Pull ups versus Chin ups versus Rows

Pull ups versus chin ups versus rows:

Should you do pull ups, chin ups or rows? These exercises are each a little bit different. Depending on your goals, injury history, and muscular development, you may want to focus more on one of these than the others.

First, let’s start with a more detailed analysis of each exercise, before diving into which might be most suitable for you

The Pull up

Muscles Involved in the Pull up:

Latissimus Dorsi

Biceps

Rhomboids

Teres Major

Levator Scapulae

Trapezius (primarily mid and lower traps)

Abdominals

Internal and External Obliques

Spinal Erectors

Classification

The pull up is a compound closed kinetic chain exercise.

Compound:

Compound exercises involve movement at multiple joints–and engage multiple muscle groups. In the pull up exercise, the latissimus dorsi muscles depress and rotate the scapulae downward as well as adduct and extend the shoulder joints. The bicep muscles help bend the arm muscles.  The traps, posterior deltoid muscles (back of the shoulder), rhomboids,  and levator scapulae (side of the neck) all help the bigger players. And finally, the tricep muscles and the rotator cuff muscles function as stabilizers in the movement.

Closed Kinetic Chain:

 Closed kinetic chain exercises are exercises where the hand or foot is “fixed” or stable. In the pull up, your hands are fixed to the bar and your body is moving toward from the bar. Contrast this to a lat pulldown, which is an open kinetic chain exercise. In the lat pulldown, the bar is moving, and your hands are not fixed in space.

Closed kinetic chain movements allow your body to move in more natural movement patterns, decreasing stress on joints and connective tissue. As a closed kinetic chain movement, the pull up is an excellent, low joint stress movement that helps to maximally develop the lat muscles.

Full Range of Motion: 

As long as the trainee starts the movement with arms completely straight and ends the movement with the chest touching the bar (few trainees actually do this!), pull ups train the lats through their entire range of motion.

Full Range of Motion exercises are generally superior to partial range of motion exercises for muscle growth and strength.

Full Range of Motion exercises are also more joint friendly because they require you to use less weight or external resistance so you use a full range of motion.

Injury Risk: 

Because pull ups are a closed kinetic chain, compound exercise that distribute stress over multiple joints and incorporate a full range of motion, they present an extremely low injury risk

The ring pull up is especially joint friendly. Try this exercise and see how your grip naturally rotates from an overhand grip to a neutral grip (palms facing each other). This natural rotation towards a neutral grip at the top of the movement reduces stress on the shoulder joints.

(If you have pain or are simply concerned with staying injury free, read Pain in the Pull up .

Progressive Overload:

You can continue to improve your pull ups by adding external weight, reps, sets, and/or time under tension. Progressive overload allows you to get stronger at pull ups and gain muscle.

Overall Effectiveness: 

Pull ups provide a huge training effect for the lat muscles with very little risk to the joints or connective tissue. They distribute stress over multiple joints. They involve a full range of motion for the lat muscles, making them an excellent choice for lat and overall back development.

The Chin up

Muscles Worked and Emphasized

Latissimus Dorsi

Biceps

Rhomboids

Teres Major

Levator Scapulae

Trapezius (primarily mid and lower traps)

Abdominals

Internal and External Oblique

Spinal Erectors

*If these muscles look similar to the ones trained by the pull up, that is because they are. The same muscles are activated with both pull ups and chin ups.

Differences in Muscle Activation:

Different portions of the muscle fibers are better stimulated with different grips. Chin ups work the upper lats a little harder than pull ups, which work the lower lats a little harder.

Because the grip is supinated during the chin up (hands facing you), the chin up works the biceps a bit better than the traditional overhand pull up.

Difficulty Level:

Chin ups are a bit easier than pull ups for the average trainee. You may need to add extra weight, reps or sets to make chin ups equally challenging and create the same training effect.

Classification

The chin up–like the pull up–is also a closed kinetic chain exercise. It’s very similar in terms of muscular recruitment and kinematics.

Closed Kinetic Chain: 

Just like the pull up, the chin up requires you to move your body toward the bar. Your hands are fixed in place in the chin up just like they are in the pull up. Closed kinetic chain exercises allow natural movement patterns and distribute stress across multiple muscles and joints.

Full Range of Motion:

Touch your chest to the bar at the top and fully extend your elbows at the bottom in the chin up. This is full range of motion.

Injury Risk: 

A closed kinetic chain, full range of motion movement, the chin up is also very low joint stress and unlikely to cause injury.

The ring or neutral grip pull up is probably a bit superior to the chin up in this regard, since it allows the trainee to use a pulling position which puts the least stress on the shoulder joints.

