How high are you expected to go when doing wide grip chins? Every photo I’ve ever seen of someone doing wide grip chins shows upper arms parallel to the floor. Actually ‘chinning’ the bar is a serious bitch.
You want to pull yourself up as far as possible – like the collar bones if possible. Retract the scapulae hard (think about cracking a walnut between the shoulder blades) at the top of the movement. I’ve seen guys who can pull themselves up as far as mid-pec over the bar for repeats. Pretty amazing.
I lean back and pull up till my upper chest hits the bar, kind of the same spot as incline bench. When I’ve gotten to where my chin barely clears the bar, that is my last rep for that set.I hold that position, squeezing as I slowly lower myself when my muscles give out. Yes I use straps for pullups. Search the previous issues there are several good articles, some with photos. Try doing weighted pullups, when you drop the weight ( after a few sessions) you’ll feel as light as a feather and should be able to pullup to your chest.
The Big D seconds what a Girl said, I do pullup’s by a mirror so I keep my body perfectly straight then pull myself up till the bar almost touches my upper chest, when I can’t do that I make sure I can see my neck pass the bar in the mirror, then I do 1 of 3 things. 1 - pull myself for my last rep then slowly lower myself over a 20-30 count, 2 - as many partial reps as I can, or 3 change my grip so my hands are closer, then do as many full reps as possible.
try not to strap yourself to the bar, only do it on your last set unless you’ve been doing something like deadlifts and can’t hold on to the bar cause your grip is shot.
yeah Dozer and deadlifts are good friends.
try it out.
-Dozer