Day 1 Squats x25 reps Day 2 Donkey Kicks x25 reps each side Day 3 Sumo Squat x25 reps Day 4 Single Leg Squats x25 reps each side Day 5 Grand Plié x25 reps Day 6 Squat Jump x25 reps Day 7 Do Them All! Repeat Days 1-6 together for full booty burn!…
The post Booty Bonus Moves | Week 1 appeared first on Love Sweat Fitness.
Week of 9/30
The post Booty Challenge Week 1 appeared first on Love Sweat Fitness.
Hi friends! Happy Friday! Hope you’re having a lovely morning. It feels like fall here in Tucson and I am here.for.it. The mornings have a hint of coolness to them and it’s perfect weather for hiking and playing outside. I’m looking forward to a walk with P and the puppers this morning. This weekend is the Greek festival in Tucson (OPA!) and we’re heading to Phoenix to check out the new Great Wolf Lodge. I think the girls are going to love it! I’d love to hear what you have going on.
Here are some faves from the week and around the web. I always love hearing about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re lovin’ in the comments.
The Pilot and I attended Roundup for a Cure last weekend, which is a fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. We went with a large group of friends and also had the opportunity to connect with some inspiring CF families. It was really incredible to learn about the new treatments that are being offered and I keep praying that these incredible doctors and researchers are able to develop a cure.
The theme was Greatest Showman -esque (like turn-of-the-century carnival) with acrobats, aerial silks, carnival games, people walking around on stilts, and a Tarot card reader. They also had a silent auction and the Pilot and I are notorious for having a couple glasses of wine and going bid crazy. We walked away with 6 prizes lol. It was a great date night, especially since the Pilot was only in town for a couple of days.
A voice lesson! You guys. I was blown away by all of your kind, supportive, and inspiring comments about my choir roadkill post. It was so awesome to read your thoughts and similar experiences. I always feel a bit nervous when I put myself *out there* here on the blog, but you always make me feel thankful I did it. Since I’m trying out for the choir again in a few months, I booked a voice lesson with a local coach. We did tons of warm-ups and scale work, then I got to sing some fun songs, which was a nice break after drilling my Italian aria back into my head along with the classical excepts. I sang Shallow, On My Own (cliché but I’ll always love it) and some old showtunes. It was an hour out of my day that I didn’t need to spend since I had two deadlines due the following day, but it was SO worth it.
This Is Us. I’ve been impatiently waiting for This Is Us to return all summer. The first episode back didn’t disappoint. No spoilers or anything, but it reminded me of the pilot episode. I was sobbing with chills all over my body, so amazed by how it all came together. It was so good I might have to rewatch it this weekend.
Definitely check out this week’s podcast episode about plastic surgery! This was one of my highest-downloaded episodes yet, and it’s a fun one.
What we can do about climate change.
Don’t forget to sign up for the 7-day reset! The fun starts on Monday and I’ll have all of the info emailed over tonight. You’ll also get daily emails from me, plus access to our closed Facebook group. It’s free and the perfect way to rest healthy habits as we head into the holiday season! Just enter your email info here.
Easy ways to calm pre-race nerves.
What to eat before and after a long run.
The fam came over for dinner on Wednesday night and we basically had a mini Thanksgiving. Madre brought turkey, ham with pineapple, mashed potatoes, gravy, and bread. I made an enormous cheese board (as usual),
Skinnytaste turkey pumpkin chili (one of my fave fall recipes!),
and Kyle brought over the best green goddess salad from August Rhodes. Nani brought pumpkin pie.
It was an epic feast and the kiddos all ran around playing while the adults drank wine and chatted. The only thing missing was the Pilot, but it was a pretty great night.
You need these brownies in your life.
Still loving this chickpea scramble.
The Pilot sent this to me and I cried a little laughing.
Happy Friday! Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today. <3
xo
Gina
The post Friday Faves appeared first on The Fitnessista.
