Quest for 20 straight pull-ups

rybo

WAY better!
Another thing that no one mentioned yet and sometimes gets mixed opinions about, but it one thing I'd wish I'd started doing long ago. Don't stop pulling when you chin gets over the bar. Try to pull as high over the bar as you can. Now this doesn't have to be done every time you practice pullups, but I think incorporating it into at least some of your training is going to make a big difference in the long run. Once you are nearing the end range of motion, the difficulty of squeaking out another inch or 2 is exponential.

McCloud33

rybo wrote: »

WAY better!
Another thing that no one mentioned yet and sometimes gets mixed opinions about, but it one thing I'd wish I'd started doing long ago. Don't stop pulling when you chin gets over the bar. Try to pull as high over the bar as you can. Now this doesn't have to be done every time you practice pullups, but I think incorporating it into at least some of your training is going to make a big difference in the long run. Once you are nearing the end range of motion, the difficulty of squeaking out another inch or 2 is exponential.

Especially if you're wanting to move to muscle ups. When I've done weighted pull-ups in the past I've noticed a big difference with going more chest to bar opposed to chin. That's more of an explosive movement in my opinion though and hard to do if I'm going slow and strict.

singletrackmtbr

rybo wrote: »

WAY better!
Another thing that no one mentioned yet and sometimes gets mixed opinions about, but it one thing I'd wish I'd started doing long ago. Don't stop pulling when you chin gets over the bar. Try to pull as high over the bar as you can. Now this doesn't have to be done every time you practice pullups, but I think incorporating it into at least some of your training is going to make a big difference in the long run. Once you are nearing the end range of motion, the difficulty of squeaking out another inch or 2 is exponential.

I agree,and you are don't actually have to achieve it, but if you're TRYING to, it will help ensure you aren't short changing yourself at the top by craning your neck to get the chin over the bar and helps you get a squeeze up there.

sgt1372

Good luck with that!

FWIW, I spent 3 months doing 100 pushups, 50-60 dips and 20-40 neutral grip pull-ups a day and totally wrecked my elbows. Upper body and arms looked great but developed severe tendonitis in both elbows.

Stopped doing these exercises for a month and the elbows still hurt a bit when I do bench presses and overhead presses 2x's a week. Wear an elbow strap on each forearm to attempt to reduce the stress. I could do 20-25 pushups, 15-20 dips and 8-10 pull-ups in a row, which was good enough for me, before I stopped doing them.

May ask for an ortho referral to get some cortisone shots if the pain doesn't go away entirely on it's own in another couple of months.

McCloud33

sgt1372 wrote: »

Good luck with that!

FWIW, I spent 3 months doing 100 pushups, 50-60 dips and 20-40 neutral grip pull-ups a day and totally wrecked my elbows. Upper body and arms looked great but developed severe tendonitis in both elbows.

Stopped doing these exercises for a month and the elbows still hurt a bit when I do bench presses and overhead presses 2x's a week. Wear an elbow strap on each forearm to attempt to reduce the stress. I could do 20-25 pushups, 15-20 dips and 8-10 pull-ups in a row, which was good enough for me, before I stopped doing them.

May ask for an ortho referral to get some cortisone shots if the pain doesn't go away entirely on it's own in another couple of months.

I'm only doing it 3 days a week, so hopefully I won't mess up any joints. I did a 10,000 push-up challenge about a year and a half ago and that was a brutal month...basically 500 push-ups 2 days, 1 rest day, repeat.

riffraff2112

much better form, you are well on your way.

singletrackmtbr

sgt1372 wrote: »

Good luck with that!

FWIW, I spent 3 months doing 100 pushups, 50-60 dips and 20-40 neutral grip pull-ups a day and totally wrecked my elbows. Upper body and arms looked great but developed severe tendonitis in both elbows.

Stopped doing these exercises for a month and the elbows still hurt a bit when I do bench presses and overhead presses 2x's a week. Wear an elbow strap on each forearm to attempt to reduce the stress. I could do 20-25 pushups, 15-20 dips and 8-10 pull-ups in a row, which was good enough for me, before I stopped doing them.

May ask for an ortho referral to get some cortisone shots if the pain doesn't go away entirely on it's own in another couple of months.

Sorry to hear that. Were you doing strict form on pullups with a slow eccentric? If you were swinging, kipping, or coming down too fast that could be definitely shred the ligaments and tendons. Hope you feel better!

sgt1372

singletrackmtbr wrote: »

Sorry to hear that. Were you doing strict form on pullups with a slow eccentric? If you were swinging, kipping, or coming down too fast that could be definitely shred the ligaments and tendons. Hope you feel better!

No swinging or kipping. Controlled descent. Using neutral grip to supposedly prevent the problem but it didn't help.

Self diagnosis leads me to believe that it is an injury to the ulnar collateral ligament which includes a couple of tendons that attach between the medial epicondyle (a bone protrusion at the bottom of the upper arm (humerus) and the end of the ulnar forearm bone. The pain is right at the tip of the medial epicondyle.

If this is a proper diagnosis, I've got a form of medial epicondyilitis (aka golfer's elbow), which has been know to be caused by weight lifting among other sports activities (most commonly golfing). Here's an excellent description of the problem and the ways to treat it:

http://www.houstonmethodist.org/orthopedics/where-does-it-hurt/elbow/medial-epicondylitis-golfers-elbow/

The pain is not severe and I can still use both arms for BP and OHP with only minor discomfort but am laying off the pull-ups, pushups and dips until the discomfort goes away. If that doesn't happen w/in a couple of months, I'll ask for a referral to an orthopedic surgeon for a professional assessment and to get cortisone shots which won't fix the problem permanently but if past experience holds true, should relieve the pain.

singletrackmtbr

Sounds like you've got it under control. Feel better!