Weighted Negative Chin Ups
Weighted negative chin ups are a lat and biceps exercise for the lowering half of a chin up, with a plate on a weight belt. You step off a box, chin above the bar, try to keep the same pace to straight arms, and step back onto the box instead of pulling up. Because you can control more load lowering than lifting, they train the chin up with more than your bodyweight, and the underhand grip works the biceps harder than weighted negative pull ups.
Weighted negative chin ups are a lat and biceps exercise for the lowering half of a chin up, with a plate on a weight belt. You step off a box, chin above the bar, try to keep the same pace to straight arms, and step back onto the box instead of pulling up. Because you can control more load lowering than lifting, they train the chin up with more than your bodyweight, and the underhand grip works the biceps harder than weighted negative pull ups.
How to Do Weighted Negative Chin Ups
1. Attach The Belt And Plate
Fasten a weight belt around your hips and hang a weight plate from it before you step up, so everything is ready before you take the bar. The plate hangs in front of your legs.
Plate on first, then step up.
2. Stand On Something High Enough
Stand on a box or something sturdy, high enough for your chin to already be above the bar so you can step straight into the top position. Stacking plates on top of a box works. Do not jump up to the bar, because the jump creates momentum and disturbs the whole negative.
Chin above the bar before you start.
3. Take A Shoulder Width Underhand Grip
Grab the bar shoulder width apart in a supinated grip, palms facing you with the thumbs pointing outwards. Pull yourself close to the bar so your chin is over it.
Palms toward you, thumbs out.
4. Set The Top Before You Step Off
With your feet still on the box, go into all the right activations. Keep the shoulders down, squeeze the shoulder blades together as much as possible, activate your core and hold the legs straight and vertical in a neutral position. Then step off into the top of the chin up.
Shoulders down, blades together, core on.
5. Lower At One Pace
Lower yourself slowly and try to keep the same pace throughout the whole rep. Stay close to the bar on the way down, except for the moment your chin and face need to pass it. Keep the shoulders down for as long as you can and the shoulder blades squeezed together as much as possible, with the legs straight under you.
Same speed from top to bottom.
6. Finish At Straight Arms And Reset
Keep lowering all the way down until your arms are straight. Then step back onto the box, get back into the top position and start the next rep from there instead of pulling yourself back up.
All the way down, then step back up.
Before you step off the box, get the shoulders down, the shoulder blades together and the core activated. Then use the pace as your test, trying to keep the same speed from chin over the bar to straight arms and watching the end of the rep as closely as the start. If a rep speeds up before your arms are straight, the plate is too heavy or the set is over.
Muscles Worked During Weighted Negative Chin Ups
Secondary Muscles:
Primary Muscles
Latissimus Dorsi (Lats) - The lats are the main muscle braking the descent, lengthening under your bodyweight plus the plate as the arms travel overhead, and they help keep the shoulders down.
Biceps Brachii (Biceps) - The biceps control the elbows as they straighten, and the underhand grip gives them more of the load than in weighted negative pull ups.
Secondary Muscles
Rhomboids & Upper Trapezius (Upper Back) - The rhomboids and mid back hold the shoulder blades squeezed together, which you keep as much as possible through the whole rep.
Trapezius (Trapezius) - The mid and lower trapezius help hold the shoulders down and away from the ears for as long as you can on the way down.
Posterior Deltoid (Rear Deltoid) - The rear deltoid assists the lats in controlling the upper arm as the elbows move up and away from your body during the lowering.
Forearm Flexors & Extensors (Forearms) - Your grip holds your bodyweight plus the plate for the whole slow descent, so the forearms work harder than in a bodyweight negative.
Rectus Abdominis (Abs) - The abs hold the body neutral with the legs straight and vertical under you, so the plate hanging from your hips does not set you swinging.
Benefits of Weighted Negative Chin Ups
- Lets you train the chin up with more than your bodyweight, because muscles can control more load lowering than they can lift.
- Trains control from chin over the bar to straight arms, and a steady pace reveals where in the range you lose control.
- Works the biceps harder than an overhand grip does, alongside the lats and upper back.
- Trains the weighted chin up position under load: shoulders down as long as you can and shoulder blades squeezed together.
- Bridges bodyweight and weighted chin ups, so you get used to the belt and plate before you have to pull them up.
Who Is This Exercise For?
Before you add a plate, you want clean bodyweight negative chin ups: chin over the bar at the start and a steady pace down to straight arms. If those reps still speed up, stay with them for now. You also need a pull up bar, a weight belt with a plate, and a sturdy box high enough to put your chin above the bar.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Jumping up to the bar: The jump creates momentum that carries into the start of the rep and disturbs the whole negative. Raise your platform until you can step straight into the top position with your chin already above the bar.
Letting the rep speed up on the way down: Try to keep the same pace all the way down to straight arms, instead of starting slowly and letting the rest of the rep go faster. If you cannot keep the pace, the plate is too heavy or the set is done.
Drifting away from the bar: Pull yourself close to the bar at the top and stay close to it all the way down. The only time you give it a little room is when your chin and face need to pass it.
Letting the shoulders shrug up early: Letting the shoulders rise toward the ears early in the rep takes the back out of it. Keep them down for as long as you can on the way down and keep squeezing the shoulder blades together as much as possible.
Loose core and swinging legs: With a plate hanging from your hips, a loose core lets the legs bend or kick and the whole body swing. Keep the core activated and hold the legs straight and vertical in a neutral position from the top to the bottom.