Hey there, sweet babes! Have you grabbed your very own copy of the Busy Babe Handbook yet? We know, since we made this thing for busy babes like you, that sometimes it’s hard to get around to doing the stuff you want — like actually getting the guide. So we wanted to bring some of…
The post 5 Ways to Make Eating Healthy EASY appeared first on Love Sweat Fitness.
These raw brownies are the perfect healthy sweet treat or dessert option. They’re gluten-free, vegan, only contain 5 ingredients, and take less than 10 minutes to make. The best part: it’s a healthy brownie recipe with NO beans. I’m 100% on board with that.
I’ve been a bit of a chocolate monster lately. I say lately like it’s a new thing.
I’ve really cleaned up my eats with the ol’ gallbladder issue – lots more produce in my life! – but definitely still like my desserts. Mid-afternoon, I almost always enjoy a little sweet bite with my tea or after lunch. This is the latest fave: raw brownies! Even though I don’t use it as often as I did in the past, that raw vegan culinary school experience tends to come in handy.
All you need: raw walnuts, dates, cacao powder, water, and a little salt. You could get fancy here and add some vanilla and cacao nibs, but truthfully, they don’t need it. It’s like the easiest dessert ever. Just blend, press into a parchment-lined baking dish, pop in the fridge, and there ya go.
Some of the reasons why I like these:
They’re a satisfying sweet treat without a sugar crash.
They’re packed with nutrition. Dates and walnuts make up the base of this recipe. It’s an awesome dose of nutrients, healthy fats, and fiber.
The kiddos love them, too. When I pulled these out of the fridge, they couldn’t wait to try them! They happily ate the brownies while playing in the backyard and then came inside for seconds.
Here’s the quick and easy recipe!
Raw vegan brownies with only 5 ingredients! These are a perfect healthy dessert option and are naturally gluten-free and vegan. No added sugar.
1 1/2 cup pitted medjool dates (about 16 dates), soaked for at least 20 minutes
1 cup raw walnut pieces (+ more for the top)
1/4 C – 1/2 C cocoa powder (use more for a richer flavor and if you’re using raw cacao powder. If you’re using traditional cocoa powder, use less and add more later if needed)
Good pinch of sea salt
2–4 tablespoons of water
Line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper.
In a food processor, pulse all of the ingredients until you have a smooth dough. Start with less water (2 T) and add more if needed. Taste and add more cocoa powder if you want a richer flavor.
Press the batter into the baking dish and top with additional walnut pieces.
Set in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Cut and serve!
Feel free to add in cacao nibs or top with shredded coconut! These are also great with goji berries mixed in.
Keywords: raw vegan brownies, brownies with dates and walnuts, gluten-free brownies, no-bake brownies
Please let me know if you give them a try! What’s your favorite quick sweet bite?
xo
Gina
More of my fave healthy desserts:
Double chocolate protein muffin
Chocolate avocado chia pudding
Pssst. Don’t forget to sign up for the 7-day reset! It starts on Monday! Over 2,000 people have signed up already and I’ll have all of the info in your inbox on Friday. Just click and enter your email address here.
The post Raw brownies (gluten-free, vegan, 5 ingredients) appeared first on The Fitnessista.
You know that kid at school who wore a cape, dressed his rabbit as Hitler and once, as a dare, took a shit in his own backpack?
Well that’s basically YouTube.
These annoying tossers on a global scale, chasing their moment in the spotlight, blighting the internet with videos that would insult the intelligence of a brain-damaged warthog.
A great deal of this sewerage falls under the label of ‘fitness’, hence my previous article/diatribe.
Although uniformly wretched, I did, admittedly, find some of these preening pricks oddly watchable, but in the same way that, say, a slow-motion motorway pileup is oddly watchable.
So, ever the masochist, I decided to return to this online amphitheatre where people would gladly take a mallet to their own grandmother for more views.
What I found was another collection of unforgivable cockery that will make you want to barf up your own pelvis.
Enjoy.
