Chin - Ups

[FFWannabe]

Okay, so I am going to pathetically admit that I can only achieve one chin up.. that's right... just one! hahaha!
I'm trying to increase this and realize that it's not the easiest exercise in the world. I have been basically jumping up and hanging there with all I have for about ten seconds.. I'll do this 5 times and then do the same in the pull up position 2 or 3 times. I don't have much more in me after my 10k in the morning and truth be told, I'm just too darn tired to do it at night these days (the long day of twiddling my thumbs at my desk really take a toll... hahahaha).. I have kickboxing right after work and we do a ton of pushups at the end!

So, anyway... does anyone have any tips to increase my chinups to two?? hahaha! I just want to be able to do five.. Is an 11 year old too little to help with assisted chinups? I'm not sure how much of my weight she would have to take!

Thanks for any advice.. it's just a personal goal I'm working on... I used to be able to do three, so I would like to surpass that!

Thanks! Sue :)

PS - Holy... long winded for a little questions, aren't I?! lol :D

[iamvff]

Lower the bar about 3 feet!

be safe
iamvff

[FFWannabe]

Thanks for the tip!!! hahahaha!

Sue :)

PS - Check your PM!

[Red_Devil]

try this one, get some ankle weights, lets say 2lbs, continue to do one with these on, you should still be able to perform at least one but the weights, after reaching the peak of the pullup, SLOWLY lower yourself to a full stretch , it should take you from 3-5 seconds to get to this point, now try and hold yourself as long as you can, rest 1 minute and try samething again. Try this for a few weeks, after that do the same but without the ankle weights and rest for about 2mins, see what happens.


You may also wanna try working on your lat and bicep muscles a little more too. These are the primary muscles involved in the chin up move. Do some rows, or lat pull downs, for the biceps, do curls either barbell or dumbell, the key is to SLOWLY lower the weight on bicep moves to get the negatives hitting the bicep muscle.

[DoubleHelix]

Negatives forsure help. Get a stool and hop up to eye level and slowly lower yourself. Do 5-10 of those for a couple sets. Also a very good exercise is get in the smith machine rack. And get something around waist high like a incline bench or something like that. Hold onto the smith bar like doing a chinup and put your feet on the waist high object. Then perform your chin-ups. They work the muscle differently but are easier and you can add weight so its good. If you want some other ways or dont quite understand this shoot me an email or if you have msn just message me on there.

kyleaircanada00@hotmail.com

[FFWannabe]

Hmmm, well there lies the dilemna... I was hoping not to do too much more lat and bi work for a while. I've overworked my right bicep and it's caused some interesting temporary issues.. I figured doing a little work wouldn't hurt too much (bicep tendon pulls on the labrum, lat tries to take over for lower trap duties... not sure how these are connected.. lol.. but apparently they are... having my physio work the knots out with her elbows almost brings me to tears, but it seems to work well.. hahaha)!

Thanks guys! I'll stick with the negatives and then add some weight and go back to regular chinups and work this routine for a little while and see what happens! I'll let you know when I can do two!!! hahaha.. don't be holding your breath! ;)

Sue :)

[ThFyrWthn]

Do you work out at a gym Sue? At the various gyms I have belonged to they have a "chin up machine" of sorts. It basically allows you to add weight to counterbalance your own. You decrease it as you get stronger. I found it really works. Like alot of strength exercises, you seem to get the best results by mimicing the exact movement.

About your bicep... I'm glad you're working with a physio person. Strains and pulls can get dangerous. I once strained my abs a little and tried to work around it/through it, major mistake. It screwed me up for months. Duh, did it with a shoulder before too.

I found laying off the body area completely for a week or two was the most efficient way to get over it. I know you have a schedule but healing completely is faster. Maybe consider focusing on your lower body for a bit.

[iamvff]

Originally posted by FFWannabe
PS - Check your PM!

