Assisted Chin Ups and Dips

[kumar5]

I am fascinated and feel challenged by chin ups and dips. I can't do them much or properly for the life of me as my arms aren't that strong yet.

But in my gym there's an assisted chin up and dip machine. I've used it twice with light weights and oh God, after 5 I feel warm in my arms. How do I improve my chin ups and dips? I plan to go at them everytime I hit the gym, which is 3x per week and go up to 6,7,8. I got to start somewhere, right?

Do they have any benifits? I heard they help give the V shape.

[lobsteriffic]

I like doing negative chin-ups and dips. You start at the top of the motion and slowly lower yourself...as slow as you can.

[coroho]

From what I've seen, doing negatives and using the grease the groove method work the best.

Check out here: http://stronglifts.com/10-ways-to-get-stronger-at-pull-ups-fast/

[chewybaws]

I agree with all above.

 

Doing some inverted rows will help, then negatives - use a box/chair/whatever and start at the top position and lower yourself to lockout as slowly as you can....when that gets too easy jump up to the bar and the momentum will help get you up. The less of a jump you put in the more work your arms are doing. This helped me greatly for chin/pull-up strength.

 

How's your push-ups? These will prob help with dips.

[Marcina]

Ladders help too. Ladders and negatives.

 

A ladder goes like this: Do one pull-up. Rest. Do 2. Rest. Do 3.. Etc. until failure.

 

I did the negative thing and that seemed to help. I also used to just pull myself up and stay there as long as I could.

 

I can now do 5 ^^

[xphilx]

i recommend to do cluster reps with a pause of about 30 secs between every rep until you did 10x1 reps. short the pauses from workout to workout until you can do 10 reps in a row.

[xjohanx]

I recommend to shut up and chin (negatives also work great).

[VeganEssentials]

Practice, practice, practice!

 

I went from struggling to do 2 unassisted pull-ups back when I was significantly stronger (but out of practice for the movement) to eventually doing sets of 10 or more, simply through practicing and doing them with regularity.

 

That, and two other things I found useful -

 

1. If you can use one of those rubber cables with the handles around and thread it through to give an assist at bottom, that helped me a lot. One of the gyms I train at has pull-up handles mounted in a big power rack, so I threaded the cable through so my knees would rest on it and it would take off about 25 lbs. of weight at bottom, but at the top position it didn't offer any assistance. This definitely helped me with my weak point (the start of the movement) and built up my strenght for pull-ups quickly. My setup was a bit different, but here's how it's usually done:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efpptPJFiyc

 

2. Once I started to get to where I could do sets of 5 or more at bodyweight, I started throwing in weighted pull-ups, using either a makeshift attachment to strap on weight, holding a dumbbell between my feet, or using the non-leather dip belt one of my gyms has. Once I started to get to them with some weight, everything took off even better. Whether you do reps or heavy singles with weight added, it will definitely benefit your ability!

 

And always remember the golden rule of chins and pull-ups - the arms should act as hooks, so you don't want to be using your biceps to pull yourself up, because it'll cause you to burn out much faster than you should. Think of all the work being done by pulling your elbows into your sides so that the biceps don't come into play any more than necessary (they will be used a bit, but should NEVER be exhausted from doing pull-up work or you're putting the emphasis on the wrong part).

 

Just some ideas to help get to the next level with doing pull-up work!

[pazios2002]

the guy talks like he's from "the road warrior" Anyways I like both of VE s ideas.

[kumar5]

What I do now for chin ups is hang from the holders on top, put knees on the seat, then it goes down, then I pull myself up.

For dips, my hands are next to my mid-section, on the holders there.

So far, I can do 5 but will do 6 tomorrow. I find I perform them better if I do them first, before I do other exercises.

 

What are negatives?

[VeganDavid]

I am fascinated and feel challenged by chin ups and dips. I can't do them much or properly for the life of me as my arms aren't that strong yet.

But in my gym there's an assisted chin up and dip machine. I've used it twice with light weights and oh God, after 5 I feel warm in my arms. How do I improve my chin ups and dips? I plan to go at them everytime I hit the gym, which is 3x per week and go up to 6,7,8. I got to start somewhere, right?

Do they have any benifits? I heard they help give the V shape.

 

Pretty much all exercises (read predominantly compound) carried out with great form will have benefits. Chins & dips are staple compounds.

If you have trouble with chins & dips, use the assisted machine's counterbalance and each time you repeat the session (say once a week or whenever) try to lighten the counterbalance by 1kg. You will then progress nicely and soon your assisted chins & dips will be unassisted and on to the next stage of adding to your bodyweight!

 

Cheers

[Ruz]

Negtives work as everyone has said. Another thing you could try is something a Personal Trainer taught me. He trains Fireman and police to pass the physical and they have to do a fair amount of each.

For pullups, start with chin-ups, that's with the palms or your hands facing your face when you grap the bar..also use a relatively narrow grip. This ensures that the biceps take a lot of the load.

Then jump up until your chin is over the bar, hold for 15 seconds and drop down to a position where your upper arm is paralell with the floor, hold for 15 seconds more, drop down until your arms are practically locked out for 15 seconds more. Rest and repeat.

Everytime you do them you should either increase the reps or lower your rest time.

When you can do 10 chin ups, swop over to regular pullups, max out and do VERY SLOW negatives, repeat till you can do 10 then start adding weight.

If you have a smith machine you can also do an easier version of pullups there. Put the bar at chin height and put on the safety locks. Next, put a bench about 1 meter infront of you, facing away and put your feet on the headrest. Let your ass sag to the floor and then start to do pullups. When you can do 10 reps, you could get someone to place a barbell across your lap for added resistance.

I've recently started using wrist straps for this to stop my grip giving out before my back, or my hands from slipping. They only cost 6 Euros for 4 so if your grip is holding you back they may be a good investment

I found a video of this for you though you can't see really well and I like to rest my feel higher, at about waist level, though you could experiment what's best for you:

Dips work more or less the same, but remember not to lock your elbows out at the top. With dips its easier if you lean forward because like that your chest can take a large amount of the strain. If you maintain a very strick upright position the majority of the stress goes on your triceps. I learnt to do dips leaning forward and then swopped onto the upright versions, though if you want to hit your chest you should def lean forward.

[kumar5]

Thanks ruz.

I'm using a wider grip now, will try closer grips tomorrow.