In brief: Humdrum lifestyle videos from a walking-talking rectal itch
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/maxxchewning
Subscribers: 357K
Watch if: shopping for grey duvet covers fills you with shivers of excitement
Maxx Chewning is so irritating that if scientists hooked him up to a dynamo they could harvest the electricity generated by his grating personality to power a town the size of Dunstable for a whole year.
He rattles through video after video with the nervous energy of a PE teacher whose penis has been replaced by a live squirrel, and spouts random word-vomit (“What IS going ON guys and WELCOME my CRIB”) like a malfunctioning Furby.
Maxx’s mantra seems to be ‘why take 30 seconds to say something when you can take 30 minutes’.
His tedious ‘fitness lifestyle’ videos, which each seem to last about five weeks, are the just-kill-me-now equivalent of trying to rectify a bureaucratic error with a foreign-speaking telephone operative.
After a few videos you’ll get the unmistakable feeling that time has started running backwards.
As well as crushingly dull footage of Maxx working out and eating, there are montages of him shopping, doing his laundry and taking out the bins – all filmed with a head-mounted Gopro as if he’s trail running in the Himalayas.
He publishes about 20 videos a week which are all promoted with vague, clickbait titles like “You won’t believe this!!!”, “She said she doesn’t like elephants…” or “Socks?”.
Virtually of his videos climax in some meandering motivational guff about chasing your dreams.
I say motivational, but the reality is his content is about as motivational as being diagnosed with chlamydia on Christmas morning.
In brief: Self-absorbed papier-mâché ponce
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOsU2kEp0XscDx6ccPHxPLA
Subscribers: 1.18M
Watch if: you think the apex of masculinity is downing Jägerbombs and smashing pussy
Jeff Seid is a real-life example of what happens on an RPG when you max out the ‘physique’ trait and have nothing left for ‘personality’ or ‘intelligence’.
Jeff is a sigh with pecs, and no amount of zooms, fast cutting and throbbing dance music can mask the fact he has the personality of tepid tap water.
Browsing Jeff’s channel is like being trapped in a groundhog day of grey, enervating tedium.
His videos are basically:
Jeff flexing.
Jeff talking about ‘aesthetics’.
Jeff…
No, that’s it.
As watching experiences go, it’s like having someone pelt you with shit tattoos, fake tan and stringer vests while screaming “fuck”, “shredded”, and “bro” into a megaphone.
Just try and watch the video ‘Jeff Seid: The Next Chapter’ without feeling so much cringe you want to turn your face inside out.
The scene at 3:03, in particular, will have you daydreaming about thumbscrews, trepanning human skulls and loading trebuchets full of piping hot shit.
In brief: Amorphous blob of plastic buttocks, fake tan and makeup
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/PaigeHathaway
Subscribers: 137K
Watch if: you want to replicate the feeling of passing a particularly rigid stool
Like the majority of ‘bikini fitness’ influencers, Paige Hathaway’s content is designed less for fitness enthusiasts and more for passing masturbators.
So intrusive are the angles in some of her fitness videos that you can practically map the contours of her lady valve.
Titillation notwithstanding, her content is so boring (“you guys, I love leeks”) it feels like you’re being forced to count grains of sand while listening to Tim Henman narrate ‘The Complete Budget Speeches of the Last 50 Years’.
She wanders around, talking but not saying anything, wearing a constant blank expression, like a semi-sentient baked potato trying to get its head around Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion.
Yet, more execrable than the softcore porn and vapid chat is the various scams Paige has involved herself in over the years.
As a poster girl for Shredz (the supplement industry equivalent of the Third Reich), she promoted pay-to-enter transformation challenges with prizes of up to $10,000, and then faked the winners so she could pocket the cash.
Forget buying into a scammy competition, I would happily pay to see Paige locked in a windowless room with a very angry hippo.
