The Pullup and Chin Ups Exercise Anatomy

Pullup and Chin Ups are recognized as the king of the bodyweight exercises. And some will even argue that it’s the king of upper body exercise. Pullup and Chin Ups are also a good back and core stabilizer. The lats (latissimus dorsi) are are the large V-shaped muscles that connect your arms to your vertebral column.

Targeting your lats is important because it stabilize the body for the bigger lift, so you can lift more on your deadlifts, squats, and on your bent rows.

Pullups are a great indicator of your body composition and where you at the moment. A lot of big (heavy) guys can struggle doing pullups compare to guys that are big but muscular can do the pullup with ease.

Pullups are also used by the United States Marine Corps, as a vital way to determine strength among service members. This is determined by the amount of good form reps that can be done, commonly 20 to 25 pull ups in a row is the standard of perfect score in most of the physical condition tests and the minimum value is 3 full pull ups. This test is usually a non-timed event.

Pull up bar is worth buying and installing in your house if you want to work on your upper body. Alternatively, you can go to the nearest playground and use a monkey bar there.

How to do the Pullup:

Extend your arms and take a wide, overhead grip on the pullup bar:
– Inhale and pull yourself upward until your eyes are above the level of the bar
– Exhale as you complete the movement
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The Pullup Exercise Anatomy Back View

 

The ANATOMY of Chin Ups Exercise

The Chin Ups Exercise or also known as the underhand grip pull up doesn’t just work your lats, the biceps are involve too. This has a lot of advantages. If you are a beginner who cant do an overhand grip pullup, then do chin ups until you are strong enough to do pull ups.

Both pull ups and chin ups target latissimus dorsi muscles

Both pull ups and chin ups target mainly your lats, arms and forearms. The difference is that chin ups focus a bit more on your biceps and also activate your chest up to 40 percent shown in an EGM study in year 2010. For that reason it can be integrated into a program focused on training arm region.

The trapezius (middle and lower portions ), rhomboids, and pectorals are also involved. The exercise requires greater strength. It is easier to perform using high pulley.

It is very important to understand the mechanics of back exercises and how important form is in performing these exercises. The pictures below will help you understand the muscle anatomy of these exercises.

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