Der Dezember 2010 wird zum Klimmzugmonat ernannt

Okay, jetzt kann ich die Katze aus dem Sack lassen: Im Monat Dezember widme ich mich ausgiebig einer der grundlegensten Fitness- bzw. Kraftübungen überhaupt, dem Klimmzug. Da viele Menschen Schwierigkeiten mit Klimmzügen haben, weil ihnen entweder die Kraft- oder die Technik fehlt oder diese gar nicht erst im Training durchgeführt werden, ernenne ich also hiermit den Dezember 2010 zum offiziellen „Klimmzugmonat“.

Der folgende Gastartikel über Klimmzüge stammt von Mike Bruce, genannt „The Machine“. Er hat ihn für meinen Freund Dominik Feischl geschrieben und auch das Video den Lesern aus Deutschland und Österreich gewidmet. Für alle, die noch nicht so fortgeschritten oder komplette Anfänger sind, veröffentliche ich in den folgenden Tagen viele detaillierte Informationen, die aber auch Fortgeschrittene sicher noch weiter voranbringen werden.

Auch, wenn das folgende Foto nicht jedermanns/-fraus Sache ist, so verdeutlicht es doch, warum der Mann „The Machine“ genannt wird und als Fachmann bezeichnet werden kann:

Der Ex-Marine hat sich durch seine Trainingsmethoden und den dadurch erzielten Effekten zu Recht seinen Spitznamen erworben. Klimmzüge sind ein fester Bestandteil in seinem Training. Da teilt er die Meinung von Zach Even-Esh, ein in den USA sehr bekannter „Underground Strength“-Trainer, der sinngemäß einmal sagte: „Klimmzüge gehören schon zum Frühstück“.

Hier ist das Video (Achtung, die Inhalte sind nur für sehr fortgeschrittene Anwender!) und darunter ist sein Artikel zu finden:

Chinning your way to a Wide Back

One of the best ways to develop your back is by incorporating chin-ups into your training routine. A chin-up is performed by grabbing a bar that is fixed overhead, and pulling yourself up to the bar until your chin and/or chest reach the bar.

The chin-up is different than a pull-up by the placement of your hands. The placement of your hands should be with an overhand grip, while a pull-up uses an underhand grip like that of a bicep curl. One of the other major differences is that a pull-up places direct emphasis on your biceps first, then the lats. A chin-up places more emphasis to your lats with the biceps now being used as a secondary muscle to assist.

I do not believe one is better than the other, however when working my back I do favor the chin-up as I feel it targets my back much better.

Some of the benefits to performing chin-ups:
*Increased back width.
*No equipment needed as chin-ups can be performed anywhere there is a fixed object overhead that you can pull yourself up on.
*Improved muscular detail.
*Stronger biceps
*Increased pulling power.
*You can perform reps with just your bodyweight, or as you get stronger you can add weight to your body to do lower reps.

One thing you will notice about chin-ups is that they are a very difficult exercise to do. There are many men who can bench press „HUGE“ amounts of weight but yet they cannot perform 1 legit chin/pull-up. You can either do them or you can’t. Oftentimes if you walk into a commercial gym you will see many members sitting on their duffs performing a swinging motion on a lat pulldown machine.

Lat pulldowns have their place in my walk with physical culture. However, I believe they are a much less effective tool than the chin-up. I also believe that the carry-over from a seated machine pulldown is NO GOOD when it comes to assisting you in being able to perform a chin-up. I have seen many men use a lot of body momentum and pull the whole weight stack on a machine, yet this does not mean they can perform a correct chin-up.

There are many ways to help you build up to perform a chin-up. I will describe 2 of my favorites.
The first is to get up above the bar. This can be done with the assistance of a partner, or if you are in a power rack, you can set the pins high up so that when you stand on them your chin will already be above the bar.
Once your chin is above the bar, I want you to perform a negative and resist your body from going back down to the floor. Pull with all your power to keep your chin above the bar.
Performing negatives will build up your strength and get you used to handling your bodyweight.
I suggest 5 sets of 1 negative no more than 2x per week.

The next method is using a heavy band to assist you in getting up to the bar. The band is attached to the bar and you place 1 of your feet in the band and the other foot on top. Now the band will be supporting your weight and when you pull up to get your chin up to the bar the band will automatically want to spring back up.

I suggest if you can’t do a chin-up start practicing these 2 methods 2x per week. When using the band try 3-5 sets of maximum repetitions.

In no time at all you will be able to perform a chin-up.

Once you can do a chin-up, it is time to put this great exercise to use.
My routine for building an impressive and wide back is: 3x per week (Mon-Wed-Fri) or (Tue-Thurs-Sat.) You will do
10 sets of 5 with a medium grip, about shoulder width apart.
The next day you will do 10 sets of 3 with a close grip (as seen in the video below)
Finally, on the third day you will do 3 sets close-grip style for MAX repetitions. Once you master this routine with just your bodyweight, you should then add weight to your body via a dipping belt, weighted vest, holding weight with your feet/thighs or even a sturdy backpack with some type of weight in it.

I assure you that whether you want to take in more calories and bulk up or you want to get ripped to shreds, this chin-up routine will provide you the results you are looking for.

Keep The Faith,