Marvin Eder tells Barton Horvath How to Use the Chinning Bar
for Amazing Back Development
"Come on, fellows . . . let's have a chinning contest. The guy who does the least chins is a monkey's uncle!"
And then the action starts. No real, red-blooded youngster can resist the temptation of the chinning bar. There is something about this old favorite which tempts them all. A chinning contest is as popular among the younger boys, particularly those of school age as a trip to the beach, or a visit to the ball park.
There is a definite thrill in jumping up and catching hold of a chinning bar, or a low branch of a tree, or ANY horizontal bar or cross beam, and then pulling your body up and lowering it down for your personal chinning record.
And even among these junior Tarzans . . . the most capable is generally that muscular fellow, with the broad shoulders and the fair-sized arms. The fat, flabby, overstuffed boy just can't seem to get enough pull to raise his heavy body, while the thin, weak-looking kid might be able to get out one or two chins, but pretty soon those puny arms give out and he is through. It is the stocky, well set up kid that beats them all. If he takes his shirt off and chins with his back showing, you will see a lot of muscle working in the upper back, arms and shoulders, and even with his shirt on, his back appears wide and his shoulders square and broad. HERE, is where he gets his ability, and the bodybuilder too can well use the chinning bar for a wider more muscular back.
One of the most muscular backs in America belongs to young Marvin Eder. At 19 years of age, he is far from his maximum development or power. Still, with the exception of the great Reg Park, and famous Clancy Ross there aren't too many champion bodybuilders who can match his muscular impressiveness. He is definitely destined to become one of the immortal greats of bodybuilding.
He is a chinning enthusiast.
Being that Marvin trains at Abe Goldberg's gym, which is only a short hop across the river from our offices in Jersey City, it was logical that I should drop over to Abe's place to get Marvin's ideas on chinning and how it can help the bodybuilder.
Like everything now associated with modern weight training, chinning has been developed to a high science, and no longer strictly resembles the old time, schoolboy sport. As a bodybuilding aid, the chinning bar ranks right up there with the lat machine, wall pulleys and other apparatus now so common in the better bodybuilding gyms. The new type chinning apparatus no longer consists merely of a high, horizontal bar for orthodox chinning, but has handles such as kettlebell grips attached to it, as well as two vertical bars which can be grasped for unusual and advanced chinning exercises.
In the old days, the chinning bar was thought of as an upper arm developer. Today, it has come into its rightful place, as the ideal back widener and thick muscle developer. Its present usage ceases to be for the beginner's benefit, it is now an important body building instrument, used by the advanced men.
Reg Park performs every known variation of chinning in his workouts. Al Stephan's favorite upper back exercise is chinning with heavy weights. Clancy Ross works chinning into his program as do the majority of the top men. Those who do use it regularly definitely possess an edge on those who do not for width of shoulders, broadness of upper back and muscular impressiveness.
You too can obtain ideal results from its use.
Says Marvin Eder . . . "Because chinning influences the upper back muscles from a different angle, and permits a wide range of unusual contractions and pulls, sections of the upper back muscle develop a degree of power and muscularity, far superior to that obtainable with weights alone."
To this we agree wholeheartedly. For many years Weider has been preaching the advantages of using new and novel exercise mediums for complete muscular development. There have been some who have shrugged their shoulders to this, and some have even rated this as being commercialism. We should not be too harsh with our judgement of these people however . . . for they just don't know. The reader should remember that I too was brought up in the old school of thought in weight training. I thought that a guy who used springs, krusher grips, chinning bar, etc., was pretty much of a sissy, and that the only real way was through dumbbells and barbells. It has been only during the last 10 years or so that I've seen the light and while I still feel that nothing can take the place of the weights for a staple diet . . . these other pieces of apparatus definitely fill in the gaps and tie together loose ends, making up the complete package of a type of physical perfection we have the privilege of seeing today which outstrips anything seen in the past. Now that I've had my say, I am going to let Marvin Eder take over, and from this point on I am experiencing his viewpoints, gained from my recent interview with him.
The chinning bar, even in its most elementary form, is definitely not for the total beginner. The reason for this is that the average beginner does not possess sufficient arm strength and development to utilize the chinning bar to its greatest advantage, which is back molding, and long before his back becomes thoroughly stimulated, his arms give out.
There are much better arm exercises with weights, such as curls, which develop the arms quickly and soon give you the power to chin often enough and with enough added weight attached to the body to ideally stimulate the back. Therefore, the total beginner should not try his hand with the exercises which will be listed later on until he has had at least six months of regular weight training.
In addition, quite a few beginners are overweight, and they can try to chin day after day until they grow blue in the face and have hands filled with blisters . . . and still they won't be able to pull themselves up. Not until they have reduced their bodyweight, or converted the fatty tissue into muscle will they be able to use the chinning bar with benefit.
