Chin Ups vs. Pull Ups: What’s the Difference?
A staple in most back routines the chin up and pull up are fantastic back building exercises for anyone looking to gain relative strength or pack on muscle.
They can be performed as bodyweight or weighted exercise in a variety of different ways with the 2 most popular versions being the chin up and pull up.
Training the back, chest, arms and abs the chin up and pull up are true compound movements.
In this article, we look at both movements in detail to highlight the similarities and differences before giving you a definitive answer on when to use each one and whether one is more effective than the other.
Let’s dive in.
What Muscles Do the Chin Up & Pull Up Work?
It goes without saying that both exercises train the back, but they also work the chest, arms and abs too. However, the back is the main focus and the exercise recruits all of these back muscles to help complete the movement;
- Latissimus dorsi (the lats)
- Lower traps
- Rhomboids (major and minor)
- Teres major
The main muscle used is your latissimus dorsi (the lats) muscles, which originate from your lower to mid-back and extend up into your shoulder. Your lats function to pull your arms down and toward your body i.e. the bulk of the chin up / pull up movement.
When the lats are well-developed, they stick out from the side of your torso and create the wide, v-shaped look synonymous with cover models, swimmers and bodybuilders.
The other back muscles help with pulling, assist of the lats and stability throughout the movement. The biceps also assist the pulling movement, with the chest and abs helping to provide stability and stop you from swinging around.
Related: Everything You Need to Know About Building Muscle and Strength
Chin Ups vs. Pull Ups
Whilst both exercises are effective at building both strength and muscle, they are not performed in the same way.
Before we get to the similarities and difference it’s important to understand what each movement is and how you do it.
The Chin Up
Probably my favourite back exercise at the moment, the chin up allows you to lift epic amounts of weight whilst building a dense, muscular and wide back.
It’s performed using a shoulder-width underhand or supinated grip with your palms facing toward you. This means the biceps play a much larger role in completing the lift which means it’s not only easier to do but your biceps will also get a great workout.
For this reason, it is often the best place to start if you’re new to chin ups.
The Pull Up
In contrast, the pull up is performed with a wider pronated or overhand grip with the hands outside the shoulders and the palms of your hands facing away from you.
Due to the wider hand position, you’ll find the pull up a more difficult movement as the biceps play a much smaller role. This means it’ll take you longer to build the same kind of strength that you get with the chin ups.
However, it is very possible to build up some fantastic strength here and the pull up is a great exercise if you’re looking for a change, want to back off on the bicep work or have plateaued on chin ups.
What’s Better the Chin Up or Pull Up?
You’ll often hear people saying that you should do chin ups if you want to build big biceps and pull ups if you want to focus more on your lats.
However, current research (1) shows that whilst bicep* and chest activation is much higher in the chin up and lower trap activation is much higher in pull ups when it comes to your lats, muscle activation is similar for both exercises.
This means that if your goal is to build a big back then it really doesn’t matter which exercise you choose.
However, as you’ll see shortly there are a few criteria I find useful for help you decide which exercise you should include in your training plan.
*In fact, chin ups have been shown (2) to be the 3rd most effective exercise when it comes to building bigger biceps with only concentration and cable curls being more effective.
Similarities
Chin ups and pull ups are both closed chain compound exercises that train the entirety of the back and should be a mainstay in anyone training plan who is serious about building muscle and strength.
- Closed chain exercise: this is any movement where the furthest point of the body (hands or feet) is fixed in place during the movement i.e. chin ups, squats or dips
- Compound movement: this is an exercise that trains multiple muscle groups with movement at multiple joints
Closed chain exercises are said to more closely mimic the functional movement we used in our day to day lives and compound movements allow you to build strength faster by lifting more weight as you’re using multiple muscle groups together.
Related: What Are Compound and Isolation Exercises?
Differences
On the other side, chin ups and pull ups differ in their hand position, muscle emphasis and difficulty. This doesn’t necessarily make one better than the other, but these things should be considered when deciding which to use.
- Hand position: chin ups use a narrower grip with your palms facing toward you, pull ups, on the other hand, use a wider grip with your palms facing away from you
- Muscle emphasis: whilst both exercises train the same muscles, chin ups put a much larger emphasis on the biceps and involve the upper chest whereas the pull up uses the biceps less but requires greater use of the lower traps
- Difficulty: due to these differences the pull up is a harder movement to complete as it doesn’t recruit the biceps anywhere near as much
Related: The Best Exercises For A Bigger, Stronger Back
Should You Do the Chin Up or Pull Up?
When it comes to deciding which exercise, you should do there are only really a couple of things to consider.
- Are you a beginner? if you’re new to working out or have never really done chin ups or pull ups before then you’ll definitely want to start with chin ups as the learning curve is lower and the movement is easier to perform due to the bicep involvement
- Are you intermediate? if you’ve been training for a while and can do 10+ bodyweight chin ups or weighted chin ups then pull ups are a valid option for you and it will largely come down to whether you want the additional bicep work that chin ups provide
- Have you hit a plateau? another option is to incorporate both into your workouts at different times. For example, if you’re doing chin ups but reach a workout plateau then you could switch to pull ups for a while and vice versa
3 Technique Mistakes You Need to Avoid
If you’re going to do chin ups and/or pull up and get the most out of them, then there are a handful of mistakes that you’re really going to want to avoid when doing these movements.
Using bad form not only increases your risk of injury but it can reduce the amount of muscle and strength you build too. For the best results you’ll want to avoid doing these 3 things;
#1: Not Using A Full Range of Motion
A common mistake with chin ups and pull ups is not using a full range of motion. This leaves progress on the table as you shorten your reps.
A full rep starts from a dead hang and ends with your chin over the bar. If you want to get the most bang for your buck with these exercises, then you’ll want to make sure you’re doing them properly.
#2: Using Momentum to Complete the Exercise
Another common mistake is using momentum to complete the exercise. This is what happens when the weight you’re using is too heavy or you’re not strong enough to complete the full movement.
Using momentum cheats the movement, requires less muscle activation and increases your risk of injury. Instead of swinging your way to the top I strongly recommend you start slow and build your strength over time.
#3: Lifting with Your Ego Not Your Muscles
Ego lifting refers to using a weight that is too heavy for you, even though you know it’s too heavy. It’s a symptom of not wanting to appear weak in front of others in the gym or feeling like you have to some macho ideal to live up to.
The issue is that lifting with a weight that is too heavy for you results in a limited range of motion, the use of momentum to complete your lift and bad technique. All of which increase your risk of injury and prevent you from making real progress.
Instead of doing this, focus on using an appropriate weight and doing the exercise with good form. If you do this then you’ll build strength and muscle.
Summing Up
The chin up and pull up are both fantastic exercises for building a bigger, stronger back with the chin up generally being more beginner-friendly due to the larger involvement of the biceps.
Aside from the difference in grip width and muscle activation, with the chin up working the biceps more and the pull up working the lower traps more, there is little to separate them.
Beginners may find the chin up a better place to start due to it being an easier movement. However, there is no wrong or right answer as to which you decide to use in your training plan.
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