Narrow Parallel Grip Chin-ups

Muscles worked

Two muscle groups share the work: the deltoids, which raise and rotate the upper arm at the shoulder joint and the latissimus dorsi, which pulls the upper arm down and back toward the ribcage.

Even with a single joint doing the moving, the muscle is not working alone — the mid-back retracts the shoulder blades so the shoulder has something solid to work from; the abdominals brace the trunk so force can pass between the hips and the shoulders.

Every exercise for:ShouldersLatsMiddle backAbdominals

How this movement works

Everything happens at one joint. That gives you direct control over where the tension sits; the trade-off is that the muscle gets no help, so the load that feels hard here is a fraction of what a multi-joint version of the pattern would take. Slow, complete repetitions beat heavy ones.

It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.

What you need

A barbell locks both hands to one bar, so neither side can drift and the load climbs in plate-sized steps. That makes it the simplest way to add weight and the least forgiving thing to bail out of.

No equipment at all. The resistance is your own bodyweight, so you progress by changing leverage, range or tempo rather than by adding plates — and you can do it anywhere.

Every exercise using:BarbellBody only

These train the shoulders and lats too, using equipment this one does not:

• One Arm Dumbbell Shoulder Pressdumbbell
• One-Arm Kettlebell Clean and Jerkkettlebell
• Pullover On Stability Ball With Weightexercise ball + dumbbell
• Return Push from Stancemedicine ball
• Reverse Machine Flyesmachine