Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. Inducing progressive overload on barbell curls, hammer curls, cable curls, etc is the proper way. Pull-ups provide lower lat and trap focus while chin ups are great for biceps, pecs, and upper lats. Realistically, however, he can’t do much to bring them up as their size and shape are the product of his long tendons and short muscle bellies. Your arms can never grow from that…Right? There's been a lot of debate over which one is superior. Learn how your comment data is processed. Your personal anthropometry matters too. Chin ups are better then pull ups for targeting the biceps and abs. They directly hit the biceps and do not leave room for other muscle groups to take over when the exercise is done with proper technique. If you look closely at Zakaveli’s arms, you will see that he has some Sergio Oliva type of insertions. You can also subscribe without commenting. Weighted chin-ups are fantastic but the idea that getting strong at them ensures massive biceps is not true. However, the contribution is not enough to eclipse the work of the lats. The muscle is shorter and even anabolics cannot boost it into majesty. I think that pull-ups are not as effective as chin-ups because there is not enough work for the biceps since they can't contract as efficiently. We all now that guy in the gym wbo has an arm day every day, and lo and behold, he has a huge biceps, if lacking in every other body part. My lats have always been somewhat developed – even when I wasn’t training. Your email address will not be published. In order to submit a comment to this post, please write this code along with your comment: 07a4425ed977e13c91ef611597d1cf45, The End. However, the correct level of activation isn’t always guaranteed. So, what’s better for biceps – curls or weighted chin-ups? But first let me tell you what happened today. Meanwhile, curls are for losers because you are moving weights a little heavier than your school bag. Is core training any good in terms of both physique and strength aspects? It should be noted that the biceps will be activated enough for most people when doing chin-ups. If you have weak biceps, it’s very logical to attack them directly. Most pro gymnasts are short because that’s an advantage in their craft. Most people are going to struggle with bodyweight pulls: chin-ups and pull-ups are a totally new movement for most of us. Notice: It seems you have Javascript disabled in your Browser. Besides the biceps, the chin-up engages the latissimus dorsi, the traps, the rhomboids, the brachialis, the forearms, the long head of the triceps…etc. As a bonus, the close-grip chin-up will also add size to your biceps. …. I only started to notice significant hypertrophy in my arms when I incorporated things like chinups, dips curls and extentions in my routine. Farmers Walks can help develop that along with practicing bracing each lift for squats and deadlifts including warm ups. But you van also just add curls. Gymnasts do dozens of bodyweight exercises from a very young age. My lats do a bigger chunk of the work and I can easily generate enough power from the bottom to get my chin to the bar without a lot of biceps involvement, but as my lats tire, the biceps start to take a fair share of the work. This makes the chin-up the better exercise in … If you can do something for 17 hours, there’s very little strength involved. You will have to brace just like when you squat and deadlift. According to the 5×5 wizards, weighted chin-ups are the ultimate biceps exercise because they expose the area to brutally heavy weights. Nonetheless, chin-ups do not always equal big biceps. The same can be said about chin ups. The calisthenics athlete Zef Zakaveli has top tier biceps development and is a perfect example of this dependence. Chin-ups and pull-ups show practically identical lat activation; grip doesn't matter in that regard. The answer is clear – curls. I agree with rippetoe on that one. If you are not built for the sport, you’ll never reach the top. 2. If you’re doing rows, chin-ups and lat pull-downs yes you can get decent bicep development but you’ll never maximize the gains. I’d say all your basic compound movements work the core very much, if you know how to brace the core. Grab a chin-up bar using an overhand grip with your hands placed approximately six to eight inches apart. You can pull a lot of weight during chin-ups thanks to the back which is many times bigger than your biceps. Chin-ups and pull-ups for me are the most intense upper body exercises. Increasing the weight by 2.5 lbs to 5 lbs is your best bet. Unsurprisingly, the promoters of gymnastic training sometimes “forget” crucial details that instantly change the nuance of the presented image. I agree with the article, although i would add that torso dominant individual can probably still get most of it bicep development with chinups only. Performing Pull ups require a basic level of strength. Another example