Can You Do 5 Chin-Ups?
Every athlete should lift weights. Every athlete from every sport can reap benefits from resistance training. Lifting weights consistently with progressive overload over time builds strength. That is the foundation of strength training.
All coaches should encourage their athletes to strength train at all ages. An eight-year-old athlete will train differently and less aggressively than a high school senior. Still, strength training is appropriate for both athletes. Remember, bodyweight training is still strength training. The eight-year-old shouldn’t be lifting barbells but rather should learn to exercise and own their bodyweight.
Relative vs. Absolute Strength
One of these classic bodyweight exercises is the chin up. Chin-ups can be a frustrating exercise because they demand what is called “relative strength.” Relative strength refers to the amount of strength you have relative to bodyweight. When people describe me, they say things like “pound for pound, he’s the strongest guy out there.” Ok, maybe nobody has said that, but you get the idea. Pound-for-pound strength is relative strength.
We’ve all seen the 9-year-old girl who can do 12 chin-ups in P.E. class. Yes, a strong wind gust may knock her down, but she has better relative strength than a 400-pound strongman, who most certainly cannot do 12 chin-ups.
The other type of strength is absolute strength. Absolute strength refers to how much brute strength someone has. Yes, the strongman has more absolute strength than the 9-year-old girl.
Regardless of your gender, age or size, every athlete should be able to do five chin-ups. That isn’t a science-backed number, but in my opinion, it should be a bare minimum bar for bodyweight strength. Some athletes need to be heavy for their position, but size doesn’t matter if you are too slow or aren’t relatively strong. A 300-lb lineman should have enough relative strength to bang out five chin-ups. Otherwise, he is probably too big and slow to be effective at his position.
Want to do Your First Chin-Up? Here’s How
Many athletes and everyday people cannot do one chin-up. That’s ok. The best strategy is to perform two exercises in particular: banded chin-ups and chin-up negatives. Here’s a great video showing how to do them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwgUClIox7g
As the video says, performing these exercises at least twice per week is necessary for progress.
After Your First Chin-Up
The best way to get better at chin-ups is to do lots of chin-ups. Everybody is starting somewhere different, and everybody responds to exercise differently. This program is more of a generalization toward completing five consecutive chin-ups. Twice per week, you will do chin-ups. Additionally, one day per week will involve vertical pulling.
Day 1 and 3: Perform as many chin-ups as possible (1-5) for one set. From there, complete 10 chin-ups in as few sets as possible. If you need to do 10 sets of 1, so be it! From there, progress to five sets of two. Then 3 sets of three. If you can do three sets of three, you can do one set of five.
Day 2: Single arm cable rows and TRX rows. Between days one and three, it’s good to get some accessory work in. I suggest the rowing motion. Chin-ups are a vertical pulling exercise. Vertical pulling can be a little tough on the shoulders. Rows are a horizontal exercise, which is much more shoulder-friendly. I suggest everyone do twice as many horizontal rows as vertical pulls. So if you are doing 10 chin-ups twice per week, each arm should perform 40 rows once per week with moderate to high resistance. This should provide a healthy balance to the shoulder while pulling 3x per week. Here are examples of those exercises.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKVCgyQhWzd/
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca6JZJcvLru/
This is an aggressive yet appropriate program for an athlete to complete a set of 5 chin-ups.
Keep it That Way
If you follow that program, I guarantee you can go from 1 to 5 chin-ups in less than a month. If you can’t do 1 yet, that’s ok. It’ll just take more time. The most important factor is consistency. Maintain a consistent effort for as many weeks as it takes. Your relative strength will skyrocket.
But it would be a sad story if you lose the ability to complete 5 chin-ups. At a minimum, athletes should perform 3 sets of 3 chin-ups once per week. More is better, but 3×3 is my minimum recommendation to maintain the ability.
Having a solid set of arms and upper back is helpful for any athlete. It helps with total body strength, speed, and posture, all valuable tools for athletes.
For more articles on chin-ups, CLICK HERE!
