Weighted Chin-Up
Contested marking + tackle strength
How to do it well
The set-up and the rep in full, then the cues the app shows on the exercise card — the short version, for the moment you are standing in front of the bar.
Set-up
Add load with a dip belt, or hold a dumbbell between the feet. Grip the bar with the palms facing you, hands about shoulder width, and hang with straight arms and active shoulders: pulled slightly down, not shrugged up to the ears.
The rep
Pull the chest up towards the bar by driving the elbows down and back until the chin clears it. Lower for two seconds to a full hang with straight arms before the next rep. Keep the legs still and the body tight, with no kipping.
On the exercise card
- Full hang
- Lead with chest
- Tempo
- 2s down
What goes wrong, and the fix
| What goes wrong | The fix |
|---|---|
| Half reps | A full hang at the bottom and the chin over the bar at the top. Added load does not count if the range is cut. |
| Kicking or swinging | Squeeze the glutes and cross the ankles to keep the body still. |
| Reaching with the chin | Lead with the chest. Craning the neck forward is not range. |
Make it easier, or harder
- Easier
- Bodyweight chin-ups, or band-assisted chin-ups until you can do several clean reps.
- Harder
- More load, a pause with the chin over the bar, or a slower lowering.
How Train Smart prescribes it
The sets and reps below are the authored starting point. The actual weight you see is calculated from your own last top set and the week you are in within your four-week block.
Seven programs use it: AFL, rugby union, cricket, MMA, dance, gymnastics and general fitness. Pulling your bodyweight plus load is a good measure of upper-body strength for your size, and in contested marking and tackling it is the pull that wins the ball or the player. Heavy, five or six reps.
| Program | Session | Sets × reps | Load |
|---|---|---|---|
| AFL | Upper Power | 4 × 5 | +10kg |
| Rugby Union | Strength (Total Body) | 4 × 5 | +load |
| Cricket | Endurance Day | 4 × 5 | +load |
| MMA | Grip, Pull + Trunk | 4 × 6 | BW/+load |
What it trains, and who trains it
- Region
- Upper body
- Prescribed in
- AFL · rugby union · cricket · MMA · dance · gymnastics · general fitness
If you cannot do this one
Rack taken, kit missing, or it does not suit you. These are the swaps the app offers, matched by movement pattern and body region — each with the reason it is a fair substitute.
| Alternative | Why it works as a swap |
|---|---|
| Pull-Up | Bodyweight back + grip strength |
| Wide-Grip Pull-Up | Lat-width bias — swimmer / climber back |
| Commando Pull-Up | Side-to-side pull-up — combat/grappling pulling |
| Muscle-Up Progression | Explosive vertical pull → press transition — gymnast/calisthenics |
| Rope Climb | Grip + pulling strength under tension — combat / military |
| Lat Pulldown | Machine: scalable vertical pull, easy to load |
This exercise, in a program that knows why it is there
Train Smart puts this movement in the right session, at the right point in your block, at a weight calculated for you — and swaps it automatically if you do not have the kit.
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