I Put My Back Out & 9 Ways to Cook A Chin-Up

Posted In Bodyweight Exercise | 9 comments

This past weekend started of great with my 5 kids, my wife and I celebrating my wife’s 32nd birthday.  The kids baked her a cake, I bought her some books (hey, that’s what she wanted) and we went out to dinner at a really trendy Italian restaurant that locals call "The Nose" (it’s actually called Gio Rana’s Really, Really Good Italian Restaurant).

Prior to going out to dinner on Saturday, I wanted to make sure that I got a quick workout in. I didn’t have much time, so I decided to practice my pressing, balance that out with some KB Rows and then finish with snatches.

Midway through my 3rd and final set of presses, I tried to take it up a notch and see how many times I could press my 24kg kettlebell overhead.  My first 2 sets were sub-maximal sets of 5 and I felt pretty good – really good actually – so I WENT FOR IT.

Big mistake.

Into my 9th rep on my left side I think I was struggling a little bit and lost some of the "tightness" in my torso and my back twisted in some funny way.  I didn’t think anything of it at the time so I continued on with my workout proceeding to do rows and then a a series of 1 arm snatches.

Twenty minutes later, by the time I got out of the shower my back started to feel "off" and started to tighten up.  I definitely pulled something.

I woke up this morning barely being able to get out of bed and upon further self-assesment, it seems as though I’ve strained my right QL (quadratus lumborum – a muscle that attaches at the top of your hip to your lowest rib).

What a big, bumb-jock, more-balls-than-brains mistake.

The brutal thing is that I know it happened because…

1) I didn’t "fire-up" my abs in my warm-up by doing side planks (which I always do);

2) I haven’t been keeping up with my flexibility program so my hamstrings & glutes were extra tight

and 

3) I didn’t ease my way into the workout by using a lighter bell in the beginning to really warm-up my joints and "groove the movement".

So now, I’m paying for it.  With some rest and a visit or 2 to my chiropractor, I should be back in action by Tuesday or Wednesday. But, I’ll be taking the entire week off training to work on some abdominal stability and endurance exercises and some flexibility.

I was going to post for you my RKC prep program but instead, since I can’t do the program for a little bit anyway, I’m posting this cool video that I did where I show you how to do 9 different variations of chin-ups.

Make sure to watch the video and let me know what some of your favorite chin-up variations are.

 

-Chris

p.s. Bullet proof your back by following the "Core Support" program in the TT Kettlebell Revolution. There’s something that I’ve got to get back to now!

=>Get started with the TT Kettlebell Revolution

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Leave A Reply (9 comments So Far)


  1. Clement
    661 days ago

    Bad luck, Chris. I hope your injury heals soon!


  2. midnight
    661 days ago

    Hi Chris, sorry to hear you’ve injured yourself – I hope you will get well really soon. I love the typewriter pullup!


  3. Scott
    661 days ago

    Thanks for the great video Chris. I have a question about the pull-up variations – I’ve noticed some pain in my wrist when I try these grips instead of an underhand or neutral grip. It seems worse when I do them on a straight bar than on a canted bar. Any idea what I might be doing wrong here?

    The clapping pull-up looks, um… dangerous. Not sure I’ll try that one any time soon. :-)


    • Chris Lopez, CSCS, CTT
      660 days ago

      Hey Scott

      Great to hear from you man!

      I’ve worked with some people who found a regular pull-up grip uncomfortable and there a couple of things that have worked for them…

      1) try grabbing the bar a little wider than shoulder width – usually the narrower pronated grip aggravates the muscles and tendons on the outside of your wrist

      or

      2) try a “false” grip where your thumb wraps over the bar instead of around it

      let me know if either of those help/

      Chris


  4. Cindy
    661 days ago

    Impressive!!!!!
    You make them all look so easy.
    My goal is to be able to do 10 unassisted underhand ‘normal’ chin ups.
    Well now i have plenty of options for progressive goals after I reach that one.
    Thanks for the post.


  5. Fabian
    657 days ago

    Hy,

    wouldn’t planks before the workout tire out the abdominals, making your back more vulnerable?


    • Chris Lopez, CSCS, CTT
      656 days ago

      Great question, Fabian.

      When I plank before a workout, I’m doing it to “fire up” my abs and make sure that they’re working before I do my lifting.

      This is similar to doing Cook Hip Lifts or glute bridges prior to squatting or deadlifting – you’re doing them to make sure that the right muscle groups are firing.

      That said, when I side plank and/or plank, I do them submaximally (usually for only 30s each) or just until I can “feel it”.

      Chris


  6. Joe
    654 days ago

    Yeah! Thanks for the variations…I’m gonna have to try those..hoping not to fall on my face! Thanks and get better Chris!

    Joe