Thanks for the note Sue....I did check my PM's, and I appreciate the correspondence I receive from anyone, but unfortunately, if you DON'T CLEAN OUT YOUR FREAKIN MAILBOX.....I can't return a message. Thank you...have a wonderful day

Sincerely
iamvff:confused: :p :D

[FFWannabe]

Originally posted by iamvff
Thanks for the note Sue....I did check my PM's, and I appreciate the correspondence I receive from anyone, but unfortunately, if you DON'T CLEAN OUT YOUR FREAKIN MAILBOX.....I can't return a message. Thank you...have a wonderful day

Sincerely
iamvff:confused: :p :D


D'OH!!!!! Sorry man.. upon investigation, it appears I had been requested a copy of the message to my sent file and read receipts... :eek: Who knew???

Okay.. it's all good now (I hope... lol)!

Sue :)

[BCFFFV]

Do pulldowns with weight in the same motion as a chinup. You should be able to increase your strength for chin ups this way.

[FFWannabe]

Can I please say that after running this morning, working all day, doing a seriously difficult kickboxing class... I came home, looked up at the chin up bar and said, "what the heck" and I actually did two... in a row!!!! Wheeeee!!!!! Okay, so maybe I'll be doing 5 before I know it!!! WooooHoooo!!!

Paula, I don't work out at a gym, I just don't have time... I am up at 5am to run, get the little one up for school, get us both off for the day, work all, spend my lunchhour picking up LittleWannabe from school (we moved feet outside of the district so there's no bus), kickboxing after work, eat, get lunches ready for the next day, laundry, you know all those Mom things, pretend to study for 20 minutes and fall fast asleep... I tell ya', when that alarm goes off in the morning, I can barely believe it!!! hahahha!!!! So, short answer... nope!!! hahaha!

Sue :)

[ThFyrWthn]

ah, ya, I get ya sister :)

I used to be a gym rat but now do my cardio at home or outside only getting to the gym for weights. I'll soon be dropping my second job and will hopefully have time to get back at the karate.

Life's never boring though eh? Wouldn't have any other way :)

way to go on the chin-ups!

[LtBlondie]

sue, get into combat, the training alone for that will have you doing chin-ups in no time I'm a 6 footer and weigh in at a woppin' 160 and I can do them, negatives helped but the combat is sooo involved with upper body you can't not improve...make sense???;) ;)

[FFWannabe]

That makes perfect sense to me! Since my daughter has shown me she can successfully guide my car (after getting stuck last week in the snow), I think it's time we start the "push the car" workout! I got that one from Juliet Draper (I'm sure you know her well from the Worlds scene)! I would love to be able to "pull the car" as well, but with the ice and snow, I'm afraid Little Wannabe might run me over if I fall! hahaha!
If you wouldn't mind, would you PM me with a little snippit of your workout, just to give me an idea. I know my old workout did wonders and it was specifically designed for mass and strength gain for the pushing and pulling necessary for fire fighting, but over time, it gets boring and I need a change up!

Oh no, not a whopping 160! hahaha... I'm under 6 feet and I'm also a whopping 160! hahaha! When I'm asked what I weigh (for some reason the women at work are fascinated with weight.. sigh), I tell them and I get the consoling, "that's okay, muscle weighs more." hahaha.... I tell them, I know it's okay, and actually... "strength weighs more!" ;)

Thanks! Sue :)

PS - If there's a civilian challenge at the Combat Challenge in Osgoode in August, I am all over it, just to see if I can!!! Whoppeeee... at the Worlds in '03, I think I was drooling over the course, sorry if it was slippery! hahaha! :D

[mutts252]

lol i'm 6'3" and 195... chinups and pushups have *never* been my friend, i've always had better lower-body strength. i can't come up with any better ways of improving on things than have been said already... so good luck! we're all on the same boat, in some way or another. :)

[FFWannabe]

Woot woot! 4 chin ups and half a pull up! lol! getting there.. does it matter that I touched my toe to the floor after the third one for a brief moment? I didn't push off though, it still counts right? haha! K, time to work on those lats, pull ups are calling my name!!!

Thanks for the help guys and gals! Sue :

[Scuba]

heh


Even 230lbs of Jude can do *ONE* Chin up. :D

I"ll try at work tonight see if I can do more than one now....Been a while since I climbed the underside of the stairs....