would be King Kamali – people have always criticized him for his underdeveloped arms. Aim to make the isolation work higher-rep, aiming for the 8–20 range, since the compound lifts will give your biceps lots of heavy work. Chin-ups refer to a supinated or underhand grip. Wide grip pull ups are an excellent compound exercise in itself but if you really want to target the biceps for increased strength and muscle then we need to use close grip chin ups. Wide grip pull ups do work the biceps but the wider grip (shoulder width or more) really accentuates the tension on the muscles in your back and shoulders. See, there’s a big difference between effective and optimal training or what works or what is the best. Your lower back with thank you! As you become stronger, you can adjust your grip width closer to get a more strenuous workout. This wouldn’t happen until my early twenties and here I will share my approach of getting really good at chin-ups and pull-ups with you. For torso dominant lifters, this is a nightmare. Are Chin-ups Enough for Biceps? Short people were often selected as Olympic weightlifters and gymnasts whereas tall people were sent to the track or the volleyball field. You’re lifting yourself plus a ton of iron hanging off of you. They want you to think that you will launch your natural potential into the orbit if you become a real man doing compound exercises. Hang with your arms fully extended, pointing your legs slightly in … Keep doing your chin-ups since it will be helpful, but don’t rely on them exclusively. There’s a reason why arm wrestlers do a lot of curls – the exercise is scalable and can produce seriously strong arm flexors. On the other hand, a stronger curl is 100% going to work. It is not uncommon to hear people complain about pullups being too difficult. Pull-ups refer to a pronated or overhand grip. Doesn’t sound very sweet, but it’s the case nonetheless. The pros and cons of both exercises are results from my personal experience. It will help you develop your strength and endurance. It’s easier to perform an iron cross when your arms are not very long. If you are not built for a sport, you’re swimming against the current and sentencing yourself to mediocrity at best. The underhand grip of the chin-up does put the shoulders and elbows in a position in which the biceps can contribute notably to the movement, so it may feel easier than using a wider grip, overhand pull-up. It’s the preferred method of all bodybuilders for a reason, just saying. Ever since I was a kid, I have been fascinated by them and had always wanted to master them. I have progressed really well with the major compound lifts (bench,MP,dead,squat), but there has … You will need 3-5+ years to get to the truly advanced gymnastic stunts. Gymnasts and other experienced athletes might make them look easy, but chin-ups require (and build) strength in the biceps and upper back. Nowaydays I swear by the chinup, for me it’s an all around best upper body lift. The ideas, procedures, and suggestions contained within this work are not intended as a substitute for consulting with your physician. Push-ups don’t directly help you in growing biceps but you can do push-ups … Long muscle bellies have a higher potential for growth because there is more muscle to hypertrophy in the first place. Not in a million years! Mix in volume and intensity on curls for the best gains. the biceps receive a significant market share in the exercise. You, as a reader of this website, are totally and completely responsible for your own health and healthcare. Trying to replicate those stunts solely for their hypertrophy value is not practical and potentially dangerous, especially if you have a structure (long limbs) multiplying the torque on the joints during straight arm work. During the Soviet era, gym coaches and sports scouts were categorizing the potential athletes by their structure rather than the parents’ wishes. World record in holding a plank is something like 17 hours. Logic disagrees. I can’t know for sure, but the video material showing him perform endless sets of pull-ups, dips and push-ups strongly suggests that those are his main exercises. People also like to argue about which muscles the two variations train. Full body overload effect - To build muscle you need an overload that stimulates the right metabolic response, including the production of testosterone and growth hormones. Summary: Both the chin-up and pull-up will help you grow your biceps, but the chin-up will be a bit better. Bench would hypertrophy my pecs really well, but my triceps were lagging far behing. What is the best? When done correctly it not only work the lat, biceps and rear delt, but put also a significant strain on chest and triceps. I believe there are gifted lifters that can get away with sub-par training, but for guys like you and me it’s problematic. If you have long biceps with very short, almost invisible, tendons inserting straight into the elbow, you