In brief: the reason North Korean missile scientists get up in the morning
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7aE5B-ZFEAoumyj6FaJ7lg
Subscribers: 2.22M
Watch if: you can quite happily tolerate someone saying ‘bro’ every other word without wanting to staple your ears shut
Bradley Martyn gained notoriety online by filming novelty lifting videos where he would jump out of swimming pools, curl multiple barbells simultaneously, and squat with girls perched at either end of the bar.
Since running out of crazy lifting ideas, he has become just another narcissistic, drug-taking, braindead, materialistic fitness moron who exhibits all the charisma of reanimated roadkill.
His ‘picking up girls in the gym’ videos, in particular, have to be seen to be believed – it’s like watching a reformed rapist trapped in the body of a talking badger trying to navigate basic male-to-female conversation.
In many of his videos, Bradley likens bodybuilding to some kind of Conradian quest for self-discovery – a gurgle of word-turd which should give any self-respecting human the urge to smash up their phone screen with a shovel.
In reality, his content is almost as motivating as writing the word ‘beige’ over and over again until your pen runs out.
Almost.
A better title for his YouTube channel would be “watery fitness queef”, “I would chin a one-legged fox for views”, or plainly, and this would be my pick, “twat”.
He should have just stuck with stunt videos and progressed into genuinely transgressive content, such as inserting a manta ray into his rectum or wanking into his mother’s handbag.
Bradley also caused mild uproar in the fitness community a few years ago when he called out fitness YouTubers for being fake, which is a bit like being criticised by Fred West for accidentally stepping on a lady’s foot on a lurching bus.
For under his carapace of stringer vests, dianabol, and copy-and-paste motivation there lies nothing but a monstrous yawning vacuum.
In brief: Human skidmark with roid rage and the integrity of an eggy fart cloud
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-Q-Sc7zuIENjKJphNB5lkg
Subscribers: 38K
Watch if: you want to test the theory that subjecting your brain to extreme dreck will cause it to slowly dissolve out of your mouth
Aside from being a humungous tosser and looking like something from the Book of Revelations, Brad Castleberry is mainly known for lifting fake weights and passing them off as elite lifts.
While his videos depict him shifting weight that would earn him numerous powerlifting titles (i.e. benching 300kg for reps), he has declined competition invites, despite being offering five-figure sums to put his money where his mouth is.
Brad’s also clearly been taking so many steroids he’s on the cusp of a nuclear, rage-induced mental breakdown.
One misjudged comment about his acne and he’s going to start skewering passing pigeons with an umbrella, 100%.
In the comically bizarre video ‘Bodybuiler vs Swimmer‘, Brad wins a 10m swimming race against a random member of the public (female) and then whoops like he’s just beaten Michael Phelps.
So animated is his celebration that you wouldn’t be surprised if it climaxed with Brad crushing the poor girls head like a Wotsit.
His behaviour is so cringe-inducing that if he existed in Victorian times, he would have been paraded around the country in a tightly sealed caravan, alongside people with three-legs, hairy faces and distended genitals, just to be gawped at.
Whenever he opens his mouth, out tumbles a deluge of feculence so vast it threatens a messy brown tsunami that will extinguish all life on earth.
Yet, for whatever reason, people subscribe to him – but these are no doubt the same people that would click ‘play’ on a video that was titled ‘watch to catch syphillis’ i.e. fucking morons.
Fitness YouTubers offer us an interesting glimpse at humanity, and what it shows, essentially, is that we’re fucked.
Goodnight.
PS – I promise that every time someone shares this article, a squadron of hammer-wielding death dwarfs will be unleashed into the world to bring karmic balance to YouTube, cheers.
The post The worst fitness channels on YouTube: part 2 appeared first on Gymtalk.
In today’s episode, I’m chatting with my BFF Betsy Kleiger from Flab but Fab all about plastic surgery. We don’t hold anything back, and talk about breast augmentation, lipo, tummy tucks, mommy makeovers, breast explants, and answer your questions from Instagram.
It’s a juicy episode and I hope you love this one!
