Gorilla Chin-Up With Crunch

Climb up like a curious jungle bear: pull your chin over the bar, then crunch your knees up like you are curling into a cozy cave. Keep your shoulders packed and your belly braced so you swing less and roar more. Slow on the way down, and you will feel your lats and abs growl happily.

Instructions

1. Grab a pull-up bar with a shoulder-width underhand (chin-up) grip and hang with arms straight.
2. Set your shoulders down and back, brace your core, and keep legs together.
3. Pull your chest up toward the bar until your chin clears the bar.
4. At the top, crunch by tucking your pelvis and bringing knees toward your torso (or lifting hips).
5. Pause briefly while keeping control and avoiding swing.
6. Lower your knees/hips back to neutral, then descend to a full hang under control.
7. Repeat for reps.

Benefits

• Builds pulling strength in lats and biceps with added core involvement
• Improves coordination between upper-body pull and trunk flexion
• Increases time under tension compared to standard chin-ups
• Challenges anti-swing control and body awareness on the bar

Key Points

• Initiate the pull by depressing and retracting the scapulae before bending the elbows.
• Crunch comes from trunk flexion and posterior pelvic tilt, not wild leg swinging.
• Keep ribs down and core braced to reduce kipping.
• Control the eccentric all the way to a full hang if shoulders tolerate it.
• Use a band or assisted machine if you cannot maintain form.

Common Mistakes

• Kipping or swinging the legs to create momentum
• Shrugging shoulders up toward the ears at the start of the pull
• Half reps without reaching a controlled hang or without clearing the bar
• Over-crunching by yanking knees with hip flexors while losing torso control
• Letting the lower back hyperextend during the hang