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Can You Do 5 Chin-Ups?
Every athlete should lift weights. Every athlete from every sport can reap benefits from resistance training. Lifting weights consistently with progressive overload over time builds strength. That is the foundation of strength training.
All coaches should encourage their athletes to strength train at all ages. An eight-year-old athlete will train differently and less aggressively than a high school senior. Still, strength training is appropriate for both athletes. Remember, bodyweight training is still strength training. The eight-year-old shouldn’t be lifting barbells but rather should learn to exercise and own their bodyweight.
Relative vs. Absolute Strength
One of these classic bodyweight exercises is the chin up. Chin-ups can be a frustrating exercise because they demand what is called “relative strength.” Relative strength refers to the amount of strength you have relative to bodyweight. When people describe me, they say things like “pound for pound, he’s the strongest guy out there.” Ok, maybe nobody has said that, but you get the idea. Pound-for-pound strength is relative strength.
We’ve all seen the 9-year-old girl who can do 12 chin-ups in P.E. class. Yes, a strong wind gust may knock her down, but she has better relative strength than a 400-pound strongman, who most certainly cannot do 12 chin-ups.
The other type of strength is absolute strength. Absolute strength refers to how much brute strength someone has. Yes, the strongman has more absolute strength than the 9-year-old girl.
Regardless of your gender, age or size, every athlete should be able to do five chin-ups. That isn’t a science-backed number, but in my opinion, it should be a bare minimum bar for bodyweight strength. Some athletes need to be heavy for their position, but size doesn’t matter if you are too slow or aren’t relatively strong. A 300-lb lineman should have enough relative strength to bang out five chin-ups. Otherwise, he is probably too big and slow to be effective at his position.
Want to do Your First Chin-Up? Here’s How
Many athletes and everyday people cannot do one chin-up. That’s ok. The best strategy is to perform two exercises in particular: banded chin-ups and chin-up negatives. Here’s a great video showing how to do them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwgUClIox7g
As the video says, performing these exercises at least twice per week is necessary for progress.
After Your First Chin-Up
The best way to get better at chin-ups is to do lots of chin-ups. Everybody is starting somewhere different, and everybody responds to exercise differently. This program is more of a generalization toward completing five consecutive chin-ups. Twice per week, you will do chin-ups. Additionally, one day per week will involve vertical pulling.
Day 1 and 3: Perform as many chin-ups as possible (1-5) for one set. From there, complete 10 chin-ups in as few sets as possible. If you need to do 10 sets of 1, so be it! From there, progress to five sets of two. Then 3 sets of three. If you can do three sets of three, you can do one set of five.
Day 2: Single arm cable rows and TRX rows. Between days one and three, it’s good to get some accessory work in. I suggest the rowing motion. Chin-ups are a vertical pulling exercise. Vertical pulling can be a little tough on the shoulders. Rows are a horizontal exercise, which is much more shoulder-friendly. I suggest everyone do twice as many horizontal rows as vertical pulls. So if you are doing 10 chin-ups twice per week, each arm should perform 40 rows once per week with moderate to high resistance. This should provide a healthy balance to the shoulder while pulling 3x per week. Here are examples of those exercises.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKVCgyQhWzd/
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca6JZJcvLru/
This is an aggressive yet appropriate program for an athlete to complete a set of 5 chin-ups.
Keep it That Way
If you follow that program, I guarantee you can go from 1 to 5 chin-ups in less than a month. If you can’t do 1 yet, that’s ok. It’ll just take more time. The most important factor is consistency. Maintain a consistent effort for as many weeks as it takes. Your relative strength will skyrocket.
But it would be a sad story if you lose the ability to complete 5 chin-ups. At a minimum, athletes should perform 3 sets of 3 chin-ups once per week. More is better, but 3×3 is my minimum recommendation to maintain the ability.
Having a solid set of arms and upper back is helpful for any athlete. It helps with total body strength, speed, and posture, all valuable tools for athletes.
For more articles on chin-ups, CLICK HERE!