Doing chin ups with the aid of a belt

[PVC]

I'm sure this has been tried before, but anyways the idea came to me today in the gym, and since there were very few people around I decided to give it a try.

I can't do many chins. Last workout (no belt for chins) I did 4/4/3, with strict dead hang. Today (with a belt) I did 4.5/4/3, an improvement that I'm sure I would have made without the belt.

However, the first couple of reps of each set felt amazing. It felt like an invisible string was helping to pull me up - I felt a lot more powerful. Not stronger, because if that were the case I would have probably gotten more reps; but definitely more powerful.

Tentative conclusions:
Chins do benefit slightly from the additional abdominal stability provided by a belt. However, since the trunk is not under a significant load during chins, it is not the limiting factor for most trainees - especially those who are squatting, deadlifting and pressing. It might help more for sets with more than 4.5 reps, in which case abdominal fatigue may be a more limiting factor.

Opinions?

[JT in MD]

Interesting theory...

For me personally, I can do around 20 pull ups and 25 chin ups... my arms/upper back are always the limiting factor... well before my midsection. I might be the exception, so I'm curious to hear if anyone else has a different experience.

[PVC]

For me personally, I can do around 20 pull ups and 25 chin ups... my arms/upper back are always the limiting factor... well before my midsection.

That's what I'd expect to be the case, but as you can see by my chin up numbers I'm merely speculating.