Here’s what we talk about:
– Why plastic surgery isn’t for everyone
– Our experiences with plastic surgery (mommy makeovers, breast implants, tummy tucks, etc)
– How to find a great surgeon
– Weird things that have happened
– Non-permanent options, like Botox
– Recovery tips
and so. much. more.
A note:
It’s important to be in a good mental space before you get any type of plastic surgery. Know that getting a physical attribution “fixed” isn’t going to fix any insecurities, turmoil, or heal any grief you may be experiencing. I also fully believe that you can be at a place where you love yourself, love your body, but still have some things you’d like to change or fix. They don’t have to be mutually exclusive. We both have a “you do you” attitude when it comes to plastic surgery, so I hope you listen to this one with an open mind.
I’m sharing an episode about plastic surgery because it’s a very popular option for aesthetic and functional purposes. I wanted to share our experiences and also give tips for picking an awesome, safe surgeon and recovering in a safe way. Also, I have to admit that it was super fun to gab with my best friend for a while. 
(You’ll be able to see why we complement each other so well. We’re opposites but in the best way.)
A little bit about Betsy if you haven’t met her yet:
I’m a busy mom of two crazy, adorable boys. I am a mom of an ADHD/ Anxious child, which in itself constantly presents me with unique curve balls! I work hard every day to fight my own anxiety and body acceptance issues, while striving to be the best mom, friend, wife, version as me possible. My intention with my blog is to give you 100% real Betsy, the good the bad, the flab, and the fab. And in turn, you can give yourself 100% realness too. Because, honey, it is OK to be exactly who you are! My mission is to build a safe community for all of us women to live our truth even if it’s not always pretty!
Check out Betsy’s blog here and her Instagram here.
Embrace. This is a GOLD STAR for scar healing and made a huge difference for both of us. You can check out the post I did with them previously here.
My breast explant and abdominoplasty healing timeline and tips.
Get 21 days of Les Mills On Demand for FREE.
Thank you so much for listening and for all of your support with the podcast! Please leave a rating or review if you enjoyed this episode. If you leave a rating, head to this page and you’ll get a little “thank you” gift from me to you.
You can listen and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play.
The post 042: all things plastic surgery with Betsy Kleiger appeared first on The Fitnessista.
Hey, gorgeous! Let’s talk about an often overlooked, but really important aspect of skin care: post-workout cleansing! A lot of us don’t have the opportunity to go home from the gym to take a shower before we zoom off to work or class, and while it’s tricky to do, your skin should not have…
The post Why You NEED to Wash Your Face Post-Workout appeared first on Love Sweat Fitness.
Her palms are sweaty,
knees week, arms are heavy.
There’s vomit on her sweater already,
Rao’s spaghetti.
Nope I’m not preparing for any rap battles around here. Just walking into a choir audition.
Yep, you read that correctly: a choir audition.
About a week around, I took my shaky awkward self into a choir audition and bombed the heck out of it.
Choir roadkill. <— that was me.
So, how did all of this happen?
If you’ve been reading the blog for a while (thank you!!) you likely know I used to sing about a thousand years ago. It was a huge part of my life, and I was a musical theatre major before I switched to Finance. I LOVED singing and performing, which is interesting since I’m extremely introverted, and it was something that made my soul extremely happy.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more and more removed from the arts. I stopped playing piano – I literally can’t remember any of the songs that used to drip so effortlessly from my fingers – stopped dancing, and the only singing I do includes rocking out to the Descendents 3 soundtrack, much to Olivia’s horror. I wasn’t looking to add anything to my plate, especially since I’ve been solo parenting so much for the past year, but when I was thinking of something I could do to bring the arts back into my life, a little voice in my head said, “Maybe you should sing again.” I wasn’t thinking of trying out for the local theatre or anything bananas like that, but figured a choir would be a safe bet to get back into it without an enormous time commitment.
A quick Google search told me that there was an audition for a local choir 3 days from that moment.
