[AcftW]

Good place for my first post after lurking for a year lol.

Echoing what others have said about neutral grip pull ups. I started getting tendinitis when I began weighted chin ups so I had to stick with low intensity body weight chin ups with neutral grip for about a week. I also iced my biceps just above the elbow pretty regularly, which seemed to help. Now that I don't do anything but neutral grip I haven't had any issues.

[bucky]

(05-23-2017 09:41 AM)AcftW Wrote:  

Good place for my first post after lurking for a year lol.

Echoing what others have said about neutral grip pull ups. I started getting tendinitis when I began weighted chin ups so I had to stick with low intensity body weight chin ups with neutral grip for about a week. I also iced my biceps just above the elbow pretty regularly, which seemed to help. Now that I don't do anything but neutral grip I haven't had any issues.

Cool. I'm excited to get back to pull-ups again, once I can get a bar that allows me to do neutral grip and will work in my current house. In addition to possibly helping me past my elbow problems, I like the idea of them hitting the lats harder and the arms less. I can work the arms with other exercises.

[S3K2]

I had the same elbow problem (tendon damage) but mine was caused from the anabolic steriod Trenbolone. Tren got me so strong that my tendon could not keep up with the heavy weights, and started causing me issues. What I did was take a week off completely, came back with a lower weight, cycled off tren and a week later elbow pain ceased.

I'm guessing yours was not caused from tren however. Get an mri and see if theres any damage. Take some time away from the gym. I promise your muscles will not fall off despite what everyone thinks.

[Steelex]

Tren is amazing but god I am a wreck on tren.

[S3K2]

I remember reading a post that your on tren year round if I remember correctly. Cycle off for a bit bro!

Heres a tid bit...fasting destroys used up mitochondria by anabolics. In other words, if you get off of tren, fast for minimum of 3 months than cycle back on tren, tren should hit you the same as your first cyle of tren! Try it out and report back.

[Steelex]

Noooo.

I'm on test year round.

I don't run tren ace more than 6 weeks.

[bucky]

(05-21-2017 12:05 PM)blck Wrote:  

You can try K-Tape, it act like some antalgic, lowering the pain, it's an alternative if the pain is not yet to the point of giving up...



Also check this vid to see if on how bad movements can hurt your elbows:

Thanks for the video. My elbows would frequently touch the door frame when I used to do pull-ups with a door frame bar, so I think my elbow position is good. I'll have to pay more attention to what my wrists are doing.

[blck]

@Bucky
Glad it helped

@S3K2 @Steelex
Tried it for 6 weeks and had to stop, congestion with Tren was from an other level but didn't get the effect I thought I would:
People talked about hunger, anger and feeling like an animal but I got none of those and that's why I took it in the first place but after the 3rd week I couldn't move anymore, open my hand or run, I moved like robocop.



[/derailing off]

[Hannibal]

Pull back with the rhomboids and down with the elbows instead of forward with the wrists and lats.

It's also easier to do it with a neutral or palms facing you grip.

[ruddock]

rest is always the most important thing a body needs when lifting and exercises.. especially once we start to age... I did not rest and my tennis elbow never healed and had to have surgery on it and to this day can not grip enough to lift a decent amount of weight.. I get tendon pain way before I experience any muscle fatigue.... I initially got the tennis elbow from doing reverse tricep press downs... and had started doing pull ups... be careful.. rest as much as possible and good luck... Im 49 and haven't lifted anything since 2012--- lost all muscle tone in upper body.... don't let it progress to the point you lose your ability to ever lift light weights to maintain muscle tone

[bucky]

I just wanted to thank whoever suggested I focus on neutral grip (palms facing) pull-ups. I've been doing that for several months now and they are definitely much easier on my elbow. I hardly have any elbow pain at all now and I'm cautiously getting into using other grips again and gradually getting stronger. Still not as good at pull-ups as I once was, but I'm getting there.

[Atlanta Man]

I have had multiple injuries since I turned 40 and it is very distressing to me.

The first injury was a pulled abdominal muscle after not working out for a year-I pulled my abdomen doing pullups (I know it sounds bizarre). That injury took 1 month to heal and required me to incorporate abdominal isolation exercises and 20 lbs of weight loss to rehab and avoid a similar injury.

