Chin-ups (or Pull-ups) are an excellent body weight exercise you can do at home with a chin-up bar…or head to your local park and use the monkey bars.  Combine them with push-ups and you have a balanced, major-muscle groups circuit and a solid cardiovascular workout.

How to do Chin-ups and Pull-ups

Chin-ups

• Face the bar and grab it with your palms facing you, keeping your arms shoulder width apart
• Pull yourself up…and the trick is to do it slowly (when you jerk yourself up, you don’t get the full benefit of the chin-up)
• Keep your body steady and don’t sway

Pull-ups

• Face the bar and grab it with your palms facing away from you, with your arms beyond shoulder width apart
• Pull yourself up…until your chest touches the bar, concentrating on your lats (the muscles below your armpits)

Note: This method is the more difficult of the two, so take your time and build up to this one.

Interested in starting an at-home fitness program? Learn more about HomeBodyFit here!