Get Your First Chin-Up

Achieving a bodyweight chin-up is a common goal we hear. It makes sense, not only is the chin-up a great exercise, but they also look badass! At Real Fitness, we’ve had many members come in not being able to Get Your First Chin-Up, and now they’re doing them regularly. Below is a list of exercises that we use to help people achieve this goal.

At Real Fitness, we’ve worked with countless members who started at zero—unable to do even one rep—and progressed to multiple clean chin-ups. If your goal is to Get Your First Chin-Up, this proven approach will get you there.

Strength, Grip, and the Right Plan – How to Get Your First Chin-Up

Exercise 1: Feet-assisted chin-ups. These can be done if you have an adjustable height pull-up bar or a Smith machine. Lower the bar to your chest level. Grab the bar in your chin-up grip and walk your feet about two feet forward under the bar. Now you can lower yourself down and pull yourself up with your legs, assisting in the movement. This is a great place to start, as you can control how much work the legs do to help assist in the chin-up.

Exercise 2: Lat pulldowns. If you have access to a strength machine with a two-handed or single-arm cable attachment, lat pulldowns are a great way to strengthen the main muscle in the back that pulls you up.

Exercise 3: Band-assisted chin-ups. The band-assisted chin-up is a great way to pull your body up with some assistance from the band. You will need what’s called a superband (we buy ours from Perform Better online). You loop one end of the band around the pull-up bar, and the other goes under your feet. Now the band is allowing you to do a chin-up without pulling all your weight up. Start with a thick band (more resistance) and use thinner bands as you get stronger.

Exercise 4: Chin-up holds. Getting into the top part of the chin-up position and holding it for as long as you can is a great way to build strength in the top part of the pull-up. You can also practice just hanging from a bar with your arms extended long. Both of these are called isometrics and are a form of strength training that’s often neglected.

Exercise 5: Bicep curls. Your biceps are part of the supporting cast that’s helping to pull you up in a chin-up. The stronger your arms are, the stronger you will be in a chin-up. Plus, who doesn’t love bicep curls??

Last Step and probably one of the most important: If you truly want to Get Your First Chin-Up, improving your eating habits is crucial. Reducing excess body fat while building muscle will make it significantly easier to lift your bodyweight. This step often requires lifestyle changes outside the gym—but it’s one of the most important.

So there you have it, some of the main exercises we do at Real Fitness to help members achieve a full body weight chin-up. Be consistent with all these, and we will get your first chin-up with the right plan.