Chin Up Buying Guide

Performing the same exercise, or variation of the same exercise with the same gym equipment for a prolonged period can create muscle imbalances in your body. Take chin-ups at a fixed-grip width as an example. You would still be using the same muscles as in any other variation, what changes is the stress on specific muscle groups.

If you don’t mix things up, the stronger muscle groups will continue to get stronger while the weaker muscle groups will either stagnate or even get weaker.

The chin-up bars from ATX®, offer you various grips and grip widths, so you can always switch things around when your training reaches a plateau. With barbell exercises, if you stagnate on your deadlift, you can utilize a hex trap deadlift bar for a training cycle to target muscles that are not activated whilst doing traditional straight bar deadlifts.

This is another advantage of the humble chin-up bar. If you opt for a multi-grip version, you only need one piece of equipment to keep accumulating strength gains. Unlike barbells, you don’t need different bars to hit different muscle groups. Another win for the hip pocket!

Some training disciplines will address strength imbalances using different methods. Sports like CrossFit or Gymnastics utilize rings that will activate different muscle groups. Additionally, in CrossFit, you will need a straight chin-up bar without knurling to perform exercises like muscle-ups. Plus, this style of chin-up bar is more suited for use with suspension trainers and rings which are both used in these disciplines.

CrossFit boxes often require multiple chin-up bars which makes the ATX straight chin-up bar ideal for this application. They offer extension kits that allow you to add on to the initial unit. This saves cost not only in the initial purchase but also in the mounting.

But to the trained eye, you only need to look at their primitive designs and materials used to realize that these claims could be a little farfetched. It is almost like people could be lying about their weight load ratings and there are no standards that need to be adhered to – sadly this is the reality of the Australian fitness equipment industry.

Even a manufacturer like ATX®, which operates in 40 different countries and has in-house engineers, cannot match these advertised weight load capacities from our competitors. They use double or even triple the steel, only to safely rate their bars for a third of the competitor’s rating.

The bottom line is that you will have to use your discretion when analyzing weight load capacities.

The ATX® Equipment has been tested and certified in accordance with European standards for fitness equipment. I wouldn’t put this segment into the article if we didn’t get emails from customers asking us why ATX® products have lower weight load ratings or to price match an inferior product.

The structural integrity of the steel and design does play a major role in the overall weight load capacity measurement. However, that is only as valid as the surface you are mounting the chin-up bar to alongside the size/quantity of the bolts you are using to secure it.

For example, you could mount a chin-up bar rated for 4,000kg to a gyprock wall and it will struggle to hold 20kgs.

If you are not sure what surface you should mount your chin-up bar too, then you need to seek advice from a qualified technician. If you think a stud finder is a lady who frequents bars and clubs in scantily clad outfits then you are the person I am talking about.

The surface in terms of material and area will determine which chin-up bar will best suit your needs.

A nice smooth concrete wall offers no restrictions. Mounting to a pillar will limit you to one style. Alternatively, if you have no suitable wall space then you will be restricted to a ceiling-mounted version.

For people mounting to walls with timber frames, one of the advantages of having such wide a range of options is that there may be a chin-up bar that fits perfectly to your wall frame. Once again, I emphasize that if you are unsure what to do, get in a trained professional. It is money well spent.

Pro’s

1. Compact Footprint and sturdy design. Don’t let this simple design fool you. The brackets and steel tubes are all thick. You will rip the dynabolts out of the wall before this chin-up bar yields! The height of the wall brackets is only 25cm.
2. Multiple Grips – five different hand positions with two different grip widths for the additional forearm work.
3. Legitimate 200 kgs weight load capacity – Certified for Domestic use by European Standards.
4. Medium knurling – prevents your hands from sliding off the handles without ripping into your skin.

Con’s:

1. Weight Load capacity could be exceeded by bigger/stronger athletes who perform weighted chins. It is not the chin-up bar that is the issue, it is the compact mounting area. Less space equals fewer bolts and less bracing support.
2. The wide grip is too narrow for bigger units wanting to do wide grip chins.

Pros:

1. A genuine commercial chin-up with first-class build quality – rated for 300 kgs.
2. Six different grip positions with aggressive knurling.
3. Designed for people with no space constraints.
4. Simple yet bulletproof 3-piece design.
5. Reinforcement plates for additional support.

Cons:

1. You need a lot of room.
2. The knurling is on the aggressive side. Don’t get this for muscle-ups unless you have got some deadlifting callouses.

If you like the Gladiator, but also enjoy the challenge of some grip work, the ATX® Thick Gladiator Chin Up bar is packing that extra girth to satisfy your needs.

It has a few improved features compared to the skinny version:

1. Thick grip in the rear.
2. The V-Shaped recess in the front of the bar, allows you to comfortably use both front and rear grips.
3. Mounting plates are a tad shorter compared to the slim version.

Pros:

1. Can be mounted to the wall or ceiling.
2. Six different grips, 28 mm and 46 mm in diameter.
3. 300 kgs Weight Load Capacity.
4. Compact mounting area.
5. Medium knurling
6. Manufactured out of thick steel sheet and tubular steel.
7. It just looks good! You only appreciate this if you saw the old design. The new design with its folded brackets just looks so sleek and clean.

Cons:

1. I guess you could say this is pricey compared to other chin-up bars on the market. But to achieve the compact mounting area and unparalleled rigidity you must use quality material and manufacturing.

Pros:

1. 27 mm thick solid steel handles.
2. The frame is manufactured out of 5 mm thick steel sheet that is folded for some eye-catching lines (I think I have a gym equipment fetish)
3. 250 kgs safe working load.
4. 48 grip variants and grip widths.
5. Exceptionally small mounting area (24 cm x 30 cm).

Cons:

1. The handles must be tightened/loosened every time you change position.
2. Expensive.

Pros:

1. Can be installed as a single or an endless pull-up station.
2. Rated for 300 kgs (per station), or 200 kgs per bar extension.
3. High Base weight – 33 kgs.
4. Certified for Commercial use – EN 20957 I.II.IV – S
5. Solid old-school straight bar for people who like to keep it simple. Or for Crossfitters that like to muscle up.

Cons:

1. Takes up a lot of space – the chin-up is 148 cm wide.
2. Expensive for home gym use.

Pros:

1. Multiple grip positions
2. Grip training – thick grip handles combined with bomb grips (blue balls)
3. Super solid construction – 33.5 kgs of steel is involved in the construction of this Pull-Up Station.
4. You can attach boxing bags or suspension trainers to this bar with ease.
5. 350 kgs weight load rating and commercial certificate make it suitable for any setting.
6. Relatively compact mounting area.

Cons:

1. You will need 8 x dynabolts to mount it.
2. It ain’t cheap!