Hey Sooooooooooooosan...the Eccentric Chinup

B

briee

Cathlete
Just found this in Hers Muscle and Fitness and knew that you couldn't live life without it. So here goes.

If you want to improve your strength and master the chinup....

THE ECCENTRIC CHINUP: HOW TO DO IT

Grab a chinning bar with an underhand grip, your hands just inside shoulder width. Now jump up, "cheating" a rep so that your chin starts above the bar, and hold yourself there. Bend your knees and cross your feet behind you. 1) Now take five seconds to lower yourself (called the "eccentric" portion of the rep) to a dead hang 2) That's one rep. Start with one, eventually working up to six reps in a set - THEN increase your lower time to 10 seconds. When you can perform three reps with a 10 second eccentric phase, you should be able to do one unassisted chinup. - Craig Ballantyne, C.S.C.S.

I think it's a great plan!! I did these this morning and went as slow as I possibly could. I've fallen off the boat a bit (as you know) and these are helping me tread water currently so to speak. Was fun just to spend time with my pullup bar - he's been a little lonely lately...so sad!!

Hope this helps.

Briee
 
Thanks for posting this - it's very helpful.

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." Mark Twain ;-)
 
Yeah, Briee, I've been doing eccentric chinups (or negatives which is what I call them) for this round of P90x. I am on week 9 and did my first unassisted chinup last week!! So I can do one real one and then go back to doing the negatives. It really does help. I saw strength changes quickly doing that. Keep us posted on your progress.

Catherine
 
Briee! Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention. I bought a chin-up bar a couple of weeks ago but, aside from doing one or two (not from a dead hang) whenever I go by it, I have yet to get a plan going. Thanks to you, I now have one and will start tomorrow! If this plan helps me reach my goal, I will come to your house and kiss you.:)

The bar is hanging in our family room door (where I also work out) and my three kids (5, 11 and 13) and their friends are having a great time with it. I'm going to see if they'll join me in this plan. (If they don't want to, I won't make them - I just want them to enjoy fitness at this point.)

How many can you do from a dead hang?
 
896



Ohhhhhhhh, no wait, that was somebody else }( }( }( .

Hey...I was nice enough to post this for you so don't be a jerk and ask me how many I can do from a dead hang okay!! Shheeesh!!
This has NOT been a good month to peruse my workout log OKAY (kind of a short chapter)!!

On a happier note....I'M SO EXCITED FOR YOU....a pullup bar in your family room!! Isn't it fashionable? I'm just sure all the neighbors will have one soon. My kids LOVED ours too. They have pullup wars...too cute huh!! I can still beat all of them though (well, usually..just not this month - who needs March anyway x( ). Hope this method helps and let me know how you're progressing!!

Catherine...great work!! It's an awesome feeling to get to the top. The P90X is still my all time favorite strength workout (the four strength DVD's that is). Keep it up and more pullups will follow!!

Honeybunch....so how many can you do, 20???? That was just an educated guess, based on your pushup count ;) ;) ;)

Briee
 
Thanks Briee. I didn't even realize that I could actually do a real chinup. I was too busy doing the negatives and then I tried one day. Needless to say I was excited. So doing those eccentric chinups do work. Now pullups, that's a different story,.... I will keep at it though.


Catherine
 
I do sets when I do them, and right now my first and strongest set is 9, but I know I'm on the verge of 10. Then I do 5, 4, 4, then 3, then stop. I do this at least twice a week.

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." Mark Twain ;-)
 
What I like about this plan is that it gives you hope. I really couldn't see how I was going to progress from pulling myself up a millimeter to doing a full-blown chin-up in nine short months. Although I've been making progress little by little on the chin-up/dip assist machine at the Y, my unassisted attempts have been a joke.

Now we'll see who has the last laugh}( .
 
Sooooooooosan,
You are soooooo right. I thought I'd never be able to do a chinup. But I started doing those negatives or eccentric chinups. After doing that for almost nine weeks I just tried a regular chinup thinking nay. But it was a Yay!!! So you go girl, it is possible.

Catherine
 
Catherine, I'm so impressed that you were able to accomplish this. I also really appreciate your encouragement - it means a lot!:)
 
Does anyone here want to participate in a chin-up check-in? (It would be very alliterative of us!:p )

Even if you can already do one or more, you could set a goal and post your progress. If you can't do any like me, you could post your progress with negatives.

Anybody game? Catherine? Briee? Honeybunch? Anyone?
 
Briee!

