Ever since I was a kid, all I could dream about was flying through the air like one of my favorite superheros. While reality has changed the path, the dream still stands. These days though, I am looking at a different way to reach the skies – the infamous chin-up bar. Having the ability to vertically pull your body up is a liberating sensation. The benefit that comes to your body is immense. In a chin-up, the muscles in your forearms, biceps, and back are worked in one of the most functional exercises that could potentially be life saving should you need to literally pull yourself up over a ledge. The real magic though, comes from the emotional and psychological benefit that completing a chin-up can have. Knowing that you have the relative strength (the amount of strength you have given your body type or size), balanced body composition (muscle-fat-weight ratio), and training (exercises done to prep you for the chin-up) to get you over that bar will do wonders for self-esteem, confidence, and goal setting.

Getting to your first chin-up is not something that comes easy nor fast. There are a few factors that need to be in place first to ensure that you will get that first chin-up. The first ones that provides the foundation is a balanced body composition and pulling strength in back and arms. Having extra weight with regard to fat never helps in life, let alone athletic endeavors. The cleaner the eating habits, better controlled the portions, and better timing of meals will all point you in the right direction of losing fat and increasing muscle. In addition, there are some exercises that you should become comfortable with to assist you on your journey to being able to do a chin-up. Exercises that directly stimulate the back, biceps, forearms, and grip are necessary. This includes rows of all types (bent over, cable machine, suspension, inverted), lat pulldowns, deadlifts, etc.

In the next article, we will take a look at what you can do both at home and in the gym to get you closer to that first chin-up. If you are interested in learning more, please call (646) 684-4912 or e-mail bodyspacefitness@gmail.com to discuss using the Inbody scale (to assess you body composition) or scheduling a strategy session (to discuss health history and goals, as well as review body composition and movement patterns). If you wanted to start working towards that first chin-up right away, call and see which one of our classes may be the best fit for you.

Until next time Familia,

Coach Tony

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