Progressive Overload:

 Simple to progressively-overload, just like the pull up. However, the chin up might require a bit heavier loading to compensate for the relative ease of the exercise.

Overall Effectiveness: Likely just as effective for overall lat development as the pull up. Chin ups alter recruitment patterns of certain muscle fibers just slightly, emphasizing a slightly higher portion of the lats. Chin ups are also just a bit easier, meaning the trainee will have to add a bit of load or perform more reps to get a similar training effect.

For bicep activation and development, chin ups are slightly superior to pull ups.

The Row

Muscles Trained:

Lats

Teres Major and Minor

Rhomboids

Mid and Lower Traps

Posterior Deltoids (rear shoulder muscles)

Biceps

Forearms

Spinal Erectors

Similarities and differences to the pull up: 

The classic row also trains many of the same muscles of the back.

Because the angle of pull is horizontal in the bent over row instead of vertical like in the pull up or chin up, the row is a better choice for maximally stimulating the rhomboids, middle and lower traps, teres major and minor and the rear deltoids.

Done properly in a correct bent-over position, the bent over row provides ample training stress to the spinal erectors.

Range of Motion: 

Rows do not require full range of motion of the lats, upper back or arm muscles. Full ROM exercises generally outperform partial ROM exercises for size and strength. Still, the row is an excellent exercise for the rhomboids, mid and lower traps, posterior deltoids, and spinal erectors.

The row still helps to develop the back and rear shoulder muscles, and is an excellent choice for balancing out horizontal pressing work (bench press, dumbbell bench). It also strengthens the postural muscles that promote long term shoulder health and structural balance.

Injury Risk:

Most row variations are very safe. The bent over row might be a little more likely to cause injury, if you are unable to maintain proper spinal and pelvic positioning.

The bent over row requires you to stabilize your spine and pelvis in a bent over position. Maintenance of a neutral lordotic spinal curve during this exercise requires body awareness, hip mobility, spinal stability and muscular endurance of the spinal erectors.

Most trainees slip into a rounded back position while performing this exercise, which can put extra stress on the lower back joints and can cause injury.

If you are unable to maintain good back control and positioning during this exercise, substitute rowing exercises should be used (seated cable row, ring row).

Progressive Overload:

Bent over rows can also be progressively overloaded by adding weight, time under tension, sets or reps, just like the pull up or chin up. Any of these methods will  help you gain size and strength.

Overall Effectiveness: 

For lat development, the row might be slightly sub-par to the standard pull up, but is still an excellent choice for the back muscles. The row is particularly helpful for strengthening the postural muscles and promoting shoulder health.

Pull ups versus chin ups versus Rows: Combining all Three

The pull up, chin up and row can all be used to complement each other in a balanced training program. Pull ups can help to provide the biggest stimulus for lat development.

The chin up, when done with proper form and appropriate loads, is also a powerful exercise for the lats and biceps. Trainees with limited training time may choose to train their biceps solely with chin ups, instead of devoting more time to single joint movements like the bicep curl.

And finally, every trainee should do a moderate to high volume of rowing to strengthen the postural muscles and correct imbalances caused by too much bench press and computer time. Trainees can add several different rowing variations into their program to accomplish this.

A 1:1 ratio of vertical to horizontal pulling (pull ups/chin ups to rows) is a good place to start. If you have a history of poor posture or shoulder injuries, use a 2:1 ratio of horizontal pulling to vertical pulling to achieve structural balance. Once your shoulder pain is gone and your posture is better (not until then), you can use a 1:1 ratio of vertical to horizontal pulling.

Individuals doing a lot of bench press or chest work should always include more horizontal rowing in their programs to balance out higher volumes of horizontal pressing. If you are a powerlifter or are training the chest quite a bit, aim to match or exceed your chest pressing with an equal or greater volume of horizontal rowing.

Pull ups versus chin ups versus Rows: Sample Training Programs:

3 Training Days per Week: 

Mon: Bent over Row 3 x 6

Wed: Pull ups 3 x 8

Fri: Ring Row 3 x 12

4 Training Days per Week: 

Mon: Bent over Row 3 x 6

Tues: Pull ups 3 x 8

Thurs: Ring Row 3 x 12

Fri: Weighted Chin up 3 x 5

3 Training Days per Week, with Row-Emphasis for those with Poor Posture

Mon: Bent over Row 3 x 6

Tues: Pull up 3 x 8

Thurs: Ring Row 3 x 12

Fri: Pendlay Row 3 x 8

To summarize, the pull up, chin up and row are all useful in a good training program. How you choose to include these three exercises will depend on your posture, shoulder health, and the rest of your training program. The devil really is in the details.