Close Grip Chin Up

How to Perform the Close Grip Chin Up

Grasp a pull-up bar with an underhand (supinated) grip, hands approximately 6-8 inches apart or closer.
Hang from the bar with arms fully extended and feet off the floor. Engage your lats by pulling your shoulder blades down.
Pull your body upward by driving your elbows down and back, focusing on squeezing the biceps and lats.
Continue pulling until your chin clears the bar and you feel a strong contraction in your biceps and lats.
Hold the top position briefly, then slowly lower yourself back to a complete dead hang with full arm extension.
Avoid swinging or kipping. Maintain a controlled tempo throughout the entire set.

Grip too wide for a close-grip variation

Keep your hands within 6-8 inches of each other. The narrow grip is what shifts emphasis to the biceps and lower lats.

Partial range of motion

Start from a full dead hang and pull until your chin clears the bar. Partial reps significantly reduce effectiveness.

Excessive body swing

Brace your core and cross your ankles behind you to minimize momentum. Each rep should be strict and controlled.

✓Maximizes bicep engagement due to the close supinated grip, making it one of the best bodyweight bicep exercises.
✓Targets the lower lats effectively, helping build the V-taper physique.
✓Builds functional pulling strength and grip endurance with minimal equipment needed.

●The close supinated grip places the biceps in their strongest pulling position, making this an excellent bicep builder.
●If you find the close grip uncomfortable on your wrists, try using gymnastic rings which allow natural wrist rotation.
●Progress to weighted close-grip chin-ups once you can perform 3 sets of 10 with bodyweight.

Strength

4-5 sets of 3-5 reps (weighted)

Hypertrophy

3-4 sets of 6-12 reps (bodyweight or weighted)

Endurance

2-3 sets of 15-20 reps at bodyweight

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