As discussed in a previous post, closed chain movements involve performing an exercise while the limb attached to the weight is stationary. For the upper body, a pull-up or push-up would be considered closed-chain movements because the limbs applying the force i.e. the hands, are stationary. For the lower body, a squat or deadlift would also be considered a closed-chain movement because the the limbs applying the force i.e. the feet are stationary as well.

The advantage of closed chain movements is that multiple joints and muscles are being targeted, allowing you to use the body’s muscle chains in an efficient manner. This explains why it is much easier to add load to a weighted pull-up or squat and progressively overload your body, as opposed to a bench press, an open chain exercise that can be really stubborn to progress. Closed chain movements are also more functional, because they more closely approximate the movements that you would use in real life, such as bending to pick up an object (deadlift) or pushing yourself away from a surface (push-up).

Open chain exercises, on the other hand, such as the bench press or the row, are useful for isolating a muscle group. They can be helpful for rehabilitating a specific muscle or when training for a sport that requires the use of open chain activities, such as throwing a ball.

Feel free to incorporate both closed and open chain movements into your exercise regime. However, when you find that you are stagnating on some (or all) of your lifts, try switching to closed chain movements to help break through those plateaus. By way of example, here are some quick substitutions you can make:

• If plateaued on the bench press (open chain), switch to weighted dips (closed chain)
• If plateaued on the barbell row (open chain), switch to weighted pull-ups/chin-ups (closed chain)
• If plateaued on the leg press (open chain), switch to squats (closed chain) … you don’t need the leg press anyway!

I hope this is helpful for you to not only better understand human physiology, but also to develop an intuition for exercises you can use to help achieve your health and fitness goals.