Even the more advanced bodybuilder may find some of the exercises a bit difficult at the start. He will have to grow used to them. Once he does and can really take a chinning workout, it won't be long before he will find that his jackets are being stretched taut across the shoulders and upper back, and his physique will show many, many new bumps and ridges of impressive muscle.
Note: not just many . . . many, many bumps.
Because the action is new and novel, with you in a sense exploring virgin territory, there will be a new enthusiasm associated with your training. You will also find that for some time you will improve rapidly in performance on the various chinning exercises and begin to wonder if this blowhard will finally get to the goddamn chinning variations already . . .
Perhaps the one great secret of the developmental possibilities of chinning is that the entire shoulder girdle unit works hard and in unison in it. Such action is not to be found so completely elsewhere, though the "lat" machine and pulleys do embody much of this principle. In addition, there is that extra S-T-R-E-T-C-H in chinning which literally pulls the shoulders wide and allows more space for the accumulation of upper back muscle.
Another important feature is that just hanging by the hands from a chinning bar, with a bit of weight attached to the body gives the whole spinal column a straight and direct pull . . . this sets the skeletal framework into a straight line and helps to relieve nerve pressure, which in itself is a mighty valuable aid. Scoliosis, or spinal curvature has been known to be beneficially aided in this manner.
So aside from a purely physical development reaction, chinning boasts numerous other health giving aids . . . a sort of double dividend for your investment.
And finally, to the lumps, bumps, and chinning variations. Let's watch this free software randomly change fonts!
The first, and simplest form of bodybuilding chins is with a wide grip on the bar, with palms facing forward, as shown above (photo 2). Pull up until the back of the neck touches the bar and then lower and repeat. How many repetitions you can perform will of course depend upon your physical strength. When you can perform 10 or 12 chins with just your own bodyweight, add some weight in the form of weight plates or iron boots.
Being that you have quite a variety of different chins to practice, at first only one set of each style will be enough. Later on you can perform 2 or 3 sets. It is not recommended to go beyond this number.
Because chinning places a lot of strain on the upper back, shoulders and arms, it will be wise to perform your chins before you exercise those parts of your body with weights. In fact, Marvin Eder, Reg Park and others prefer to take a chinning workout pretty much by itself and not make it a part of their general all around program. This is a good idea and you can use the chins for in between training, or if you have the time you can work on the chins either in the mid-morning or early afternoon, and then the other exercises later in the day. But, however you do them, make sure that they are performed before your arm, back and shoulder movements.
Exercise 2 is similar to the first, except that the grip is much wider and you hold onto two handles, such as kettlebell handles, as shown in photo number one. The advantage of this sort of chin is that it pulls back, practically apart, widening it considerably, packing on a lot of muscle right under the armpits. 10-12 repetitions with bodyweight, and when you feel this is easy add some weight to the body.
The next chin will require the use of the vertical bars the latest chinning apparatus have. Grasp onto these bars as shown, and pull the body up as in the regular chin. Photo 3 shows how to do this. Vertical bar chinning will spread your shoulders, making them an inch or more wider in time.
The concentration, half-way chin is Reg Park's favorite. Nothing compares with it for filling in that section of the upper back directly under the rear head of the deltoid. Pull yourself up about halfway with both hands. Remain in this position, but now pull hard with the right arm only and try to lift the right side up to the bar, while the left remains in a fixed position. Lower the right side and perform the identical movement with the left. This is a really tough one with 6 reps each arm being enough.
The fascination of a one arm chin holds most bodybuilders in its grasp. Many try it, but few succeed. By using a combination of the vertical bar and the high horizontal bar, you can train yourself until you will find it easy. Photo 5 shows how one hand is held onto the high bar, with the other on the vertical bar. Pull up with the arm. Assist yourself with the arm on the vertical bar, just sufficiently to permit a complete chin. As you gain strength in this exercise help yourself less and less with the vertical bar, until finally you will not need it at all. 5 or 6 chins with each arm will be just right.
The final exercise again features the vertical bar. This exercise will stretch the lats, making them round and full, with a massive, wedge-like curve of massive proportions and did I mention massive twice because I'm too rushed and/or lazy to find another similar descriptor?
Grasping the vertical bar with both hands as shown, feet braced securely, round your upper back as much as possible, dropping your grip down the on the bar until it is as low as possible. The lats will probably ache from the stretch in this position. Now twist the upper body from side to side so that the full strain is first on the right and then the left side. The pull will be tremendous and you will practically feel the lats grow massive from this one shown in photo 6. A little of this stretching goes a long way, so take it easy at first.
As you can see, the standard horizontal chinning bar and its newer brother, the vertical chinning bar can be used for many, many valuable and unusual exercises. Just another important step forward in the science of bodybuilding which will in time render our present ideals of upper back perfection obsolete, just as the incline bench, cheating exercise, flushing system and all other advanced bodybuilding practices we at Weider have led you to believe we "invented" even though lifters have been doing all of it for ages before we claimed to have "innovated" any of them. Go figure!
Enjoy Your Lifting!
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