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Strength discipline · Bodyweight

Chin-ups

Chin-ups is a strength discipline in BYOH, trained with bodyweight and building arms and back. Its ladder runs from 1 rep at Level 1 to 40+ reps at Level 9, and Level 10 is the world record.

The ten levels

BYOH measures a discipline in ten cleared levels. Level 9 is a genuine feat; Level 10 is the standing world record, which is there to be looked at rather than reached.

Chin-ups starts at Level 1 with 1 rep. Level 5 asks for 12 reps, and Level 9 - the last level a person can train towards - 40+ reps. The largest single jump is from Level 8 to Level 9, 30 reps to 40+ reps.

Chin-ups level thresholds in BYOH
LevelTarget
11 rep
23 reps
35 reps
48 reps
512 reps
616 reps
722 reps
830 reps
940+ reps
10 · LegendProvisional legend benchmark

The record past Level 9

Strict chin-upsProvisional legend benchmark.

BYOH uses a provisional final gate until a comparable governed record format is selected. This is a provisional benchmark rather than a governed record.

How it is done

  1. Grab the pull-up bar with the palms facing your torso and a grip closer than the shoulder width.
  2. As you have both arms extended in front of you holding the bar at the chosen grip width, keep your torso as straight as possible while creating a curvature on your lower back and sticking your chest out. This is your starting position. Tip: Keeping the torso as straight as possible maximizes biceps stimulation while minimizing back involvement.
  3. As you breathe out, pull your torso up until your head is around the level of the pull-up bar. Concentrate on using the biceps muscles in order to perform the movement. Keep the elbows close to your body. Tip: The upper torso should remain stationary as it moves through space and only the arms should move. The forearms should do no other work other than hold the bar.
  4. After a second of squeezing the biceps in the contracted position, slowly lower your torso back to the starting position; when your arms are fully extended. Breathe in as you perform this portion of the movement.
  5. Repeat this motion for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
Chin-ups, position 1Chin-ups, position 2

Movement guidance and imagery from the public-domain Free Exercise DB. BYOH adds the level thresholds.

How the attempt is judged

A level only means something if two heroes clearing it have done the same thing. These are the rules BYOH counts an attempt by — they are the rules of a game, not coaching.

What counts as one
One repetition is from a full dead hang, palms facing you, to the chin clearly above the bar.
The set
One unbroken set. You may pause in the supported position for as long as you like; the set ends the moment you leave it.
What you need
An underhand grip about shoulder width. The supported position is the dead hang.
What ends it
Letting go of the bar ends the set. Kipping or kicking does not count.

What it builds

Chin-ups feeds Arms and Back in a hero’s record, working lats, biceps, forearms, middle back.

  • Vertical pull
  • Biceps
  • Grip & forearms

Chin-ups is one of 32 strength disciplines. It shares its bodyweight requirement with 13 other strength disciplines. Arms is also built by pull-ups, cross-body hammer curl, chair dips and 2 more, and a broad attribute needs several of them rather than one taken far.

Quests that ask for it

  • Broad at the ShoulderDiscipline · Level 4

Put it on a record

BYOH turns these levels into a hero: what you clear becomes attributes, quests and a character that grows with your training. It is free, and in open alpha.

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