Extend your arms and take a wide, overhand grip on a chinning bar:
– Inhale and pull yourself upward until your eyes are above the level of the bar
– Exhale as you complete the movement
This full-back exercise requires greater strength. It is an excellent movement for working the biceps, brachialis, brachioradialis, and pectoralis major.
Variations: By sticking out the chest you can raise your chest to chin level. To increase the intensity, wear a weight belt. Keeping the elbows in next to the body during the movement contracts mainly the external fibers of the latissimus dorsi and develops the width of the back.
Bringing the elbows back and the chest out as you raise the chin to the bar mainly solicits the upper and central fibers of the latissimus dorsi and those of the teres major. This exercise develops the bulk of the back when the shoulder blades come together and the rhomboids and the upper and lower portion of the trapezius are used equally.
Comment: Although not as strongly contracted, the pectoralis major works with the latissimus dorsi and teres major to create the angle between the arm and the trunk.
