Chin-up vs bicep curls

[HolyMoly]

It's simple. Adjust the intensity,the volume and the other training variables for chins up properly to reach the goal you are aiming for your upper back and then adjust intensity,volume and the other training variables of your barbell curls properly to reach the goal for your biceps.

Aight.

An a different note (maybe a stupid question)

But you have a lot of different exercises. For example dips and tricep kickbacks. As I look at it, (tricep) dips are a lot better than kickbacks. Have there been studies about which exercise stimulate a certain muscle more than other exercises?

Does anybody know this? Would be interesting to know.

[jdmalm123]

The question was, which exercise is better for your biceps.

BETTER FOR WHAT?

Ok, I'll help you...

Are you going to do chins or pullups?

Weighted? Unweighted?

To the front? Behind the neck?

What width are you going to use on your chins/pullups? Close, Narrow, medium, wide, superwide?

What grip? Pronated? Supinated? Neutral? Mixed? Single arm? Towel?

How about the curls? Rope curls? Straight bar? EZ Curl? Supra-Curl bar? Fat bar? Reverse grip? Concentration curls? Slide curls?

What position? Pre-stretched? Pre-contracted? Middle? Arms adducted? Abducted?

What's your set/rep scheme? Weekly program?

How about this...go experiment with variations for the next 12-months and then YOU come back and tell us what worked!

PS - Shouldn't you be working your biceps right now?

[HolyMoly]

BETTER FOR WHAT?

Ok, I'll help you...

Are you going to do chins or pullups?

Weighted? Unweighted?

To the front? Behind the neck?

What width are you going to use on your chins/pullups? Close, Narrow, medium, wide, superwide?

What grip? Pronated? Supinated? Neutral? Mixed? Single arm? Towel?

How about the curls? Rope curls? Straight bar? EZ Curl? Supra-Curl bar? Fat bar? Reverse grip? Concentration curls? Slide curls?

What position? Pre-stretched? Pre-contracted? Middle? Arms adducted? Abducted?

What's your set/rep scheme? Weekly program?

How about this...go experiment with variations for the next 12-months and then YOU come back and tell us what worked!

PS - Shouldn't you be working your biceps right now?

Which one is the better bicep exercise, chin-ups or barbell/dumbell curls? What do you guys think?

Exercise: Chin-up
Exercise: Dumbell or barbell curl

Goal: work the biceps

Question: which one works the biceps better

Easier to comprehend?

[jdmalm123]

Exercise: Chin-up
Exercise: Dumbell or barbell curl

Goal: work the biceps

Question: which one works the biceps better

Easier to comprehend?

You are clueless. I return you to the depths.

Peace.

[HolyMoly]

You are clueless. I return you to the depths.

Peace.

Should I perhaps add pictures to clearify it even more?

[jdmalm123]

Should I perhaps add pictures to clearify it even more?

Nah, my biceps are pretty sore form jerking off in this thread too long...

[HolyMoly]

Nah, my biceps are pretty sore form jerking off in this thread too long...

I would expect an anwser like that from a 15 year old, not a 35 year old. But c'est la vie..

It's just a question, we're all here to try and improve ourselves, so it seems to me it would be smart to know which exercise does exactly what. And which exercise is better for a certain purpose than others. I could have easily asked something like: which exercise is better for the quadriceps, back squats or front squats? Which one is better for your lats, chin-ups or pull-ups (or dumbell rows ect)? Reasonable questions on a bodybuilding site..

Perhaps you understand where I'm coming from now. It's not to only choose one exercise. It's to know which exercise is better for a certain muscle. I'm not disgarding anything. I'm just trying to improve my knowlegde, so I can have a better guideline for my workouts.

[jdmalm123]

I would expect an anwser like that from a 15 year old, not a 35 year old. But c'est la vie..

It's just a question, we're all here to try and improve ourselves, so it seems to me it would be smart to know which exercise does exactly what. And which exercise is better for a certain purpose than others. I could have easily asked something like: which exercise is better for the quadriceps, back squats or front squats? Which one is better for your lats, chin-ups or pull-ups (or dumbell rows ect)? Reasonable questions on a bodybuilding site..

Perhaps you understand where I'm coming from now. It's not to only choose one exercise. It's to know which exercise is better for a certain muscle. I'm not disgarding anything. I'm just trying to improve my knowlegde, so I can have a better guideline for my workouts.

Thanks for "clearifying."

You still haven't asked a useful question or stated a purposeful goal. If all you want to know is the muscle worked by a particular move, check out the internet-thingy. Great info there.

I'll give you a push... http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

[bassing68]

How does exercising your chin help with biceps?

Does a bigger chin make it harder to shave or something?

Idunno. Let's ask Jay Leno

[HolyMoly]

Thanks for "clearifying."

You still haven't asked a useful question or stated a purposeful goal. If all you want to know is the muscle worked by a particular move, check out the internet-thingy. Great info there.

I'll give you a push... http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

Thanks for the link.

