Should you do chinups or pullups if you want to build bigger arms. This video is finally here to answer the question for you and help you to build big arms fast. As with any situation where you pit two popular exercises head to head, you are going to get people who defend each one. I’m going to do the same, and give you the best parts about both the pullup and chinup and how they work different parts of the arm so that you can decide which arm exercise you want to focus on.
First, we must start as we always do with a little bit of anatomy.
The upper arm consists of the biceps and triceps muscles. As we know, the job of the biceps is do supinate the forearm and flex the elbow. It also has the ability to flex the shoulder since it has a biceps long head attachment that crosses the joint. The triceps of course are designed to extend the elbow and bring the arm back into extension behind the body.
That said, there is another very important muscle in the upper arm that is also heavily used in the pullup. This is called the brachialis. This muscle is a strong flexor of the elbow. The brachialis lies directly underneath the biceps and, when developed, can give you wider arms and taller looking biceps.
When we start to compare the differences between the exercises for bigger arms, we are going to see where these two start to become rather complimentary to each other. That is because in order to get bigger arms you are going to ultimately want to build up your biceps as well as your brachialis. Performing both exercises at the right time and in the right way is going to help you to reach this goal.
Let’s start with the chinup. Based on the fact that the underhand position required to perform the exercise immediately demands supination, we realize right away that the biceps are going to be more engaged here than they are in a pullup. That said, that’s not the only thing that happens when we get in position to perform a chinup. Along with the supination of the forearm we also have to get the elbow out in front of the body.
The issue here is that along with getting better biceps activation we also can potentially recruit better lat engagement at the same time. How does this happen? This is a byproduct of getting the attachment points of the lats further away from each other. When the elbow drifts out in front of the body the stretch on the lats becomes greater. Due to the activation of the stretch reflex at the bottom of the rep, we can turn the exercise into one that favors the lats rather than the biceps. You don’t want this to happen if you are trying to build up your biceps.
To keep the focus on the biceps then, you’ll want to make sure you focus on how you are pulling your body up to the bar. Don’t pull yourself straight up or remain close to the bar throughout the exercise but rather keep some distance between your body and the bar on the way up. Act as if you are curling your body to the bar like you would curl a bar to your body in a traditional barbell curl. This will demand that the biceps do more of the work and that the lats do less.
From here however we have to discuss the pullup. Once again, how you do the exercise matters when it comes to building bigger arms.
On the pullup of course we have an overhand grip rather than an underhand one. This is going to shift the focus away from the biceps and to the brachialis muscle.
The grip width on the bar matters here however. The wider grip you take the less you are going to work the brachialis because the amount of flexion at the elbow is going to be less. With the brachialis one of the stronger flexors of the elbow we want to get more flexion by taking a more narrow grip.
Once again here, be sure to keep the relationship of the bar to the body a bit distanced. If you bring your body up close to the bar you are going to lessen the effect on the brachialis and ultimately not build big arms like you could if you performed the exercise properly.
In terms of whether the chinup or pullup is better for building bigger arms the answer is both of them. Watch the video to see the best recommended split.
Finally, if you are following a total body workout routine you can alternate the chinup or pullup on any individual workout.
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For more videos on how to build bigger arms and the best exercises for building your biceps and brachialis as well as chinups vs pullups comparisons, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube via the link below and remember to turn on your notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published.
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Chris Wright
Make sure your worst enemy doesn’t live between your own two ears.
-Laird Hamilton
To bad most of the time it’s like that..
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Hey Jeff in some videos in the past and even this one you do chinups with your body going close to the bar. I remember in a previous video you say keep some distance. Why the different techniques?
Tell about neatral grip pull sir
I really wanna see Jeff try some rings.
Rings blew my chest up fr fr (dips) ALSO ring push ups include adduction to your push ups, same goes for the dips not to mention the constant tension rings provide while supporting yourself (missing in floor push ups & traditional bar dips)
@Henk du Croo de Jongh trx is for affeminated
@Luke H the grips are better for your hands that’s all
Awesome idea
We need to BUMP this comment until Jeff reads it
Always appreciate the valuable information, guys. Thank you for what you do.
Training, bodybuilding, mindset…are you injured? Jeff can help! And there is no drama here like in some other channels. Keep up the good work !
@TheSneakiest™ tbh I always see people in the comments of other youtubers talking down on Jeff but I never see the same in Jeffs community.
@Alvin H Yeah.. Because the people who comment on Jeff’s videos are Athleanx fans. Just like how Chris Heria has been exposed several times for being a liar and a sham but his comment sections are always full of positive comments.
