If you can do more than 10 bodyweight
chin-ups, if you want to keep progressing
in mass and strength, you need to start
adding weight.

There are several ways to do this...hanging plates
from your waist via a belt, wearing a weighted vest,
or setting a dumbbell between your feet.

The first two methods are pretty straightforward so I'm
going to go into the easiest setup here for the
dumbbell between the feet.

I actually prefer this method as holding the dumbbell
between the feet really locks in the lower body very
effectively while doing the exercise....much more so
than the weight plate or weight vest version.

When using the dumbbell version here, the easiest
way to go is using a chin-up bar that you can reach
from a standing position. If you don't have a bar at
this height and you have a Smith machine, you try
setting that bar to the correct height.

If you don't have a Smith machine either, you can
also use this same technique while standing on a
bench. I'll get into that more below as well.

First, set the weight on the floor, directly below the
chin-up bar. Set your feet on either side of the dumbbell.



Now reach down and grab the dumbbell and hold it between your legs.



Bring your feet in and press them together.



Lower the dumbbell and rest it on the top of your
feet and on the heels of your shoes. The front
plates likely will be resting on your shins as well,
so ideally you'll want to pull up your socks as well.



Now you're locked in and ready to go!



Bend your knees and get your feet off the ground,
then do the chin-up as normal.



Using a dumbbell in this fashion also makes it
easy to do a literal "drop" set...when you finish as
many reps as you can with the dumbbell, then
just open up your feet and drop the dumbbell on
the floor, then keep going with just bodyweight,
without ever letting go of the bar.

(side note, if the dumbbell is more than a few inches
off the ground, I recommend using some sort of mat
or padding where you drop it so that you don't do
any damage to the floor).

Now, as I mentioned above, if you don't have a chin-up
bar that you can reach from the standing position,
you can also do this technique standing on a bench.
I don't have pictures of it but it's fairly easy to figure out.

Set the bench about a foot or two behind the bar
with the dumbbell resting on the bench, just like it
was on the floor. Stand up on the bench, with your
feet beside the dumbbell. Use the same procedure
I described above, as far as setting it between your
feet.

Once it's set, then grip the chin-up bar, and shift
your feet off the bench, bringing the dumbbell off
with you. Then you're ready to go.

Overall, once you get to the point where regular
bodyweight chin-ups are easy, it's time to move on
to the Weighted Chin-Up. This dumbbell version
is a GREAT way to do it.

I've posted a full demo video of this one on my
YouTube channel here as well...



If you're interested in more back training info like this,
definitely check out my book "The Best Back
Exercises You've Never Heard Of"...145 killer back
exercises covering every single aspect of your back
(got some cool sample exercises on that page, too!).