TRX Kneeling Chin-Up
What Is the TRX Kneeling Chin-Up?
TRX Kneeling Chin-Up is a compound exercise that primarily targets the back, especially the latissimus dorsi, and also engages the biceps, the muscles between the shoulder blades and the rear shoulders. It is a beginner-level movement performed on suspension straps with your knees on the floor, so your legs carry part of your body weight while you practice the chin-up pattern with your palms facing you.
You kneel directly under the anchor with your arms reaching overhead and your hips sitting slightly back toward your heels. From there you pull your elbows down toward your ribs and rise into a tall kneeling position until your chin reaches the handles. Your knees stay on the floor the whole time and your legs can help as much as you need, which makes it one of the most accessible ways to practice a vertical pull. It works well as the main pull for someone building toward a first Chin-Up, and as a way to train vertical pulling at home or outdoors when a suspension trainer is the only gear you have.
The palms-facing-you grip is the main thing that separates it from the TRX Kneeling Pull-Up. The underhand grip keeps the elbows traveling down in front of the body and lets the biceps help bend the elbows, and many people find chin-up variations a little easier than overhand ones. The back still does most of the work with either grip, so pick the one that feels better on your wrists and elbows, or alternate them. Thinking about driving your elbows down toward your back pockets, rather than just bending your arms, helps keep the work in the lats.
You set the difficulty mostly with your legs. Sitting your hips farther back and driving them forward as you pull gives the most help, while keeping your torso tall and using your legs only to steady yourself puts more of your weight on your arms and back. Once you can do 3 sets of 12 controlled reps with little help from your legs, move on to the TRX Pull-Up, where your legs are straight and can only steady you, and then to the Negative Chin-Up or Band-Assisted Chin-Up on a bar.
Muscles Worked
- Latissimus Dorsi
- Primary
- Biceps Brachii
- High
- Brachialis
- High
- Teres Major
- High
- Deltoid
- Medium
- Lower Trapezius
- Medium
- Rhomboid Major
- Medium
Instructions
- Attach the TRX to a secure overhead anchor and adjust the straps so you can just hold the handles with your arms straight overhead while kneeling underneath them.
- Kneel directly under the anchor with your knees about hip-width apart and the tops of your feet on the floor behind you.
- Take one handle in each hand with your palms facing you and your arms fully extended overhead in line with the straps.
- Let your hips sit slightly back toward your heels so the straps are taut and your arms carry part of your weight.
- Brace your abs and pull your shoulder blades down away from your ears.
- Pull your elbows down toward your ribs, keeping them in front of your body, and rise into a tall kneeling position.
- Keep pulling until your chin reaches the height of the handles and your hands are beside your upper chest, with your hips under your shoulders.
- Pause briefly at the top without shrugging.
- Lower yourself under control until your arms are fully straight and your hips are back in the starting position.
- Keep your knees on the floor throughout and use your legs only as much as you need to finish each rep.
Common Mistakes
Letting the legs do the work
Driving the hips forward hard while the arms barely bend turns the rep into a hip thrust and takes the work away from the back.
Shrugging at the bottom
Starting the pull with the shoulders up by the ears loads the front of the shoulder and keeps the lats from switching on.
Stopping short of the handles
Ending each rep with the chin well below the handles skips the top of the range, which is the hardest part of a chin-up.
Leaning back into a row
Tipping the torso back and pulling the handles toward the chest turns the movement into a row, so keep the torso upright and the elbows traveling down beside the ribs.
Craning the neck
Reaching up with the chin to meet the handles strains the neck and hides an incomplete pull.
Dropping into the bottom
Letting the arms snap straight and falling back toward the heels skips the lowering phase, which builds much of the strength you need for a full chin-up.
Injuries
TRX Kneeling Chin-Up is a low risk exercise when performed with proper technique. Your knees stay on the floor and your legs carry part of your weight, so the load on the shoulders and elbows is far below a hanging chin-up, and you can end any rep by simply sitting back. The bigger hazard is the setup: the straps must hang from a secure overhead anchor that can hold your full body weight, with no sharp edges rubbing on the strap. Check the straps for wear before each session and pull hard on them before your first rep.
The main strain points are the elbows and the front of the shoulders. The underhand grip puts more of the pull through the biceps, and the inner elbow and the biceps tendon are often the first to complain when pulling volume climbs too quickly. The handles turn freely, so if your wrists or elbows feel cranky, let your palms rotate slightly toward each other or switch to the TRX Kneeling Pull-Up. Shrugging toward your ears and dropping loosely into the bottom of each rep both load the front of the shoulder, so set your shoulders before each pull and lower yourself under control. Kneeling on a hard floor presses on the kneecaps, so put a folded mat or pad under your knees, and if kneeling still bothers them, the TRX Self-Assisted Pull-Up trains a similar pull from a squat with your feet on the floor.
To make the exercise easier, sit your hips farther back and let your legs help more, or build pulling strength with the TRX Inverted Row (Underhand Grip). To progress, slow the lowering phase and use your legs less, then move to the TRX Pull-Up, Negative Chin-Up and Band-Assisted Chin-Up before the full Chin-Up.
Stop the set if you feel sharp pain at the elbow, the front of the shoulder, the wrist or the knees, or if the anchor shifts or a strap starts to slide. Elbow or shoulder pain that lingers after training, or any numbness or tingling in the arms or hands, should be checked by a physician or physical therapist before you keep training through it.
- Primary Focus
- Back
- Equipment
- Suspension trainer and body weight
- Modality
- Strength
- Difficulty
- Beginner
Alternative Exercises
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: How is this different from the TRX Kneeling Pull-Up?
Mainly the grip. Here your palms face you, while the TRX Kneeling Pull-Up has them facing forward. Many people find the underhand version a little easier, so choose the one that feels better or alternate them.
- Q: Does the underhand grip work the biceps more?
It can, but the difference is smaller than gym lore suggests. In a study of healthy young adults doing hanging chin-ups and pull-ups on a bar, the biceps and pectoralis major were more active with the underhand grip, while a study of strength-trained men found muscle activity over a full rep was similar across underhand, overhand and neutral grips. Either way the back does most of the work, so treat this as a back exercise rather than a biceps builder.
- Q: Can my hands turn on the handles?
Yes. TRX handles turn freely, so your palms can rotate slightly toward each other as you pull if that feels better on your wrists or elbows. Keep them mostly facing you for the chin-up grip.
- Q: How do I make it easier or harder?
Sitting your hips farther back toward your heels and driving them forward as you pull lets your legs help more. Staying tall, using your legs only to steady yourself and lowering slowly makes your back and arms do more of the work.
- Q: Will this help me get my first chin-up?
Yes, as an early step. It trains the same pull-the-elbows-down pattern with part of your body weight, but your legs can always help, so once 3 sets of 12 feel easy move on to the TRX Pull-Up, then the Negative Chin-Up and Band-Assisted Chin-Up, and test a strict Chin-Up every week or two.
- Q: How many sets and reps should I do?
Three sets of 8 to 12 controlled reps is a good starting point. Once you can do 12 with a slow lowering phase and little help from your legs, make the exercise harder rather than adding more reps.