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Exercise guide

Side To Side Chins

How to do the Side To Side Chins with correct form, the muscles it works, and where it fits a training plan you actually stick to.

CompoundOtherIntermediatePull
Primary muscles

Lats

Secondary

Biceps, Forearms, Mid Back, Shoulders

Equipment

Other

Step by step

How to do the Side To Side Chins

  1. 1

    Grab the pull-up bar with the palms facing forward using a wide grip.

  2. 2

    As you have both arms extended in front of you holding the bar at a wide grip, 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.

  3. 3

    Pull your torso up while leaning to the left hand side until the bar almost 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 (no swinging) and only the arms should move. The forearms should do no other work other than hold the bar.

  4. 4

    After a second of contraction, inhale as you go back to the starting position.

  5. 5

    Now, pull your torso up while leaning to the right hand side until the bar almost 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.

  6. 6

    After a second of contraction, inhale as you go back to the starting position.

  7. 7

    Repeat steps 3-6 until you have performed the prescribed amount of repetitions for each side.

In Ascend

Log it, see it on your body.

Every Side To Side Chins set you log feeds Ascend's anatomy heatmap — so your lats volume is visible at a glance — and counts toward your bodyweight-strength tier.

Related

More lats exercises

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