I am having a real problem with increasing the number of bodyweight chin ups that I can do. I have tried volume work (5 sets 8-10 reps), low reps with weights (4 sets 6-8 reps with 10 kg) or even increasing my 1 rep max (40kg). I always get stuck on 16-17 chins and can’t reach 20! I am 5:10 and 78 kgs. Any tips? ps: My back gets trained once evry 6-8 days
I had problems increasing my chins and I found that when I work chins in conjunction with heavy rows (DB or BB) I can add chins. I worked a volume approach with the chins and about 4 sets on the rows from 6-10 reps. The rows must be heavy and I found that working them real slow helps a lot. I trained this format mon and thurs for 5 weeks and added 10 chins to my total. My bodyweight is 240lbs. Hope it helps.
Try ladders and negatives.
You’re not training frequently enough which probably means when you do train you’re going to failure or close to failure too often. Try doing more sets and reps with less fatigue and more frequency.
Yeah, what vin said. Definitely try negatives. They helped my chins immensely.
tie weight around your waist and do partials and holds and negatives. do towell chins and rope chins too.
I placed a bar in my door way and started with half of my max. I did pull-ups every time I went through the door and added a chin every third day. Topped out at thirty just before Ranger School.
Best of Luck.
Me: 7’ 312 42% 
Yao Min’s gonna snap in half the second he goes to D-up the big men. His heart’s going to get pierced by his spine… It’ll be real fun to watch the look on Rudy T’s face as his prize investment crumbles… Shack’ll make Yao-mein out of him! -
Me seriously: 6’ 192 11% and counting. Fat bastard I am…
Try doing Pavels Ladders do 1 rest 10 to 12 sec then do 2 same rest then 3 same rest then 4 rest 5 rest 6 then 7 then 8 if your able. rest about 2 to 3 min do again rest 2 to 3 min and do another set do 3 to 4 ladder sets and 2 or 3X a wk it will work BETTER than a few of the other post
get a kitchen timer. Take your goal number of reps, in this case 20, and multiply it by 2. Do a set at every minute. Don’t rest a minute between sets, start a set at the :00, starting with sets of 5. do 8 sets. When you can hit this with solid form, go to sets of 6, do 7 sets. EASY? sets of 7, 6 sets. 5 sets of 8. I would rest at least two to three days between training sessions. shouldn’t take long. If you do this method, I’d be willing to bet you’d hit 20 within a month. If you should, I’d get off this for a weighted chin for a cycle. use the same set goal of 25-30% above your tested max, whether it be weighted or BW, multiply by 2, and perform sets to tally that amount.
Do Coach Steve Reeves’ Density Training. For instance, my goal was 12 reps for one set. In this protocol, you double that target and start with 2 reps for 12 mins. Meaning, in 1 minute, you do 2 reps. If 12x2 in 12 mins. gets easy, move on to 8x3 in 8 mins and so on. So it looks like this:
12 sets x2 reps in 12 mins
8x3 in 8 mins
6x4 in 6 mins
4x6 in 4 mins
3x8 in 3 mins
2x12 in 2 mins
Reps are to be done NOT at the point of failure; always stay fresh. Do this twice a week only. Ever since I discovered this gem of a protocol from Coach Reeves, damn pullups have been way easier. Try it!