Chin Ups Vs Pull Ups – Deep & Full Comparison (With Pictures)

Chin Ups Vs Pull Ups – Chin-ups and pull-ups both are great body weight exercises. They both have the potential to open the door of your Body transformation. Not only me, but many fitness experts also recommend to include both exercises in the regular workout routine. There are many similarities and differences between the two. So let’s come and read about the major differences between them.

Many gym trainers say that chin-ups and pull-ups are the same effective exercise but I will show you the main difference between them, which you can feel in general. After reading about the differences you can easily identify which one is best for you. Also, every picture in this article helps to understand the difference between them easily.

Chin Ups Vs Pull Ups

1. Gripping Way

The main difference that you can notice is the “Gripping way of the bar”. There is a big difference in the gripping ways of chin-ups and pull-ups.

• Chin-ups have a supinated (in other words – underhand) grip. In this grip, your palms are toward your shoulders.
• Pull-ups have pronated (which means overhand) grip. In this grip, your palms opposite to your face and shoulder.

If you are a beginner then you will feel that chin-ups(Supinated) are very easy and comfortable because this grip position is very easy and specially designed for beginners. In this supinated grip your full body weight on your biceps that is very easy than pull-ups.

2. Mistakes Chances

In chin-ups and pull-ups, both have chances for making mistakes but in chin-ups, you have less chance for making any mistake. In chin-ups, you did not need to follow many numbers of steps like pull-ups.

In the case of pull-ups, there is a high chance of making mistakes as there are many steps (stay back straight, don’t bend the legs etc.) And pull-ups are much more likely to cause back and shoulder cramps than chin-ups.

If you want to read what are the big mistakes people made during chin-ups and pull-ups, then you should read this:-

• Major mistakes of pull-ups & Chin-Ups.

3. Strength Consumption

The strength consumption of both pull ups and chin ups is great. But in the deep comparison, we found that the strength consumption of Chin ups is less than pull-ups.

In chin ups, the 90-degree bending of the hands distributes the weight of the body.

4. Movement

Movement in both chin-ups are pull-ups are in the same direction{ to pull upward}. The difference between the movements of ch in-ups and pull-ups comes through the shoulder.

• In the case of pull-ups, we use shoulder adduction, where the elbows come down and back from the sides. The movement of pull-ups majority targeted your Outer back muscles and lats muscles.
• And in the case of the chin-ups, we use shoulder extension, where the elbows come down and back from the front (neutral grip fits in this category as well). The movement of chin-ups majority targeted your biceps muscles and outer back muscles.

This complete movement difference, you can easily notice below through video practically:-

5. Muscle Worked

In the case of chin-ups,

Primary Chin Up Muscles Worked

• Biceps Brachii (Biceps)
• Latissimus Dorsi (Lats)
• Teres Major (Outer Back)

Secondary Chin Up Muscles Worked

• Rhomboid Major (Upper Back)
• Trapezius (Upper Back)  …etc.

If you want to see which muscles are most commonly targeted in chin-ups, focus on your primary chin-up muscles mentioned above.

In the case of pull-ups,

Primary Pull Up Muscles

• Teres Major (Outer Back)
• Latissimus Dorsi (Lats)

Secondary Pull Up Muscles

• Trapezius (Upper Back)
• Rhomboid Major (Upper Back)
• Biceps Brachialis (Biceps)

Auxiliary Pull Up Muscles

• Pectoralis Major (Chest / Pecs)
• Brachioradialis (Forearms)
• Carpi Radialis Ulnaris (Forearms)
• Digitorum Profundus / Superficialis (Forearms)
• Pollicis Longus (Forearms)

In pull-ups, muscle working/covering is more than chin-ups. You can also notice differences between the chin-ups and pull-ups through the working primary muscles. In chin-ups, the primary preferred muscles are the biceps brachii, latissimus dorsi, teres major, and in pull-ups the teres major and latissimus dorsi.

6. Results And Benefits

The results and benefits of chin-ups and pull-ups are completely different. And the muscles that are targeted during chin-ups are also common in many exercises, so you can get results faster.

But in the case of pull-ups, you will find results late because it targets more muscles than chin ups. You need more time and diet to get results in more muscle. For this reason, chin-ups show results faster than pull-ups.

Working different muscles will give you different results. In the case of chin-ups, you will get maximum results in Biceps Brachii, Latissimus Dorsi, Teres Major muscles and in case of pull-ups you will get maximum results on Teres Major and Latissimus Dorsi.

7. Safety and Comfortable

Like ANY weight training exercise, both chin-ups and pull-ups are completely safe. Mistakes made during workouts lead to injury. These mistakes can lead to serious injury during chin-ups and pull-ups.

• Take steps lightly
• Not proper reach of the chin above the rod
• Do Extra stunts with the pull-ups
• Do chin-ups and pull-ups without warm-up.
• Do not follow all steps of the exercise.

Pull-ups have more potential to cause cramping in our back and shoulders than chin-ups. And if you are doing pull-ups with wide arms, there is a high chance that your shoulders have been hurt.

But if you pay proper attention to every movement during chin up and pull up workout then your chances of getting injured will be zero. If you are not able to pay attention to your mistakes then take the help of your friend, gym trainer to notice the mistakes. If you are doing chin up and pull up workouts with the right steps then the chances of injury will very less.

Which Do I Use And Recommend? Which Is Best, Easy, And More Beneficial For You?

According to my point of view, both exercises are good. But in terms of the easiest exercise, I find it easier to do chin ups than pull-ups.

• But you should focus on your fitness objective and then choose your exercise regimen. You can choose pull-up workout to your workout program if your primary goal is to train your back. And if your primary goal is to train your biceps, then you can include chin-up workouts in your workout schedule.

Select your exercises according to the working of Primary muscles. Choose if the primary muscles of chin ups or pull ups are similar to your requirement.

Personal Recommendation –

I recommend you to do both chin-ups and pull-ups because there is no particular harm in doing both chin-ups and pull-ups. And if you do both exercises in a regular routine then your entire upper body gets trained automatically.

How many sets of chin-ups and pull-ups should you do?

Answer:- You should be following this program to do both exercises.

For Beginners

• 3 Chin-ups and 2 pull-ups.
• 4 chin-ups and 3 pull-ups

After some days

• 10 pull-ups and 10 chin-ups
• 20 pull-ups 30 chin-ups

After that, you should keep doing increments every week. Do at least (3-4) pull-ups and chin-ups every week.

You Can Also Read:-

• Plank Challenge For Beginners.
• Lunges Before And After Results

Final Words

Do chin-ups and pull-ups both and gain all amazing benefits. Chin-ups vs pull-ups topic gives you the difference between the results and benefits of both exercises. Now, you can easily decide that which one is best for you.

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