Exercise guide · Advanced · Compound

Side-to-Side Chin: How to Do It & Muscles Worked

The side-to-side chin is a bodyweight exercise targeting the lats, performed by pulling yourself up to a bar and shifting your chin from one side to the other at the top of the movement. This variation increases the challenge to the lats and requires greater strength and control than a standard chin-up.

Primary muscles
Lats
Secondary muscles
Forearms , Biceps
Equipment
Body Weight
Level · type
Advanced · Compound
Demonstration of the side-to-side chin
Front view: muscles worked by the side-to-side chin. Primary: lats. Secondary: forearms and biceps.
Back view: muscles worked by the side-to-side chin. Primary: lats. Secondary: forearms and biceps.
Primary Secondary

How to do the side-to-side chin

  1. Step 1: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your knees slightly bent.
  2. Step 2: Grasp a pull-up bar with an overhand grip, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
  3. Step 3: Hang from the bar with your arms fully extended and your body relaxed.
  4. Step 4: Pull yourself up by bending your elbows and bringing your chin towards the bar, while keeping your body straight.
  5. Step 5: Once your chin is above the bar, lower yourself back down to the starting position.
  6. Step 6: Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Sets, reps and programming

Suggested sets, reps and rest for the side-to-side chin 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.

Side-to-Side Chin alternatives

More exercises that train the lats as their main target:

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.

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.