Chin Ups vs. Pull Ups

[x0rcist]

Just to clarify, chin ups are the ones where your palms face your body, and pull ups are the ones where your palms face away from your body.

Any links/articles of which one is more beneficial overall?

[cds2011]

pull ups palms face you
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ridgely9.htm

chin ups palms face away from you... and pull ups are more beneficial for your back while chin ups are for biceps

[TALLGUY1989]

Just to clarify, chin ups are the ones where your palms face your body, and pull ups are the ones where your palms face away from your body.

Any links/articles of which one is more beneficial overall?

pullups work ur bis and chins work ur back lol

[x0rcist]

ha my bad that **** is so confusing

edit: wait... that says pull ups palms face away...

[TheGr8S1]

there's that one T-nation article

[x0rcist]

Yeah I read it but it doesn't really tell you which is better. It tells you why both are good, I guess since I do them twice a week I'm just going to switch on and off between wide-grip pulls and close-grip chins.

[nutsy54]

Each is "better" for a different goal. So, just alternate sets between both.

[HitItHard]

lol at the idiocity in this thread

pullups - pronated (palms away)

chins - supinated (palms facing)


pullups - back and biceps
chins - back and biceps

chins hit biceps more than pullups

pullups hit back more than chinups

[thepijj]

lol at the idiocity in this thread

pullups - pronated (palms away)

chins - supinated (palms facing)


pullups - back and biceps
chins - back and biceps

chins hit biceps more than pullups

pullups hit back more than chinups

finally, chins also more for lower lats/thickness
vice versa for pullups

[Wintermule]

http://forum.dragondoor.com/training/message/304391/

[HitItHard]

finally, chins also more for lower lats/thickness
vice versa for pullups

yup

[Wintermule]

The chin-up and the pull-up both work the same basic muscle groups, the lats, biceps and gripping muscles. Chin-ups are performed with a supinated grip (palms facing) and pull-ups are done with a pronated grip (palms facing away). Chin-ups are easier to perform because the biceps (prime mover) are in a more advantageous pulling position. The chin-up also strongly recruits the lats and the pecs. There are many variations of the chin-up that can target various parts of the upper torso. Keeping the back strongly arched and touching the sternum to the bar is a great lat, pec bicep exercise. Rounding the back and bringing the knees slightly foreward as the chin clears the bar, is a great bicep, lat, abdominal movement. In all chinning movements, it is important to keep the hands about shoulder width. Using a wider grip can cause elbow and shoulder injuries. The average college age trainee, 5'9", 155 lbs. can do 9 chin-ups. That would be equivalent to doing one chin with 35 lbs.
The pull-up is more difficult than the chin-up because the biceps cannot be fully utilized. The average male is 30% weaker in the pull-up than the chin-up. The pull-up became popular in physical education programs after WWII. It was found that many soldiers lacked the ability to pull themselves over high walls and fences. The military took steps to address this issue with the inclusion of pull-ups during basic training. This trickled down into the public school PE programs. The pull-up utilizes the upper body pulling muscles similar to climbing over a wall, fence, side of a ship or through a open window. Because the hands are pronated, the elbows move down and back during the pull. This places a strong emphasis on the rear shoulder girdle and upper back. With the pull-up, there is much less pectoral involvement. Also, the brachio-radialus, a large upper arm muscle under the bicep, is strongly involved. The pull-up mimicks 'real world' activity. In performance, the hand placement should be slightly wider than shoulder width. At the top, attempt to touch the throat foreward to the bar. Be careful of certain close grip variations like sternum pull-ups. These can really irritate the elbows.
The weak link in both exercises is the grip and upper arm. These muscles always fatigue much sooner than the large muscles of the upper back and rear shoulder. I tend to think of these movements more as upper arm and grip exercises than back exercises. For body building purposes, stick with the chin-up. For tactical and functional strength, go with pull-ups.

Boom.