I don’t know what came over me, but I printed out the excepts, learned the alto parts so that I had them nailed, and brushed off my old aria. I felt like I was ready, even with such short notice. My mom came over and stayed with the girls – it was way past their bedtime so they were crashed – and I drove down to the audition.
Looking back, it was beyond naive of me to think I had a chance without singing much over the past 14 years. My aria was ok, I squawked and squeaked over the high notes in the required excerpts, and completely drowned in the sight-singing portion that I didn’t know existed. With how horribly it went, I felt a very small part of myself come back to life. I kept thinking of Brené Brown — if you haven’t seen her Netflix special, add it to the must-watch list.
In the last 10 minutes of the special, she talks about how sometimes you don’t win by actually winning; you win by just showing up. For some people, the act of putting themselves out there is a huge victory. It takes courage to be vulnerable. You can’t have great rewards without some type of risk involved. From this experience, I got a beautiful lesson to share with the girls: I didn’t get a spot, but I tried. I put myself out there and worked hard, which is the best you can do at some times.
I suffered from what Brené Brown calls a vulnerability hangover for days afterwards. I felt physically sick from the sheer amount of effort it took to walk in the room and sing an aria I haven’t visited for 14 years. But, I did it. And for some odd reason, I’m determined to go back in 3 months and try again. If it doesn’t work after 3 months of practice (instead of 3 days!) then I’ll take it as a sign from the universe that maybe it wasn’t meant to be.
So why am I writing about all of this on a health and fitness blog?
Health is so much more than working out, sleeping well, hydrating, and eating fresh produce. It’s about taking the time to do things in your life that bring you joy, reduce stress, and make your soul feel alive. Maybe it’s an art, a craft, or a hobby. But you can’t have true health in the absence of doing things you genuinely love.
Tell me, friends: what’s something that you love that doesn’t involve anyone else? Something you do just for yourself?
Singing friends: any ideas for a classical alto solo? I feel like after this experience, I need something new.
xo
Gina
The post Lose yourself appeared first on The Fitnessista.
Hi friends! Happy Monday! I hope you’re having a lovely day. I’ll be back soon with some adventures from the weekend, plus some other fun posts I have ready to go (a raw brownie recipe + a super random vulnerable post), but in the meantime, I wanted to share the signup for the 7-day reset.
This starts 1 week from today and I’m so excited to share it with you all!
– A chance to reset healthy habits as we head into the holiday season. We set our intentions for the week and really dial into what our body is needing to feel energized and amazing as we begin October and the catapult into the end of the year. With everything we have going on, it can be really easy to let our strategies and habits slide at a time when we need them the most. (For example, I probably meditate the least in December and that’s when I could easily use it the most.)
– A 7-day workout plan with quick video tutorials for each day. This is where I’ll share modification and postpartum options. All workouts can be completed at home using a pair of dumbbells and a killer playlist.
– 7 days of healthy meal ideas. I’ll share some of the staples I’ve been loving lately, which include lots of plant-based and gluten-free options.
– Daily emails from me with your workout tutorial or tip for the day, plus a sprinkle of motivation mojo.
– A Facebook group to stay accountable throughout the week where you can check in, ask questions, and get support from fitness-loving friends all over the world. This is where I’ll do next week’s live workout and also share some of my tips for fueling throughout the day, decreasing sugar intake, and answer any live questions.
– The cost? Free fifty. This is all at no charge and I’m super pumped to work out, connect with ya’ll, and share some of my favorite healthy tips as we head into this crazy amazing season.
Simply add your email address to the widget below or this link here! I’ll email you the 7-day workout plan, Facebook group info, and meal ideas this Friday so we’re ready to rock and roll on Monday.
xoxo,
Gina
The post 7-day reset signup! appeared first on The Fitnessista.
So you want to do a pull-up, eh?
Well you’ve arrived at the right place!
Pull-ups are one of my favorite exercises and a critical movement we teach our coaching clients!
By building strength in your PULL muscles, we strengthen and tighten your back muscles.
This will naturally cause you to pull your shoulder blades back and down into proper position, providing you a better posture.