And like I said, the question is which exercise works the bicep better. This is a bodybuilding site, so I want to train the muscle. The goal I would be trying to reach is to hit/work/train the bicep. Certain exercises do this better than others. Like with the dips and kickbacks for tri's, or back squats and front squats for quadriceps.

Edit:
I have a general good idea which exercise does what. What I would like to know with this, is which one hits a certain muscle(area) more/better.

[Karaim]

I would expect an anwser like that from a 15 year old, not a 35 year old. But c'est la vie..

It's just a question, we're all here to try and improve ourselves, so it seems to me it would be smart to know which exercise does exactly what. And which exercise is better for a certain purpose than others. I could have easily asked something like: which exercise is better for the quadriceps, back squats or front squats? Which one is better for your lats, chin-ups or pull-ups (or dumbell rows ect)? Reasonable questions on a bodybuilding site..

Perhaps you understand where I'm coming from now. It's not to only choose one exercise. It's to know which exercise is better for a certain muscle. I'm not disgarding anything. I'm just trying to improve my knowlegde, so I can have a better guideline for my workouts.

Use the search function. This question gets asked at least 5 times each week, every week.

But I will make it easier for you: Chin-ups work your lats and biceps. Curls work your biceps. The goal of a good chin-up is to minimize bicep involvement. The goal of a good curl is to maximize bicep involvement. You decide what works "better" for your biceps.

[drpcnow]

i have no lab proof
however my son and i were doing pull up/chin up (palm facing) and his arms grew alot from it in a short period of time (about two months).he couldnt do one rep at first.now he can do a set of ten.pulling all his body weight up.
now in two months time how far do you think his 30lbs curl weight would go up?
and pull up/chin up was all we could do because we didnt have a weight set at the time.

[Smits]

My vote goes to bicep curls, always feel it after them. chin ups work my back and other muscles more. For biceps alone, i prefer the curl.

[gspsilva]

holy jesus just go do 5 sets of dumbell curls and do a drop set on the last set till failure, youll get a wicked pump trust me

[HolyMoly]

Use the search function. This question gets asked at least 5 times each week, every week.

But I will make it easier for you: Chin-ups work your lats and biceps. Curls work your biceps. The goal of a good chin-up is to minimize bicep involvement. The goal of a good curl is to maximize bicep involvement. You decide what works "better" for your biceps.

Lol, that's the first thing I did, but almost every thread was filled with smart ass comments and no real anwsers.

But thanks aswell. I did't know though that the goal of a chin-up was to minimize bicep involvement, since it is a compound move. I thought the goal was to maximize more muscles at once. I mean, if you want to maximize back, wouldn't you be better of with doung regular pull-ups? More back involved and less biceps right?

[bassing68]

Get a life dude, he was asking a simple question. What's up with everyone on this site finding so much humor in talking sh*t to random people. Maybe he does 3 sets of biceps... and is debating on whether to do 2 sets of chinups or 2 sets of curls. You don't know, and he shouldn't have to explain himself!

See answer below

Because nearly everyone here has answered this question with total sincerity and good intent to help before. And we're not going to do it over and over and over for every new member.

Why don't we just stfu then?

Because then, the poster will get zero replies and give up asking anyone for anything, or he will only get uninformed answers from other n00bs, leading him down the wrong path.

Written between the lines of jokes and smartasses is that chins do work both, but nobody is going to have the sort of arms most guys, n00b or not, want, unless you hit them directly.

But if you only do curls, then you also look like a tool with jacked biceps hanging off a skinnyfat body.

So the mere question ends up being an exercise in silliness just to contemplate a "which is better" scenario. Bodybuilding is not a which is better activity between exercises. It is about which combination of exercises will work best for YOU to reach YOUR goals.

They are common, just like the posts.da da da I how do I get my bicepts to grow....da da da how do I get my tricepts to grow...41 years old a former paramedic with 14 years experience and still don't know what bicepts or tricepts are but would like to find out since so many people on this board are interested in them.

Or the ever common....I can't seem to get results what am I doing wrong...thern we see they've only been lifting for a month. Hmmmm.

If we had one rep for everyone of those two type posts, we could be mod rich

[drpcnow]

Lol, that's the first thing I did, but almost every thread was filled with smart ass comments and no real anwsers.

But thanks aswell. I did't know though that the goal of a chin-up was to minimize bicep involvement, since it is a compound move. I thought the goal was to maximize more muscles at once. I mean, if you want to maximize back, wouldn't you be better of with doung regular pull-ups? More back involved and less biceps right?

ok as i understand it we have two different excersizes here.

wide grip with pronated grip (minimizes bicep involement) this is to create a wider lat spread,other than mimmicking this with a lat pull down im not sure if there is another "staple lift"for widening lats.

close grip with supinated grip (this has much more bicep involvement) this compound move should build great biceps fast as dips are proclaimed to build triceps fast (and they too dont hit tric directly) compounds moves beat isolated moves for size/strength gains

[Defiant1]

Nah, my biceps are pretty sore form jerking off in this thread too long...

lulz.

