Chin-up and pull-up – two terms that many amateur athletes associate with the same thing: a pull-up in which the body is pulled up on a horizontal bar with the back and arms and lowered again. In fact, these are two different variants of the popular bodyweight exercise.
The pull up is the Classic among the body weight exercises. In the English-speaking world, there are two different names for this exercise, which are incorrectly used as synonyms in German: chin-up and pull-up. FITBOOK learned what you need to know about it from sports scientist Jörn Giersberg.
What do chin ups and pull ups have in common?
Basically, both exercises are responsible for strengthening the back. The body is pulled up vertically with the help of a horizontal bar and lowered again. In the top position, the chin should be able to touch the bar. In the lower position, on the other hand, the arms should be almost straight. But that’s where the similarities end – because the chin-up and pull-up differ in execution.
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This is the difference between chin-up and pull-up
In short: the position of the hand is crucial. There are different types of grips in weight training, such as upper, lower and hammer grips. Sports scientist Jörn Giersberg explains: “The chin-up is performed with an underhand grip. That is, the palm of the hand is facing towards the face. Accordingly, the overhand grip is used for the pull-up. Again, the back of the hand points to the head.” The biggest difference, however, is the strength potential: With the chin-up, the biceps do more work. As a result, the back does not have to support the entire body weight alone. This is ideal, especially for beginners who are not yet able to compensate for their body weight with muscle tone.
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Which pull-up variant trains which muscle groups
In the overhand grip (pull-up) the elbows are next to the upper body, whereas in the underhand grip (chin-up) the elbows are pointing forward. However, this small detail has implications. “The grip width is increased for the pull-ups. This puts the training focus on the latissimus. The chin-ups are more like a rowing movement due to the narrower grip. This shifts the focus a little more to the trapezius muscle, i.e. to the middle of the back,” explains Giersberg.