#4) Pull-ups improve grip strength. Grip strength is another indicator of overall health. In fact, a strong grip has been correlated with lower mortality rates.[2]
Pull-ups are a great way to improve your grip since your hands and fingers have to support your bodyweight during the movement.
If you’re looking for a stronger handshake, regularly doing pull-ups will go a long way towards that goal.
A quick note: we have a full guide on improving your grip strength if you’d like to learn more.
#5) Pull-ups are convenient. Some other big compound movements require decent amounts of equipment to perform, like the deadlift or bench press. Meaning unless you have weights, barbells, and power racks at your home, you’re probably heading to the gym for your training.
Not so with pull-ups.
Doing a pull-up really only requires a pull-up bar, but even that can be substituted.
You can use monkey bars at a local playground, a towel around a strong beam, or even a sturdy tree:
If it’s taller than you and can support your weight, you can do pull-ups from it.[3]
Alright, enough about why you should do pull-ups. Let’s show you how it’s done.
HOW TO DO A PULL-UP, STEP-BY-STEP:
That’s it!
You may be thinking, “That’s all well and good Steve, but what if you can’t even do a pull-up yet! What should I do?”
Don’t panic!
I got you covered boo.
I’m going to share with you the exact pull-up progression plan we use with our 1-on-1 Coaching Clients.
You may hear the term “pull-up” and “chin-up” used interchangeably.
However, there is a difference, so definitions are in order:
A PULL-UP is when your hands are facing away from you.
This will work your back and biceps.
A CHIN-UP is when your hands are facing towards you.
Although this also works your back, it has more emphasis on your biceps.
Are chin-ups easier than pull-ups?
Yes, chin-ups are generally easier to perform than pull-ups. The wider grip of a pull-up isolates your lats, which means you get less assistance from your biceps.
We recommend including both chin-ups AND pull-ups into your workout, which we’ll discuss in our section on including pull-ups into your training.
Mistake #1: You don’t extend low enough or pull high enough.
Full extension and a full range of motion are major problems for many people training pull-ups and chin-ups. Most people I see in the gym are doing half pull-ups. Either not pulling high enough, not dropping low enough, or both! It’s not a full rep, and it’s robbing your body of effective work.
Solution:
With each repetition you want your body to be in a straight line at the bottom – keep your elbows extended and your shoulder relaxed slightly up to your ears. Full range of motion for the win! Better to do a few proper pull-ups than more half-rep ones.
Mistake #2: You don’t engage your shoulders at the start. Another problem I see with people is not setting their shoulders properly when they start their pull-ups, which can put unnecessary strain on your joints/tendons/muscles. It can also be the difference between being able to get your first pull-up or chin-up and flailing around on the bar!
Solution:
Imagine pinching a pen in between your shoulder blades, then do the pull-up. In other words, pull your shoulders down and back before you bend your elbows to pull up. This puts us in a far more efficient position. By not using our back and shoulder muscles fully, over the long run we’ll be weaker and at a higher risk for injury.
Mistake #3: You’re doing too hard a variation. Whether it’s lack of strength or too much body mass, you should choose a variation that allows you to have great form while getting stronger. Use a box, an assisted band, or an assisted pull-up machine to start at a low weight and build up your strength.
Solution: Always do proper pull-ups and chin-ups. Get your chin over the bar from a hang with every rep, and maintain good form. If you find yourself committing the mistakes on this list, make your variation easier.
Mistake #4: Not engaging your shoulders at the top. Many people will get a good extension at the bottom of their chin-up and start with great form. But then as they perform the movement, they’ll find their shoulders in a poor position at the top.
A classic sign this is happening is if the chest/neck doesn’t touch the bar, or the body curls inward significantly at the top.
Is your shoulder elevated to the ears or rolled forward? Are you shrugging your shoulders as you’re struggling to get above the bar?
Solution: Make your variation easier by working on an assisted chin-up and maintaining a strong shoulder position at the top.
