Exercise guide · Intermediate · Compound

Chin-Up: How to Do It & Muscles Worked

The chin-up is a pull-up with an underhand, shoulder-width grip. The grip brings the biceps into the lift more, so most people can do a few more chin-ups than pull-ups.

Primary muscles
Lats
Secondary muscles
Biceps , Forearms
Equipment
Body Weight
Level · type
Intermediate · Compound

Written by the FitStack training team. Last reviewed .

Demonstration of the chin-up
Front view: muscles worked by the chin-up. Primary: lats. Secondary: biceps and forearms.
Back view: muscles worked by the chin-up. Primary: lats. Secondary: biceps and forearms.
Primary Secondary

How to do the chin-up

  1. Step 1: Hang from a pull-up bar with your palms facing towards you and your hands shoulder-width apart.
  2. Step 2: Engage your core and pull your body up towards the bar, leading with your chest.
  3. Step 3: Continue pulling until your chin is above the bar.
  4. Step 4: Pause for a moment at the top, then slowly lower your body back down to the starting position.
  5. Step 5: Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Form cues

  • Hang with palms facing you, hands about shoulder width.
  • Pull your shoulders down and drive your elbows down toward your ribs.
  • Bring your chest toward the bar until your chin clears it.
  • Lower to straight arms.

Common chin-up mistakes

  • Stopping short of a full hang.

    Fix: Straighten the arms fully at the bottom of each rep.

  • Gripping too narrow, which strains the wrists.

    Fix: Keep the hands about shoulder width.

Sets, reps and programming

Program like pull-ups: 3 or 4 sets near failure, adding load at 10 to 12 reps. Alternate chin-ups and pull-ups between sessions for variety.

Suggested sets, reps and rest for the chin-up by training goal
Goal Sets Reps Rest Effort
Strength 3–5 3–6 3–5 min 1–3 reps in reserve
Muscle growth 3–4 6–12 2–3 min 1–2 reps in reserve
Muscular endurance 2–3 12–20 1–2 min 1–3 reps in reserve

Ranges follow the ACSM position stand on progression in resistance training. Muscle grows across a wide range of loads when sets end close to failure (Schoenfeld et al., 2017), longer rests between heavy sets support strength and size (Schoenfeld et al., 2016), and stopping a rep or two short of failure works about as well as training to failure (Grgic et al., 2022). Estimate your working weights with the strength calculators.

Variations and progressions

Chin-Up alternatives

More exercises that train the lats as their main target:

Chin-Up FAQs

Do chin-ups build biceps?

Yes. Chin-ups load the biceps heavily, so they add useful biceps volume, but most people still benefit from some direct curls.

More lats exercises

See the best lat exercises, ranked →

Sources

  1. American College of Sports Medicine. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(3):687-708.
  2. Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low- vs. high-load resistance training. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;31(12):3508-3523.
  3. Schoenfeld BJ, Pope ZK, Benik FM, et al. Longer interset rest periods enhance muscle strength and hypertrophy in resistance-trained men. J Strength Cond Res. 2016;30(7):1805-1812.
  4. Grgic J, Schoenfeld BJ, Orazem J, Sabol F. Effects of resistance training performed to repetition failure or non-failure on muscular strength and hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sport Health Sci. 2022;11(2):202-211.

Step-by-step instructions and demonstration media are from the ExerciseDB exercise dataset; cues, mistakes, programming and FAQs are written by FitStack.

This guide is general fitness information, not medical advice. Stop if an exercise causes pain and speak to a doctor or physiotherapist about injuries or health conditions before starting a new programme.