Proper Form on the Chin-up

One of the best parts about going to the local gym is that I instantly have about fifty topics to share with you guys. Most of the time these are not about something positive I witnessed which is sad but it does remind me of how a lack of education can be very dangerous when dealing with exercise. 

Over the next few posts I wanted to go over some of the most common exercises that are done improperly at the gym. I am not going to do machines but rather many of the body weight and dumbbell exercises people butcher with terrible form. Form is very important when doing exercise. Remember that you are a living adaptive organism and your body will respond to whatever stimulus you give it. If this is negative stimulus from poor form n an exercise it must also figure out how to adapt to that which ultimately leads you down the road of injury.

For the first exercise I want to cover lets go over a Chin-up. This move is constantly done wrong because people lack the muscular integrity through their core to be able to control their body during the move. This couple with possible lack of strength in the upper body lead to many people resorting to momentum and legs to do a move for the arms and back.

Look at the two pictures below. The first is the proper starting position for the move. Notice that the arms are fully extended and the body is completely straight. This should be the starting position for each repetition you do, not just the first one. Make sure you return to this position at the end of each repetition. In the second picture you can see that the body remains straight. Pull the chin all the way up to the bar or at least as high as you can. 

 
Stay slow and maintain as much control over your body as possible. Avoid swinging your legs around, pulling your knees to your chest, or twisting and swinging your upper body. All of these are creating a false sense of strength and compromising the efficiency of your muscular system. The Picture to the left shows bad form on a chin-up. Notice the twisting of the upper body and the pulling from the hips. 

Never sacrifice form for a few additional reps. Short cuts on form only lead to a negative return in the long run.