Portable Chin Up Bar

Chin ups are a great exercise, as they target a range of muscle groups and you only need your own bodyweight and a bar to do them. If you don't have your own bar however, then the alternative is to pop down to the gym to do pull ups, which is quite a lot of effort, and can cost a lot in the long run, especially if you only go for bodyweight exercises. The truth is that most bodyweight exercises can be performed at home with minimal equipment and that this equipment is normally pretty cheap.

Chin ups are no exception and there is quite a wide range of bars that are designed to allow you to do chin ups in the comfort of your own home. One of the most popular types of home bars is a portable chin up bar that can attach to a door frame. One of the best designs of portable chin up bar is a bar that requires no screws or permanent attachment to the door frame itself. I have made a couple of diagrams below to show how they work. I apologise for my poor artistic skills, if they don't completely explain how portable chin up bars work then there are some good videos online that will help you visualise it better. The first diagram shows the front view of the bar, the blue representing what you can see, and the red is the section of the bar that is hidden behind the doorway lintel.

The second diagram shows a side view. The area shaded in black represents the door lintel, and the black outlined section represents the sides of the door frame.

Essentially there are two points of contact- the pad that presses against the door lintel and the handle that wedges next to the sides of the door frame. When you grab the handle of the portable chin up bar, your bodyweight will wedge the bar in place and you can perform some chin ups. The great advantage of this type is that they can easily be removed and they don't require lots of time to fit. As they can be removed and attached so easily, they really are portable as they can be used in pretty much any doorway.

Before attaching your portable chin up bar to a wall, check that the door frame is nice and solid, and you should also check that there is a lip just above the door frame, which will hold the bar in place. It would be a good idea to check the bar is secure before applying your full weight, as you could potentially be injured if the bar is not properly secured.

When looking for a portable doorway chin up bar, there are several areas I would really check for. Most importantly look for a bar made out of strong steel and has a solid construction. This is important as the bar is going to be supporting a fair weight, depending on how heavy you are and you do not want it bending or breaking. You should also check with the retailer or manufacturer that it is suitable for your width of doorway.

Another feature to check for is the pad that goes just above the lip of the door frame. Check it has a large, padded surface area, to minimize the pressure on the door lintel, as a small metal pad could potentially damage the lintel. If you are interested in a home pull up bar, you might like to visit another of my sites.