Chin Ups for Beginners

In the world of bodyweight training, few exercises are as overall effective—or as notoriously difficult to start out—as the chin-up.

Oftentimes compared to the deadlift in overall utility, chin-ups require a strong base to not only perform properly, but perform at all.

As a result, calisthenics beginners often find themselves driven away from the exercise, which is a shame, because a good set of correctly done chin-ups can round out a workout session like nothing else.

If you’re one of the many people having difficulties with the movement—don’t worry! With this guide, you’ll be well on your way to doing reps with the best of them!

How to do a Chin Up

First off, we need to differentiate between the chin-up and the pull-up. Both are bodyweight exercises in which you grab a horizontal bar and lift yourself up.

The difference is in the grip. When your hands are facing you (the “supinated” grip), you are doing a chin-up.

The bar should be gripped at about your shoulders’ width apart. You should be able to hang from it. An especially low bar would increase the challenge; something we don’t want at this stage.

Preparation for the movement is done in two steps. First, squeeze your shoulder blades back together. Second, you should tighten the muscles in your abdomen; don’t be afraid to draw it all in for maximum balance, control, and core activation.

Now comes the part when you lift yourself up, slowly closing the elbow joints as you return your shoulders as near as possible to their regular positions—once you are all the way at the top. As the name suggests, try and get your chin over the bar.

Hold that position before lowering yourself back down, in as controlled a fashion as possible. This should take no longer than three seconds.

This is easier said and done of course, but no need to get discouraged! Listed below are some of the starter variants you can use to work your way up to a proper chin-up!

The video below illustrates some of the concepts described above:

Chin Up Variants

Assisted Chin-ups

These can be done with a bench, a stool or pretty much anything that goes up to your knees or above.

Position the assisting item (let’s call it a stool) below the bar, grab the bar, and lower yourself on the stool so your arms are as extended as possible while you get close to (or into) a symmetrical kneeling position.

From here, you can do a chin-up with only slight assistance from your legs.

Isometric Chin-ups

With these, you grab the bar as you would otherwise, jump, and hold yourself up in the position you’d have been at the top of a regular chin-up.

This will tilt your body into an isometric position for balance; don’t fight it. The idea is to hold yourself up for a period of time (15 to 30 seconds is ideal), then (gradually if possible) lower yourself back down before releasing.

Inverted Rows

You start these as you would an isometric chin-up, by grabbing the bar, jumping, and holding yourself up.

This time though, the goal is not to remain in position, but to gradually lower yourself down, effectively doing the second half of a regular chin-up. Repeat.

Chin Up Progression

We recommend doing three workout sessions a week.

Space these out as you like, but try to take a day of rest between consecutive sessions in order to allow your body to recover. Thus, Monday as day one, Wednesday as day two, and Friday as day three of exercise, would be a nice spread.

Always start with a warm up. Whatever works for you, as long as it gets you ready. Week One

Day One
Assisted chin-ups: 3 sets of 10 repetitions Plank: 2 sets of maximum time

Day Two
Isometric chin-ups: 3 sets of max time Bicep curls: 2 sets of 10 reps

Day Three
Assisted chin-ups: 3 sets of 10 reps Inverted rows: 3 sets of 10 reps

Week Two

Day One
Assisted chin-ups: 3 sets of 10 reps Isometric chin-ups: 2 sets of max time

Day Two
Isometric chin-ups: 3 sets of max time Bicep curls: 2 sets of 10 repetitions

Day Three
Assisted chin-ups: 2 sets of 10 repetitions
Inverted rows: 2 sets of 6 repetitions
Hanging knee raises: 1 set of maximum repetitions.

Week Three

Day One
Assisted chin-ups: 1 set of 10 repetitions “Proper” chin-ups: 1 set of maximum repetitions Isometric chin-ups: 2 sets of max time

Day Two
Isometric chin-ups: 1 set of max time
“Proper” chin-ups: 2 set of maximum repetitions Bicep curls: 2 sets of 10 repetitions.

Day Three
Assisted chin-ups: 1 set of 10 repetitions
“Proper” chin-ups : 1 set of maximum repetitions Inverted rows: 2 sets of 6 repetitions
Hanging knee raises: 1 set of maximum repetitions.

Week Four

Day One
Assisted chin-ups: 1 set of 10 repetitions “Proper” chin-ups: 1 set of maximum repetitions Inverted rows: 2 sets of 6 repetitions

Day Two
Isometric chin-ups: 1 sets of max time
“Proper” chin-ups: 2 sets of maximum repetitions Bicep curls: 2 sets of 10 repetitions

Day Three
Assisted chin-ups: 1 set of 10 repetitions
“Proper” chin-ups: 2 sets of maximum repetitions Inverted rows: 2 sets of 6 repetitions
Hanging knee raises: 1 set of maximum repetitions.

Week Five

Day One
Assisted chin-ups: 1 set of 10 repetitions “Proper” chin-ups: 3 set of maximum repetitions

Day Two
Isometric chin-ups (hold position at the middle of the movement): 1 set of max time “Proper” chin-ups: 3 set of maximum repetitions

Day Three
Assisted chin-ups: 1 set of 10 repetitions “Proper” chin-ups 3 sets of maximum repetitions

Final Thoughts

For best results, you should stick to the regimen as closely as possible. When an exercise gives you trouble, just do what you can and don’t give up. There will be time yet, and the program (or each week for that matter) can of course be looped until you are ready to proceed.

No two people are the same of course, but everyone can advance. The program above cannot promise you the exact moment when everything will click into place, but it can guarantee one thing: if you adhere to it, you will get stronger.

Persistence beats talent. Always has, always will.