Keep your shoulders down and back and engaged through the movement.
A chin over the bar is a chin-up – we aren’t trying to take away your chin-up if you aren’t getting your chest to the bar. But consider this a progression to even better form so you can eventually work on harder skills like pull-up variations or the legendary muscle-up.
Mistake #5: You use violent kipping motions to do your pull-ups or chin-ups. We know CrossFitters use the kip to get more pull-ups in a short amount of time.
NOW, it is the humble opinion of our team that you should only be kipping AFTER you are capable of doing perfectly functional and safe pull-ups and chin-ups (in fact, many CrossFit gyms require qualifying strict pull-ups before you can kip).
Solution: Build strength and good position (the foundation!) before you worry about speed. You want to know how to drive a car before you learn how to race it!
In summary, don’t sacrifice good form for more pull-ups or chin-ups. You’ll create bad habits this way.
To check your form, simply record a video of yourself doing your pull-up variation and match it against the gifs and videos here.
If you want an expert to review your form, we can help! Through our spiffy app a Nerd Fitness Coach can evaluate your movement so you can perfect your technique!
#2) Side to Side Pull-Ups:
#3) Ring Pull-Ups
Rings hanging from the ceiling are inherently less stable than a pull-up bar. Thus ring pull-ups engage your core more as you stabilize yourself during the movement.
Want in on some ring action? Read our full guide on gymnastic rings workouts for more.
#4) Towel Pull-Ups
If you’re trying to improve your grip strength, try utilizing a couple of towels for your pull-ups. You’ll build lots of strength in your hands as you grasp the towels during the movement.
#5) L-Sit Pull-ups
Raise your legs straight in front during your pull-up. This will challenge your core like you wouldn’t believe.
#6) Clapping Pull-Up
The trick here is to have enough power to explode above the bar so you can clap your hands. The next trick is to grab the bar in time to bring yourself back down.
Be careful here.
#7) One-Arm Pull-Ups
This is the most difficult pull-up variation you can do, what with the whole only using one arm business.
To keep yourself stable during the movement, keep your inactive arm close to your body while you pull.
If you start doing one-arm pull-ups, email us. Seriously.
That should get you started experimenting with pull-up variations to increase the difficulty.
The other way to “progressive overload” your pull-ups is to add weight to the exercise, which we’ll devote our next section to.
Personally, my favorite thing to do in a gym is weighted pull-ups:
If you’re at this level and interested in doing so, here’s what you need to do:
If you want any help scaling your workouts, check out our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program. We’ll create you a plan that escalates in difficulty as you grow stronger! You’ll never have to worry about what exercises to do or how much. Instead, just follow the workout prescribed by your coach!
Unless you’ve been strength training for years and know what you’re doing, we recommend that you pick a full-body routine that you can do 2-3 times a week.
You want a workout routine that has at least one exercise for:
Pull-ups, chin-ups, and all the variations covered would make a great addition for your “pull” muscles (back, biceps, and forearms).
So a sample workout routine that includes pull-ups could look like:
Boom! Five exercises you can do at the gym and then go home.
Wanna avoid the gym and just train at home in the first place?
No problem! Lots of our coaching clients choose to train and do pull-ups in their home. All you’ll need is:
Seriously, you don’t have to leave home to start doing pull-ups and get in shape.
Want proof?
Meet Christina:
Through our coaching program Christina learned to pick herself up, literally, and now crushes her training without ever stepping foot in a gym. You can read her full story right here.
Start doing pull-ups regularly and I promise you your life will improve for the better.
If you’re interested in progressing but want help on the next step, we’ve built 3 options that might float your boat:
#1) If you want step-by-step guidance, a custom strength training program that levels up as you get stronger, and a coach to keep you accountable, check out our killer 1-on-1 coaching program:
The Academy has 20+ workouts for both bodyweight or weight training, a benchmark test to determine your starting workout, HD demonstrations of every movement, boss battles, meal plans, a questing system, and supportive community.