Thank you so much for this idea...I did 5 today! I was struggling to not come down on count ONE! Ha! I actually think I took only about 4 seconds as opposed to 5 but that was a good start for this failure-chin-up gal! Okay, now I know this is going to be a dumb question but what is the diff between chin-ups and pull-ups? I know I should KNOW this. Is one underhand and one overhand??? Too lazy to go look it up somewhere. Funny thing is everyone keeps talking about doing chin-ups with a pull-up bar! Ha! I bought a Power Tower over a year ago and I'd like to think since I spent the money on it that I might actually start using it. It is the only piece of equipment I have bought that I never use since I cannot figure out how to do even one. Thanks again for your suggestion. I plan to do them at least every other day. Do you guys do them every day?

http://www.PictureTrail.com/gid8692709

Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH (AKA "Den Mother Debbie") http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/aktion/action-smiley-066.gif[/img] If You Get The Choice To Sit It Out Or Dance...I Hope You DANCE!!!
 
RE: Briee!

Very good question Debbie. Chinup vs. pullup. A chinup is done with your palms facing you. A pullup is palms facing out or away from you. They say chinups are a bit easier because they utilize more bicep. I say "easier compared to what"...compared to lifting an SUV with one hand....yes they are easier than that!:7 :7 :7 (Admittedly they are a bit easier than palms facing out (pullups).)

Okay...I'm game for the chinup checkin, primarily because I'm hoping it will motivate me to get off my tush and get it back in gear on a more regular basis. I need this!! Thanks Sooooooooooooosan!!

Debbie...I just checked out your picture trail. You and your dh are such a darling couple. And your OGT...what fun!! Wish I could have been there. Thanks for sharing the pix!!!

So how is this gonna work? Do I have to see how many chinups I can do first thing in the morning...just the thought is making me want to stay in bed and I haven't even made it there yet.x( x( x( Oops sorry...better start changing my attitude here. I'm going to be up at the crack of dawn to count chinups with a smile on my face:7 :7 :7 !!

Briee (Oh almost forgot....Debbie you have to have a chin up bar to do chin ups and a pullup bar to do pullups...you just can't interchange the two on the same bar. For this reason you must install a second bar somewhere else in your home. (see how easy it is to justify any addition to our already vast array of exercise equipment ;-) ;-) he he)
 
RE: Briee!

Briee said, "I say "easier compared to what"...compared to lifting an SUV with one hand....yes they are easier than that!"

Hahaha! I totally agree. This move totally blows me away and I am no where near even attempting a half of a chin-up, the EASIER one! But, I will persevere! This will be my goal for 2006. Thanks Briee for the nice compliments. He is my bestest friend! I'm truly blessed! I'm glad you enjoyed the Ohio-G-T-G Pix. I so wish you could have joined us. It was such a fun day.

Want to check in Wednesday for our results? We could start a NEW thread every other day so those that are doing them the opposing day will be included. That way if we start a new thread every other day, it won't become real loong. YEAH RIGHT! Ha! In other words the thread tomorrow will include Monday & Tuesday results and then, the next thread will include Wednesday & Thursdays results. Does that make sense or should we just start a new one every day? I think I am making this too difficult! I will be home mid afternoon tomorrow and see what everyone decides. Off to bed so I can dream about another NEW machine in my workout room. (A pull-up bar since I have a chin-up bar! Thanks for the idea!)


http://www.PictureTrail.com/gid8692709

Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH (AKA "Den Mother Debbie") http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/aktion/action-smiley-066.gif[/img] If You Get The Choice To Sit It Out Or Dance...I Hope You DANCE!!!
 
RE: Briee!

Catherine, Debbie and Briee, I'm so glad you want to do a check-in! Good question about how often to do them, Debbie. I think I'll start doing them every other day too, unless I feel motivated otherwise. I guess the real question is which would be more effective: every day, every other day -- how many days in between? Any thoughts?

My kids and I did them yesterday and I wrote down how many we each did on my workout calendar. My 5-yr-old daughter did the most (6), I came in second with 3, my 11-yr-old son did 1 and my 13-yr-old son couldn't do any, although he did one the day before. (He takes after me in the upper body strength department.) At this point, DH hasn't joined us, although he can do 2-3 unassisted ones.

I asked Cathe yesterday how many she could do. Here's the thread for those of you who haven't seen it: http://69.0.137.118/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=2&topic_id=60207&mesg_id=60207&page=.

Briee, in posting this link, I read your comment about rest days in between. I think for me at this point (since I can do so few), one day in between is probably sufficient but I can see how you might need more rest days since you can already do a couple. I guess we'll all just have to play with it.

Debbie, Briee is right about needing a different bar to do chin-ups. I remember reading somewhere that to get the most out of it, it has to be solid gold. Isn't that right, Briee?:p
 
RE: Briee!

Debbie, I forgot to answer your question about how often to check-in. I think every other day would be fine and Wednesday's as good a day as any to start. What do the rest of you think?
 
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