[SgSpartan]

@ OP:

Biceps do play a significant role in doing chin-ups (not pull-ups). However, a lot of other factors also come into play, such as your back, lats and even forearms. Try doing chin-ups after deadlifts. There was one workout where I found that I was slipping off the bar but felt that I had plenty in the tank to pull myself up-had I been able to stay on the bar.

What I am trying to say is, there are limiting factors that inhibit how much doing a chin-up can work for your biceps.

Chin-ups are great for your biceps though. Seriously, how much can you curl? Your bodyweight? Also, try doing weighted chin-ups. You will feel the "pump" that people often say you will get from doing curls.

Hope this helps.

[Slow-N-Steady]

i have no lab proof
however my son and i were doing pull up/chin up (palm facing) and his arms grew alot from it in a short period of time (about two months).he couldnt do one rep at first.now he can do a set of ten.pulling all his body weight up.
now in two months time how far do you think his 30lbs curl weight would go up?
and pull up/chin up was all we could do because we didnt have a weight set at the time.

Progression with isolation exercises should be slower because ideally there are no secondary muscles supporting the primary muscle group being worked.

But I will make it easier for you: Chin-ups work your lats and biceps. Curls work your biceps. The goal of a good chin-up is to minimize bicep involvement. The goal of a good curl is to maximize bicep involvement. You decide what works "better" for your biceps.

There is your answer OP....and if you look over the past few pages, several people have answered the question already. Anyways, good luck.

[Pairunoyd]

On bicep day, just for the heck of it, try doing isolation exercises or exercises that limit the weight you can use, e.g., concentration curls, incline lateral curls, drag curls, simultaneous DB curls (curl both bells at same time). Next move to chins. Do what you can and then use a bench or chair to cheat yourself to the top of the chin's range of motion and perform a negative, trying to resist for 3-6 seconds.

Try:

DB Concentration Curls - 3 sets of 8-12 (do each arm back-to-back and then rest 30 seconds)
Simultaneous DB Preacher Curls - 3 sets of 6-10 (squeeze them pups at the top, letting wrists bend backward-ish as you near the top in order to keep tension on biceps)
Chins (to failure w/ 2-4 negatives at the end)

[flangmasterj]

Stupid question.

Chin-ups are primarily a back exercise and involve **** all bicep.

Curls are the bread and butter of bicep exercises.


LOL chin-ups for biceps.

[dfernandez90]

Both.

[christos_swc]

But thanks aswell. I did't know though that the goal of a chin-up was to minimize bicep involvement, since it is a compound move. I thought the goal was to maximize more muscles at once.

That would be the goal if you're interested in strength alone.
For bodybuilding purposes the goal is to work your lats.
This is one of the hardest bodyweight exercises so looking to minimize bicep involvement is probably asking a lot of most people.
The lat pulldown is the better alternative until you get strong.
The chin up and the pull up is touted as being superior but that comes from people teaching strength training and not bodybuilding.
Bodyweight exercises promote functional strength and overall body development which is not a bodybuilder's primary goal even if desirable.
Unfortunately there's too much talk in what is essentially a bodybuilding forum about these two bodyweight exercises which confuses people.
The lat pulldown machine will help you work in the 8-15 rep range-that is the one of interest for mass building- with such "comfort" that will allow you to concentrate on form and feel.
Once you get your lats burning with this exercise all you gotta do is pump up the weight as your lats get bigger and stronger.

[H1t_V3r4c]

Dead
Row
Chins
Curl

Gl body

[Findenn]

Lol, that's the first thing I did, but almost every thread was filled with smart ass comments and no real anwsers.

But thanks aswell. I did't know though that the goal of a chin-up was to minimize bicep involvement, since it is a compound move. I thought the goal was to maximize more muscles at once. I mean, if you want to maximize back, wouldn't you be better of with doung regular pull-ups? More back involved and less biceps right?

gotta admit it is pretty funny the way this panned out. from the pt of view of someone starting out, it can be a bit of a brain teaser goin around in circles. yes the goal of compounds is to work many muscles at once, if the goal was to isolate big muscle groups then ppl wouldnt go around saying how superior free weights & bodyweight exercises are, they would say use some machine . You cant find an exact answer to ur original question. You will find ppl who gained better (on arms) by just doing compounds while eliminating extra iso work on the arms & u will find ppl who had to specialize on arms with isos to get more arm gains.

try to ask the same question on another forum & see what happens, result could be totally different.

[gspsilva]

the way i see it is that all exercises are compound each one mainly focus on one muscle and bicep curls my friend is YOUR friend

[mofitness4u]

Try this:

4 sets of Barbell Curls (narrow/wide grip)
3 sets of Incline DB Curls
2 sets of Barbell Curls super '21' style

theres your answer

[watertoy]

Chinups are better.

Cable curls are best.

[devo09]

neither, all ya gotta do is skwat