Performing chin-ups and pull-ups on a fixed bar can be tough on the shoulders, especially if you start working those exercises with high volume and/or high frequency.

They're both great exercises but this can lead to shoulder joint strain and injury over time.

Now...there are ways around this.

First, you can do neutral grip chin-ups (palms facing in). That position is easier on the shoulders. This is great if you have a set of bars that you can actually do that with.

Second, you can use gymnastic rings. This is also great IF you have rings and a place high enough to hang them from to do chins. The free movement of the rings allows your shoulders to track more naturally.

 

What if you don't have either of these options but you DO have a pair of plates with built-in handles and a power rack?

Then you do this...

Set a bar up on the rails as high as you can set them. Load some plates on one end as a counterbalance, then put two "handle plates" on the other end, with some separation in between (8-12 inches or whatever feels good to you).

My rack here is tall enough that I can do these knees bent without my knees touching the ground (it's close).

Then just do chin-ups from there.

The plates give you the stress-reducing neutral position we're looking for and they rotate freely (similar to rings but not as unstable).

This bent-knee position also prevents you from kipping or using body movement to get to the top.

You can also do these in an L sit position with legs held straight out (or in my case, straight out-ish), which keeps your legs off the ground and works the abs strongly.

That's pretty much it! It's a very simple setup and very effective for performing neutral-grip chin-ups in a way that will relieve a lot of the potential shoulder stress your might experience from the exercise.

And all you need is a power rack, a bar and at least two handle-plates.

 

VIDEO DEMO

You can watch the video of both of these variations on my YouTube Channel here.

 

This setup is a GREAT way to work your back when doing something like my Time-Volume Training program.

That program uses targeted volume training to "sneak" muscle onto your body, without trashing your nervous system.

It's one of my favorite ways to train chins...using this plate method keeps the shoulder joints from getting overloaded with a high-volume approach like this.

Check out Time-Volume Training here, if you'd like to learn exactly how to use it to build muscle and strength like clockwork!

Nick Nilsson
The Mad Scientist of Muscle

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http://www.timevolumetraining.com
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