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Exercises › Back › One Arm Chin-Up

One Arm Chin-Up

One Arm Chin-Up is an expert compound exercise that mainly works your upper back, with help from your biceps, forearms and lats.

💪 Upper back🏋️ Other📈 Expert🔗 Compound🎯 3-5 sets of 5-10 reps
One Arm Chin-Up: starting position
Starting position
One Arm Chin-Up: end position
End position

How to do the one arm chin-up

  1. For this exercise, start out by placing a towel around a chin up bar.
  2. Grab the chin-up bar with your palm facing you. One hand will be grabbing the chin-up bar and the other will be grabbing the towel.
  3. Bring your torso back around 30 degrees or so while creating a curvature on your lower back and sticking your chest out. This is your starting position.v
  4. Pull your torso up until the bar touches your upper chest by drawing the shoulders and the upper arms down and back. Exhale as you perform this portion of the movement. Tip: Concentrate on squeezing the back muscles once you reach the full contracted position. The upper torso should remain stationary as it moves through space and only the arms should move. The forearms should do no other work other than hold the bar.
  5. After a second on the contracted position, start to inhale and slowly lower your torso back to the starting position when your arms are fully extended and the lats are fully stretched.
  6. Repeat this motion for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
  7. Switch arms and repeat the movement.

Muscles worked

Primary: Upper backSecondary: BicepsSecondary: ForearmsSecondary: Lats

Sets and reps

For strength, do 3-5 sets of 5-8 reps with 2-3 minutes of rest. For muscle growth, 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps with 90 seconds of rest. Add a little weight when you hit the top of the range on every set.

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One Arm Chin-Up alternatives

Exercises that train the same main muscle, including options with other equipment.

Dumbbell RowDumbbell · BeginnerInverted RowBodyweight · BeginnerBent Over RowBarbell · BeginnerSeated Cable RowCable · BeginnerLeverage High RowMachine · BeginnerSled RowOther · Beginner

FAQ

What muscles does the one arm chin-up work?

It mainly works your upper back; your biceps, forearms and lats assist.

How many sets and reps of one arm chin-up should I do?

For strength, do 3-5 sets of 5-8 reps with 2-3 minutes of rest. For muscle growth, 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps with 90 seconds of rest. Add a little weight when you hit the top of the range on every set.

Is the one arm chin-up good for beginners?

It is an advanced movement. Build a base with simpler exercises for the same muscles first, and learn it with light weight or a coach.

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