have a very high chance of developing them with almost any exercise that hits the area. That’s what distinguishes the freaks and normal dudes, and explains why I favor maximized programming. Subsequently, the biggest arm flexors i.e. 1. Conversely, I have low lats going down to the lower back. I’ll say this, if you can strict curl anywhere between 135 and 185 your biceps will be much bigger than a guy who only does chinups. How To Get Better At Pull Ups and Chin ups. I’ll say this, if you can strict curl anywhere between 135 and 185 your biceps will be much bigger than a guy who only does chinups. For most people struggling to gain size, the biceps aren’t the issue — the problem is all the other muscles around it. If you’re torso dominant, you probably need to do a lot more chin ups to fatigue your biceps. A surprising number of gymnasts do curls as an assistance exercise to condition the muscles and tendons of the arm. Subsequently, the biggest arm flexors i.e. Chin-ups are serious work for your biceps, triceps, and lats. In some situations, supplementary direct arm work is necessary to maximize arm growth. As a result, torso-dominant people may fail to get the same arm engagement in the movement as limb-dominant brahs. With chin-ups, you have to move your body around a fixed object (the bar), ensuring an overload on the upper back and the flexor muscles of the upper arms. Yes, chin-ups even beat out the barbell and EZ-bar curls for hitting the biceps. If you have poor insertions, all the curls and chin-ups in the world won’t give you the full arms of Zef Zakaveli, for example. When You Have Good Biceps Genetics Almost Everything Works. How to Cure Bulging Discs – Fix Lower Back Pain FOREVER! Please try again later. The 5×5 zealots are manipulatively comparing multi-joint exercises to isolation movements mainly to overhype their “Reg Park approved routines”. Is the Red Pill Right About “Holding Frame” and Lifting Weights. This feature is not available right now. Every sport has a favorable body type. Okay, I'm exaggerating about the one-arm chin-ups, but I'm always hearing about how I need to be able to do a certain number of chin-ups before I start doing direct biceps work. HEAD BANGER PULL UPS. The same mechanism is observed in compound exercises – the naturally strong muscle groups do extra work and cover the weakness of their underdeveloped brothers. We don’t know how much the back is contributing to the exercise, and if the biceps are truly hitting their limit. On a related note, in Dr Contreras experiment, he also found that weighted chin-ups outperformed heavy cable lat pulldowns in hitting the lats and bicep. My goals are to gain muscle and I have been using a push/pull/legs/rest split with good success. That’s because curls work. The advanced elements and the preparatory movements leading to them are the actual growth stimulators in gymnastics. Black and white, minimalist thinking needs to die because it’s misinformation that continues to hurt your gains. Can’t say I’m surprised, but the minimalists would argue that 165 isn’t enough, just do 185 and everything will be fine. Required fields are marked *. In the search for efficiency, the body activates the muscles in the most mechanically advantageous position to complete a lift. Treat the naked bar as it would be your one rep max. For example, I’ve been doing pullup/chinup specialization for well over a year now and my performance skyrocketed to the point of doing 165lbs for a 1RM. AC: For most beginners and intermediates, direct arm work is unnecessary as the biceps get enough stimuli from rowing and chins. Both pull-ups and chin-ups target the lats, traps and biceps, but it was always said that chinups work biceps harder and the same goes with pull-ups and lats. What we’re seeing here is that none of the curl variations are working our biceps as hard as weighted chin-ups: Barbell Curl: 95 mean biceps activation, 138 peak; Chin-up: 107 mean biceps activation, 205 peak; The difference is quite stark, too. Many gymnasts are significantly smaller than you think. To perform a proper chin-up , make sure you have a sturdy bar that’s high enough … Hence why long muscle bellies are a very desirable genetic trait in bodybuilding. Pull-ups, chin-ups dips and push-ups are warm-up to elite athletes. While these factors might make the chin-up a poorer choice when choosing between them and curls for the biceps, it also imparts various strengths on them. Not all team members contribute equally to the end goal. 3 full body workouts per week are the minimum to achieve this. My biceps are lacking. Weighted Chins-ups vs. Curls: What will build bigger biceps? Making 10 pound jumps is simply too big for exercises like conventional curls and hammer curls. The problem was exacerbated by the fact that I’m also torso dominant. curls. If you do not like caving in when squatting or deadlifting learning to brace is crucial. 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