Starting Strength

chin-ups and dips are quite useful at lower reps and heavy weights, whereas heavy weighted back extensions can be rather hard on the knees. Each exercise has its own specific applications and fits into each individual trainee’s program in different ways.
    Chin-ups and pull-ups
     
    Possibly the oldest resistance exercise known to the human race is the pull-up. Arboreal primates use this movement in the process of locomotion, and ever since we’ve been standing on the ground, it’s been difficult to resist the temptation of grabbing a branch overhead and putting our chins up over it. And you should be strong enough to do that; the pull-up is not only a good exercise but also a very good indicator of upper-body strength. If you can’t do very many chin-ups, your press and bench press will increase as you get stronger on this very important exercise. And that is why it is the only ancillary exercise included in the novice program.
    Chin-ups and pull-ups are most famous for their effects on the latissimus dorsi muscles (the “lats”), but they are equally important for the other muscles of the upper back – the rhomboidius, the teres major, the serratus groups, and the rotator cuff muscles, as well as the forearms and hands. Chin-ups even work the pecs a little, if done from a diligent dead hang, and abs, if enough reps are used to get them fatigued.

    Figure 7-36. The chin-up ( top pair , A) uses a supine grip, and the pull-up ( bottom pair B), done in the power rack, uses a prone grip.

    In this book, the term “pull-up” refers to the version of the exercise with the hands prone, while “chin-up” or just “chin” refers to the version done with supine hands. The major and significant difference between the two is the biceps’ involvement in the chin-up and the lack of it in the pull-up. The addition of the biceps makes chin-ups a little easier than pull-ups, as well as adding the aesthetic elements of arm work to the movement. Pull-ups are harder, and they probably emphasize lat involvement more since the absence of the biceps means that something else must do its work. Because of the pronation, pull-ups also might aggravate the elbows for a lifter who is not very flexible. The prone grip shortens the distance between grip and shoulders; the supine grip tends to increase this distance if you don’t pay attention to keeping it close ( Figure 7-37, B ). So the pull-up might seem easier for some people if they stay too far away from the bar on chin-ups. Once your strength permits, you can add weights to strict chins and pull-ups for increased workloads. The more your trunk moves, the more trunk muscles are involved, and this is why abs can get sore. But any version of the chin-up or pull-up, where the whole body moves, is better than the machine version of the exercise, the “lat pulldown,” in which only the arms move.

    Figure 7-37. A correct chin-up starts with straight elbows and ends with the chin well over the bar, as high as possible. An incorrect chin-up displays an incomplete range of motion, starting with bent arms (left) or ending under the bar (right) .

    Chin-ups are a better introductory exercise than pull-ups, and perhaps a better exercise altogether because they involve more muscle mass. We’ll use a bar set at slightly above the level of the up-reached fingertips while we’re standing flat on the floor. When you are hanging from this level, your toes should just touch the floor. This is, of course, an ideal height, and your equipment may be lower or higher. The crossbar at the top of a power rack works well, as might a bar set high in the rack pins. If you are fortunate enough to train in a gym enlightened enough to have provided chin bars, enjoy them, for they are not common. A bar that is 1¼ inches in diameter feels the best in most hands, unless they are unusually small. But it is not hard to make do, and most training facilities will have a place for the innovative trainee to chin.
     
    In the chin-up grip, your palms are facing you, about shoulder width apart. Grip width can vary several inches depending on elbow flexibility; the more easily the hands can supinate, the wider the grip can be. The wider grip increases supination and biceps involvement. The wider the grip is, the greater the external rotation of the humerus is. The closer the grip is, the more internally rotated the humerus, the more abducted the scapulas, and the less involved the scapula retractors and posterior