Pullup vs Chinup

[oso0960]

These are what I'll be referring to:
Pullups - Palms away from body
Chinups - Palms facing body

Okay so when I do a chinup I can do 10 full ROM reps. When I do pullups I can only do about 4 or so before I fail to get my chin above the bar. I believe it should be a little less as most of us cannot reverse curl more than we can standard curl but by that much?

Would it be true that the only muscle group limiting my pullup be the forearm/bicep area and NOT the back as my back is able to handle 10 reps with the grip the opposite way?

 

[FunFun]

That's a big difference!

I would say your back strength is the limiting factor on your pullups. Do you have very strong or dominant biceps? I've seen guys just about curling their way up to the bar on chinups.

 

[ExtraMile]

Well pullups are usually used to target the lats, but I find you have to be very strong with your lats to be able to do pullups properly, otherwise you just end up pulling through your biceps. Chin ups are more bicep moves and less of the lets so my guess would be that you have dominant biceps over lats...

 

[oso0960]

maybe you guys are right but man I couldn't imagine my biceps being more dominant than my back. I do many types of rows including Pendlay, all different grips for pullups/chins, and haven't done a curl for 2 years!

 

[ExtraMile]

rows, pullups and chins all include the biceps

 

[oso0960]

rows, pullups and chins all include the biceps

so you're saying those exercises improve bicep strength moreso than back strength?

 

[keasbey]

no but they are a muscle group that is used when doing those exercises. kinda why they normally pair back and bi's together. by the time ur done with back it wont take much to exhaust ur bi's. i read that you should be able to do as many pullups as you can bench press your body weight or else you are more likely to injure somthing due to muscle imbalances.

also as far as i know the chin up doesnt use back very much at all. if your pullup is weak your back is the weakest link, but pullups are one of those things that get easier the more you do them

 

[ExtraMile]

also as far as i know the chin up doesnt use back very much at all. if your pullup is weak your back is the weakest link

+1 thats what meant

 

[joe d]

so you're saying those exercises improve bicep strength moreso than back strength?

if you do these with strict form (i usually do not) you should be able to fully work your back but barely work the biceps.