I am not very good at chinups yet. With my palms facing away from me my sets look like 9, 7, 4. I can do more with my palms facing me (the "girl way").

Question- does it matter which way your palms face when you do chinups? Does it work different muscles? Is one way better than the other? Should I keep doing them palms away, or would it be more beneficial to do palms facing me because I can get more reps?

(wow that was a hectic question)

[Zanelike]

I do palms facing away. I feel it more in the outer portion of my lats. If I do them with palms facing me I feel it more in the middle of my back and a lot in my biceps ( I am assuming you are using a close grip with palms facing you).

[Steve80]

I do a little wider than shoulder width.

[Zanelike]

If you are wanting to working on width, go really wide with palms facing away.

[BlueAndromeda73]

Ya palms facing out I feel it a lot more in the biceps if I do hands facing me...also a wider grip means a wider back (not wide enough to the point of pain).....One thing I started doing is try to do 5 sets of 10 reps, and tally the numbers till you get to 50, for example lets say you do 10, 10 , 8, 8 etc. do as many sets as it takes to get to 50 I started this 4 weeks ago and now I have had to add hanging weight to make it harder, worked wonders for me.

[MartyMcFly]

9,7,4 is not bad. That is better than when I started about 3 months ago and can now do them with weight added. Hang in there (literally). Also try using straps, they let you concentrate on the pullup instead of grip issues. Helped me out immensely.

[Steve80]

Thanks for the info. I will keep my palms out. Now I just have to work on the swaying issue, pretty sure sabilization will come with time, just like with any other lift. In the mean time if you see a guy swinging like a monkey in the gym its prolly me.

[MFT81]

Thanks for the info. I will keep my palms out. Now I just have to work on the swaying issue, pretty sure sabilization will come with time, just like with any other lift. In the mean time if you see a guy swinging like a monkey in the gym its prolly me.

Hey Congrats on makin the switch from pulldowns to pullups. You'll be suprised how strong you get and how fast too.

heres a couple of tips.

#1 dont be afraid to cheat a bit by using wrist straps. they'll help stabalize a bit

#2 To minimize swing I let my legs hang down all the way. At the bottom of each rep I extend my foot slightly and use my foot to "pop" up off the floor. I feel that it keeps me from swinging everywhere and it also gives me a bit of an assist and ensures a full rom. Hope this helps a bit

[novastepp]

pullup is palms away. chinup is palms facing in. palms facing in allows you to work biceps more because one of the primary roles of teh bicep is to rotate your palm in (i think its called supinate?) anywho, i believe your back will work harder with palms facing out.

[Steve80]

Hey Congrats on makin the switch from pulldowns to pullups. You'll be suprised how strong you get and how fast too.

heres a couple of tips.

#1 dont be afraid to cheat a bit by using wrist straps. they'll help stabalize a bit

#2 To minimize swing I let my legs hang down all the way. At the bottom of each rep I extend my foot slightly and use my foot to "pop" up off the floor. I feel that it keeps me from swinging everywhere and it also gives me a bit of an assist and ensures a full rom. Hope this helps a bit

Yeah its crazy the difference between pullups and lat pulls. When I do the pullups I can see my lats, chest shoulders all popping out like you wouldnt believe. I was like whoa because I was facing a mirror while doin em. Lat pulls didnt do a thing for me, but make my pinkies go numb for some odd reason.

Thanks for all the info guys.

[Steve80]

I found a good way to prevent swinging today. I adjusted a bench so it was sitting straight up, I put it like and inch infront of the bar. This way your body just barely touches it and it keeps your from swinging. The only thing is I can only lift to my mouth,not chin. When I go to chin my body goes higher than the seat, I came down and racked my dingle balls on the top of the bench lol