@TheSneakiest™ oh I see. Well as far as I’m concerned Jeff and Chris have helped me make lots of progress. Obviously they do say some questionable things that I disagree with at times but it’s really up to the viewer to decide if it’s realistic or not to do what’s instructed. Everything else for the most part is usually pretty solid advice.
@Alvin H Agreed. Once you know set theory and periodization, everything else is just accessory and you can train knowledged and aware of how to question other information.
You can train them on the same day, or split them up. If you take the same day choice, gotta shock the muscles my man.
Im always learning something new when watching your videos, thank you Jeff!
Whenever Jeff gets into a fight he beats up the opponent evenly on each side to prevent muscle imbalance and tells the opponent to punch him evenly on each side to prevent muscle imbalance
He also tends to punch the opponent when the opponent is in to the side of him to prevent internal shoulder rotation
Haha
It was a great joke concept, however it took to long set up and execute, ultimately ruining the laugh
@U N L I M I T E D if you found that funny youll get a heart attack 5 minutes into a comedic movie
Legend has it that when Jeff went to the airport, that was the first time they allowed guns on a plane.
Edit: Thanks for all the likes guys!
@Jamal Kamran It doesn’t take a genius to work it out ffs.
@Chunder Tunt of course it doesn’t I’m not saying it’s hard I’m just saying I get we’re u hitting at smartass
@Jamal Kamran I don’t understand your comment, it doesn’t make any sense.
@Chunder Tunt if u don’t understand it then don’t make assumptions on things
@Jamal Kamran Ok…
Jeff is on fire with the recent videos, the talks are quite limited lately with more demos! Nice!!!
talking is killing your gains
I’ll continue doing both – first and foremost for my back. Thanks for the video :)
Yes, yes *takes notes*
– me who can’t even do a single pull up yet
Jeff’s 22 day from 0 to some pull up video helped me tremendously. I started at zero. Now I’m at 4. And I’ll keep increasing as long as I stick with it.
Any effort is better than none. Day by day brother, you’ll get there.
Me neither and i do 5 sets of 10-12 pull ups followed by 5 sets of 10-12 chun ups, my gym has a pull up assist bar, yours should too, its one of the most importnt things in the gym if you want a good back because pullups are infinatly superior to lat pulldown and seated row unless your a pro bodybuilder that is.
@wbennin What I have found is when you get to your 4 reps and rest, give it a LONG rest. Maybe an hour, maybe longer. No rules, just feel it out. Then try to do 4 more. Even if you can only do 2, do 2. Wait even longer, try again. Make that day your ‘chin up day’. Give it 48 hours and try again. Depending on age, condition, and all the rest, you’ll get to ‘5’ faster than you thought. I’m in my 60s and that’s how I’ve been doing it. Almost to 7 now. Seems like ‘training to failure’ is a pretty effective method. Instead of X sets of Y reps, make each set go to exhaustion.
OP just made a joke, he didn’t ask for motivational quotes lmao
Of course, Jeff does both pull-ups and chin-ups to prevent muscle imbalance.
Heaven forbid there’s an imbalance! Lol
Every video this comment about imbalance. He never says that….
and he does both tow ways or more.
He did push up after video
The brachialis filling up the sleeves is absolute truth. I’ve seen nice gains on my arms after doing crossbody curls more often.
Based
What if your too weak to do chin ups?
@Andrew Jennings do a chin up progression or assisted chin ups and work on horizontal pulling strength using rows
@Mantas Isganaitis i have the suspicion that newbie gains applies to each particular muscle too. I neglected neck, traps and calves as a calisthenics athlete, and since i started training them specifically, they grew super quick and really makes a difference
@Andrew Jennings Try starting with Aussie chin-ups and gtadually build up to full vertical.
Chin-ups are also one of my favorite ab exercises. I like to stick my legs in front the entire time (i.e. a static hanging leg raise), or do a crunch on the way up for each rep. Leaning back a bit seems to help put tension on the abs as well as make it easier to light up the lats and back muscles.
You mean a L-sit?
@Despize Perform i think so
L sit pull ups are very hard.
When jeff solves a cube he does not do any downward moves to avoid internal rotation.
Every time Jeff flexes his arms I see new muscles I never knew existed
Because they didn’t.
I like them all. The more variety the better to keep me from getting bored. Thanks for giving me some more ideas about little variations within the exercise!
Jeff can never be One Punch Man. He will NEED to throw in a second punch with the other arm to avoid muscle imbalance.