Best way to master the Chin Up...?

[Sassy69]

I'm not the strongest mofo in the gym, but I could push my share of plates on the leg press. But I can't do an f'n chin up. My best has been like -20 lb on the assisted chin up machine.

What's the best way to build up to a chin up? I guess here the assumption is that you don't have someone there to 'spot' you / hold your feet/ whatever .

Somewhere I read one of the girls approached chin-ups by working alot on her negatives.

 

[The Shadow]

start with pulldowns...biuld strength form there..add in weighted negatives form the chin bars

 

[jenscats5]

Sass -- Saw on Krista Smash! that she finally was able to do hers by doing negatives. I find it helps if I have hubby hold my waist lightly so I don't "swing." But I can stil only do 1. I'm "down" to 50 on the assisted machine....

 

[Sassy69]

Sass -- Saw on Krista Smash! that she finally was able to do hers by doing negatives. I find it helps if I have hubby hold my waist lightly so I don't "swing." But I can stil only do 1. I'm "down" to 50 on the assisted machine....

Can I borrow hubby?

 

[jenscats5]

Can I borrow hubby?

Sure..... He might not mind being loaned out....

 

[MS]

Negatives and bungy cords are great. People may stare funny at you, but a bungy cord allows you to apply differening amounts of assistance through the entire exercise as needed and work on you weak spots.

 

[Quadsweeps Sister]

I'm not the strongest mofo in the gym, but I could push my share of plates on the leg press. But I can't do an f'n chin up. My best has been like -20 lb on the assisted chin up machine.

What's the best way to build up to a chin up? I guess here the assumption is that you don't have someone there to 'spot' you / hold your feet/ whatever .

Somewhere I read one of the girls approached chin-ups by working alot on her negatives.

Are you talking about Pull-ups with a mid or wide for your Lats or Chin-ups with a close grip for your upper-mid back? Each has its own purpose and off course the closer the grip, the easier to lift your own bodyweight.

The swing is due to lack of strength. The stronger you are - the tighter you will hold your body when pulling up, eliminating the swing. Depending upon the strength of your back muscles - the easier it is to 'pull-up'. The more I used to push my female clients to train their backs, the more accomplished they became in their pull-ups. Women have strong backs when they train them. Strengthen the back and your pull-ups will be 'all-day-long'. Good luck!

 

[Sassy69]

I guess I'm thinking specifically of pull-ups - I love watching when developed guys do it because their lats just go crazy. My back has always been fairly strong with rows - hammer strength, cable rows, hi, low row, DB rows, etc. Bent over rows & deads are not a strong suit because of lower back. I think I had almost gotten to one pull-up last summer while I was training w/ some powerlifting guys - but again, the ol' lower back problem kicked in & killed that route of training.

 

[miz L]

I'm not the strongest mofo in the gym, but I could push my share of plates on the leg press. But I can't do an f'n chin up. My best has been like -20 lb on the assisted chin up machine.

What's the best way to build up to a chin up? I guess here the assumption is that you don't have someone there to 'spot' you / hold your feet/ whatever .

Somewhere I read one of the girls approached chin-ups by working alot on her negatives.

Sassy-
I've been workin for weeks to be able to do pull-ups. At first, I couldnt do one set of four. But now I am at 5 or 6 sets of 6. I started on the weight assist machine, assisting about 1/3 of my weight. each week (if I could) move that pin up one notch and go for it. What helped me push myself also was my guy workout partner who would lift me at the hips if I needed a little boost. That way, i could also get in another rep or two. Even if he's holdin up half my weight, I'm still strugglin like hell and building my back.

 

[miz L]

Another thing I tried and really liked...
Place a high box underneath while I'm doing pull-ups so that I can reach it with my feet. (btw, this is NOT on assist-machine). Do your pull-ups with one foot on the box.. it is like your own weight assist thing, but you know EXACTLY how much you need to assist yourself so that you complete your rep with the least amount of assist. This is hard because you will want to assist yourself more than you need to, but its something I liked doing and i think it helped me.