If you answered no, then don´t worry about it. Completing a proper chin-up with no assistance is one of the most difficult exercises to perform. For example, if you weigh over 200 pounds then a chin-up is much more challenging compared to if you weigh 140 pounds. Chin-ups are excellent for developing upper body strength, but where do you start if you cannot even do one?
Recently I worked with an individual who needed help with chin-ups for entrance in to the Police force. This individual was a well-trained athlete, weighed over 210 pounds, but fell below the acceptable standard when performing chin-ups. Candidates needed to perform as many as they could and this particular individual could only muster up five repetitions. He wanted to reach at least 15 and asked for help in how to reach this goal.
There are a variety of ways to improve your chin-ups and I have listed four particular methods to try out.
1) Seated Reverse Grip Pull-down: This exercise mimics the same motion of the chin-up except you pull the weight towards you. It is good to do because you can begin with a resistance below your own body weight and gradually work your way up. Remember, really focus on proper form and do not use momentum complete the exercise (you will not be able to use momentum when doing a chin-up).
2)Eccentric Chin-ups: A challenging exercise that lets you do half of a complete chin-up. To begin, use a bench or chair to help you get into the top position of the chin-up. Hold yourself in the top portion of the chin-up and lower yourself using 10 second count. As soon as you reach the bottom, get back into the starting position and repeat. Do this three to five times and try to increase the time when lowering yourself.
3) Assistive Chin-ups: Great to get you over the hump by helping you get a little help when performing chin-ups. Place your feet in the hands of a spotter who will assist you when pulling yourself up. Remember, the goal of the spotter is to only help keep the movement going smoothly. Make sure you have someone spot you who is familiar with the exercise and does not help too much to complete the movement.
4) Various strengthening exercises: Aside from doing movements that are similar to the chin-up you should also do strengthening exercises for the muscles involved in the chin-up. Particularly, the rear deltoids (back of shoulders), trapezius muscle, lats (latissimus dorsi), and biceps. For example, exercises like the dumbbell wide back fly will work the rear deltoids as well as trapezius. The straight arm lat pulldown will help strengthen the latissismus dorsi while basic arm curls (barbell and dumbbell) will develop the biceps.
Note: These exercises should be of secondary importance compared to the the first three listed.
Implement these four points into your training and you will definitely see an improvement in your chin-ups.