Introduction
A recent study revealed that people who suffer from depression (mostly from a breakup or for other reasons) hit the gym to work off the stress but in the more extreme cases, people find it hard to keep their head above the water and run circles in their head until a lot of time has been spent thinking about the past.
The real issue with people who are dealing with tough problems that have affected them emotionally is that they meet therapists and psychiatrists all in the effort of ironing out those mental wrinkles that Life has supposedly left them to deal with.
Personally speaking, I don't like the idea of people 'tinkering' with my head. However, not everyone will subscribe to that kind of 'independent' behavior, and in most cases, it's hard to keep your head up when times are tough in life all by yourself.
But more than ever, it is important to keep your 'chin up'… and by that I mean paying attention to both the psychological and physical aspects of your life. And believe it or not, taking care of the latter results in resolving the former.
Exercise – The Chin up & Pull up
For these two exercises, one must work against gravity and lift the entire weight of their body (using their hands ofcourse) to the point where the chin passes the bar you are holding on your way up. Right off the bat, if you are a beginner, these two exercises are really tough.
And almost everyone who has been through serious physical training (which includes these two exercises) know that the only way to be able to execute these exercises flawlessly, is by doing more and more of them.
All that is needed is a pull up bar, and the desire to get started… and if you put your 'nose to the grindstone', the immediate benefits are upper body strength and increased muscle mass. And these exercises are second to none if this is the area of your focus in training.
Differences
Even both these exercises share a common purpose, the biggest difference between the two is in the 'grip'. With the pull up, the palms are facing away while with the chin up, the palms face the person who is exercising.
Another big difference is that pull up strengthens the back (and to a certain extent, the biceps as well) whereas the chin up strengthens the biceps.
For those of you who are interested in doing these two exercises, you'll be glad to know that the chin up is the easier of the two, so you might want to start of with that first.
The Benefits (Pros)
The most obvious benefit of both these exercises is that they strengthen the arms and back, and if you are in a sport like MMA or rock climbing, both these exercises increases your grappling strength.
Interestingly, when one does pull ups, exercises which use the exact opposite movements such as the Bench Press and the Overhead Press are performed much easier, since the balance between press and pull exercises have been maintained.
The only con is in doing it wrong. One must be careful to study the entire movement of the exercise from start to finish, and this can be avoided by watching several videos available over the Internet by certified health professionals.
In Closing
Exercise not only helps one take pride in keeping a fit body but also helps one to regain emotional balance as well, and perhaps this is why therapy is not necessarily the solution to people problem all of the time. If you're feeling low, go and work out… and you'll see the difference!
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