honeybunch1
Cathlete
I may do them later today, or tomorrow for sure.
I posted this on the Open Discussion, but thought it would generate more interest over here where some people actually do chin-ups:
This question had come up before, and I thought I'd share this from the newest issue of Men's Health:
Chinups CAN challenge your biceps - and are a great upper-body muscle builder. But to the answer the question of what "works" the biceps harder, we'll need to do some math. The effective load on your biceps and other pulling muscles would be determined by this formula:
Body Weight + External weight X Reps X Sets = Cumulative Load.
Let's say you weigh 185 pounds, chain 15 pounds to your waist, and do three sets of 8 reps: (185 + 15) X 8 X 3 = 1600 pounds X 3 sets = 4,800 total pounds.
Contrast this with a biceps blaster from the Arnold era - straight-bar curl-ups with 100 total pounds, an extreme weight for most men: 100 X 8 X 3 = 2,400 total pounds.
The workloads aren't identical: The 2,400 pounds of cumulative load from the bar curl has been applied in more of an isolated fashion, which is good for building strength and size. But if time is limited and you want your upper body to perform and look better, I'd say go with the weighted chinups - they're a more efficient all-around muscle builder.
- Mark Verstegen for Men's Health
"You can't win them all - but you can try." - Babe Zaharias ;-)
I posted this on the Open Discussion, but thought it would generate more interest over here where some people actually do chin-ups:
This question had come up before, and I thought I'd share this from the newest issue of Men's Health:
Chinups CAN challenge your biceps - and are a great upper-body muscle builder. But to the answer the question of what "works" the biceps harder, we'll need to do some math. The effective load on your biceps and other pulling muscles would be determined by this formula:
Body Weight + External weight X Reps X Sets = Cumulative Load.
Let's say you weigh 185 pounds, chain 15 pounds to your waist, and do three sets of 8 reps: (185 + 15) X 8 X 3 = 1600 pounds X 3 sets = 4,800 total pounds.
Contrast this with a biceps blaster from the Arnold era - straight-bar curl-ups with 100 total pounds, an extreme weight for most men: 100 X 8 X 3 = 2,400 total pounds.
The workloads aren't identical: The 2,400 pounds of cumulative load from the bar curl has been applied in more of an isolated fashion, which is good for building strength and size. But if time is limited and you want your upper body to perform and look better, I'd say go with the weighted chinups - they're a more efficient all-around muscle builder.
- Mark Verstegen for Men's Health
"You can't win them all - but you can try." - Babe Zaharias ;-)
