Short answer: The chin-up is a pull-up variation done with a supinated/underhand grip (palms facing towards you). Subsequently, the biggest arm flexors i.e. the biceps receive a significant market share in the exercise. The contribution of the biceps combined with the ability to scale the chin-up forever by adding weight, turn the movement into a […]
Purpose. This post contains a blueprint for building the biggest latissimus dorsi muscles [lats] achievable naturally through pull-ups. Pull-ups – The Perfect Candidate The following properties make pull-ups the logical choice when selecting a movement for lat construction: 1. Simplicity. The best muscle-building exercises are simple. The more complicated a movement is, the less suitable […]
Many people think that I am a skinny loser who never trains and spends most of his time torturing voodoo dolls representing unnatural bodybuilders and juicing fitness models. Sorry, but that’s not entirely true. I may be skinny, but I still lift. Also, I don’t own any dolls…yet. My most recent accomplishment is a 41kg/90lbs […]
This is the most detailed pull-up tutorial that I can produce at the moment. It covers all technical elements that I consider crucial for the correct execution of this popular movement. I have also included a few programming tips for beginners and intermediate pull-up apprentices. My goal was to write a tutorial that jumps out […]
What are you supposed to do once you reach 10 pull-ups in a row? Do you add weight or keep on doing volume routines to increase your numbers even further? The truth is that both approaches are legit, and it comes down to personal choice. The conditions you are in are also very important. I […]
I guess I have to be the guy who stops the music once again. The answer is, “No”. Оne arm pull-ups/chin-ups do not equal balloon sized biceps. The evidence is everywhere. There are plenty of people on YouTube who can do one arm pull-ups easily without exceptionally big biceps. Rock climbers are a good example. […]
The Latin word for triceps is “triceps brachii muscle” which means “three-headed arm muscle”. Obviously, the reason for this name is the fact that the triceps have three heads. Out of the three, only the long head works heavily during pull-ups. The long head originates from the infraglenoid tubercle of the scapula and therefore is part of […]
If you are already capable of 15 pull-ups in a row with good form, adding reps is endurance work. Of course, if you increase your pull-ups from 15 to 30, your absolute strength will go up too. Strength and endurance have a certain amount of carryover to each other. However, if your primary mission is […]
My first run of Pavel Tsatsouline’s Fighter Pull-up Program resulted in overtraining. This is hardly a surprise since the routine calls for 25 days of high volume. If you are not familiar with the actual program, it looks a little something like this: The 5RM Fighter Pull-up Program Day 1 5, 4, 3, 2, […]
One of the best ways to improve your pull-up numbers is to do a lot of pull-ups. There are many different ways to achieve this goal. One of them is the ladder system. The ladder method works like this – 1 pull-up; rest; 2 pull-ups; rest; 3 pull-ups; rest; 5 pull-ups; big rest; start all […]
Professional bodybuilders just suck at pull-ups. Most of the time they do partial partial reps and call it real training. What’s up with that? Why can’t those “gorillas” pull-up? 1.Bodybuilders are heavy as hell In their prime, Jay Cutler and Ronnie Coleman were easily 280lbs on stage. When you weigh as much as a fully loaded […]
Kipping pull-ups are now a popular exercise due to CrossFit’s sread over the mainstream fitness community. Everybody’s posting pictures and videos on Facebook presenting this new exercise, which is supposed to be a full body pull-up. The negative sides of kipping pull-ups Hello, injuries! The biggest problem with kipping pull-ups is that they place too […]