Zughilfen in Ordnung?

Ich will ja gar nicht erreichen, dass niemand mehr breite Klimmzüge machen darf, aber enge aus einem Plan nehmen, weil breite effektiver sind ist einfach auch nicht richtig. Beides ist möglich. Zur Abrundung aber noch ein "kleiner" Nachtrag, http://www.leo.org wird an dieser Stelle wohl gebraucht.

PULL-UPS/CHIN-UPS

Misconception #8:

"They say pull-ups work your lats more than chin-ups because they minimize the use of your biceps. They're also harder so they must be better."

I can hear the whistle of incoming flames already. Some of you are probably thinking, "Surely this can't be a misconception." Well, just hang in there (pun intended) and hear me out. Others may be scratching their heads and saying, "But aren't pull-ups and chins just different names for the same exercise?" No, they're not. Let's once again define our terms. When you do pull-ups, your hands are pronated (palms facing away from the body when placed on the bar), and you typically grip the bar a bit wider than shoulder width.

When you do chin-ups, your hands are supinated (palms facing towards the body when placed on the bar) and you grip the bar right around shoulder width, or a bit narrower or wider depending on individual comfort.

Most people find that chin-ups are easier because you're better able to use your biceps, and pull-ups are harder because you can't use your biceps as much. They likely deduce that because of this, pull-ups allow you to put more stress on the lats, and therefore are better for lat development. It's an understandable conclusion, but it's wrong.

In the chin-up, the biceps are placed in a much more efficient pulling position. This enables one to do more reps, or use more weight, as compared to the pull-up, which places the biceps in a comparatively weaker pulling position. If we are trying to get maximal development of the lats, we want to maximize the loading (and loading duration) of the involved musculature by placing the smallest muscles in a position where they can last the longest or be loaded the greatest so that they don't give out prior to the larger muscles involved. Chin-ups accomplish this. Pull-ups don't.

Make no mistake about it, in the pull-up the elbow still flexes, and the movement will be over when the elbow can no longer flex. In addition, the lat contracts through a greater range of motion at the glenohumeral joint on the chin-up. Generally, it's always better to take a muscle through its full safe range of motion for optimal development.

Many times, though, trainees will become concerned with where they "feel" the exercise and they imagine they "feel" the pull-up more in the lats and feel chin-ups more in the biceps. However, unless you have some crazy strength imbalance and can curl your bodyweight, you don't need to worry about feeling chin-ups in your biceps.

By the way, about that upper back "pump" you think you're feeling in your lats after a set of pull-ups: what you're actually feeling is the teres major (a.k.a the "mini-lat"), a relatively small muscle that's being recruited more in the pull-up variation because of the greater adduction component at the shoulder.

I'm not suggesting that the pull-up isn't a viable alternative to chins on occasion, but I do believe that if you're using them to maximally develop your lats because you think your biceps aren't involved as much, you need to re-examine your approach.

Chins are probably a better option because you can increase the duration of loading on the lats and use more load in comparison along with an increase in the range of motion. The arm development from chins is a nice side benefit as well, which I'm sure many wouldn't complain about.


Wrapping Up

That's it! Hopefully, I have cleared up some things that have caused some confusion for many and this article will lead to new progress in your lifting and coaching, and at the very least given you some ammunition to fire back at people who mindlessly repeat whatever "they" say.

Craig Rasmussen, CSCS is a performance coach at Results Fitness in Newhall, California. He's a competitive powerlifter, and has worked with a wide variety of clients and athletes.


References:

Hartman, B. Personal communication. August, 2007

Photos courtesy of Bill Hartman

© 1998 — 2008 Testosterone, LLC. All Rights Reserved.