Chin-ups
The chin-up is a pull-up done with your palms facing you, usually at shoulder width. The supinated grip puts your biceps in a stronger line of pull, so it trains your back and biceps together, with your lats assisting. Most people get more reps than with pull-ups, which makes it a good first vertical pull.
Muscles worked
The chin-ups trains the back and biceps, with lats helping.
Weekly sets for back
Hard sets per week that Swole.fit plans for back, counting every exercise that trains it. Start a cycle near the growth line and climb toward the recovery limit before a deload.
How to do the chin-ups
- 01Grab the bar with your palms facing you, hands about shoulder width apart, and hang with straight arms.
- 02Brace your abs and keep your legs together and slightly in front of you.
- 03Pull your elbows down and in toward your ribs to bring your chest toward the bar.
- 04Finish when your chin is above the bar and your upper chest is close to it.
- 05Lower slowly to a full hang, letting your arms straighten completely at the bottom.
Coaching cues
- Pull your elbows into your ribs
- Squeeze the biceps at the top
- Slow down, full stretch
Common mistakes
- Using a very narrow grip strains the wrists and elbows; keep your hands about shoulder width apart.
- Dropping fast out of the top wastes the lowering phase that builds muscle; take two to three seconds on the way down.
- Leaning far back into a row-like pull shortens the range; keep your torso fairly upright and pull straight up.
How Swole.fit programs it
Log it once and the app plans the next session for you.
- Most sets land between 8 and 15 reps, the range the plan steers compound lifts toward for size.
- Week one starts around 2 to 3 reps in reserve. Each week you train a little closer to failure, ending around 0 to 1 in reserve before a deload week.
- Once the top of the range is easy, Swole.fit suggests a harder variation or added load.
- Sets for this exercise count toward your weekly volume for every muscle it trains: a full set for the primary muscles, half a set for the helpers.
The full method, with the maths, is in how mesocycles work.
Chin-ups alternatives
Same muscles, different tool. Swap in one of these when the equipment is taken or your joints want a change.
Log it. Let the app plan the next one.
Track your chin-ups free. Swole.fit picks the next weight, counts your weekly sets and tells you when to deload.