The second injury was a pulled right bicep that occurred doing..... you guessed it pullups-even though I was in excellent shape at the time. I was pushing heavy dumbbells(125lbs+) doing chest presses and developed chronic wrist pain too. I was saddled with both injuries and was still going to the gym trying to "work around" them when due to career stuff I had to take 4 months off from the gym-when I say off , I mean I did not set foot in the gym or do any exercise for 4 months. After the 4 months off I was completely injury free.....and 25 pounds overweight.

To lose the weight I started Boxing and joined the church of Stairmaster plus resistance training. To avoid injury I let the ego go and instead of pushing 315x5 I did 225x12. I was doing decline bench press and felt a pinch in my medial elbow and immediately stopped-that was back in late September. Now it is December and the pain is still there, I am sure I have medial epicondalitis from repetitive use- it hurts to move it, is tender to touch, and resistance training with my left arm is not possible. I think I may have to take some months off again-it is just so frustrating but the only way to heal after 40 is real time off.

[heavy]

I'm not that old...yet

But I've had forearm tendinitis for years...I had a repetitive job for a bit, and I have dainty wrists despite my otherwise ripped bod.

I'm not sure on how to get rid of the pain, but I know I use wrist straps for everything. Pullups, pull-downs, shoulder shrugs and trap stuff. Eliminates inflammation in my forearms and tendons in my elbow.

[gework]

For those with joint pain I recommend Beyond Tangy Tangerine 2.0:



I had regular injuries from about the age of 17 to 26. Then I started taking this and I've only been injured / ill once since. The injury was caused from far too much mountain walking over three days and the illness during 2 months of not taking it as I forgot to take it with me on travels. It's the most comprehensive supplement I've come across: contents.

My father started taking this due to having osteo-arthritis. His hands and feet were often quite seriously inflamed and he was often in pain. After taking this the swelling stopped and has little, infrequent pain. Three of his friends have started taking it. One of them was a former rugby player who had serious knee pain. That largely subsided when he started taking this. Another was in serious pain and had trouble walking. After taking this he came in the pub one day jogging on the spot, then began jogging round the pub in glee. I forget what happened to the other guy. These are all about 70 years old.

I get the six bottles of 2.0 tablets from here:

http://www.scalarhealth.com/tangytangerine.html

As they make sure I am paying no import duty. This lasts me one year, though it's meant to be a 6 month pack. You might be able to get it cheaper from somewhere else in the US.

[blck]

(11-28-2017 02:57 PM)heavy Wrote:  

I'm not that old...yet

But I've had forearm tendinitis for years...I had a repetitive job for a bit, and I have dainty wrists despite my otherwise ripped bod.

I'm not sure on how to get rid of the pain, but I know I use wrist straps for everything. Pullups, pull-downs, shoulder shrugs and trap stuff. Eliminates inflammation in my forearms and tendons in my elbow.

Had the same kind of pain in both internal and external sides of my forearms due to too much stiffness on the external side from workout & too much elongation in the internal (bjj) and the rice bucket workout helped me tremendously (not in size) to diminish the pain and strengthen the whole forearm.

[Dulceácido]

There's no magic potion that's going to take away the wear and tear on your bod. You're just getting old. It happens to everyone. The best thing you can do is adjust your exercises. I'd try Lat Pull-downs with little weight and high reps. You may have to join a gym to do this--I can't think of a way to do it in a home gym.

--or--

Just realize that you've reached a point that you can't pass. And come up with other exercises to do. You had it right to begin with when you said doing lateral dumbbell rows. You can also do TRX rows, which you could incorporate into a home gym if you bought the straps. Just adjust the height/angle of the lift to where it's not so demanding on your elbows. Someone mentioned Thera-Bands, that's not a bad idea. Just adjust your reps. If it becomes aggravating to your elbow, don't power through. Just stop.

[kbell]

My elbows bother me when I do Lat pulldowns and tricep exercises. Not sure why. Its comes and goes. But at its worse sometime the elbow will lock a bit than relax in the full extended position. I tend to stop the exercise if it does that.

[bucky]

(11-28-2017 04:21 PM)Dulceácido Wrote:  

There's no magic potion that's going to take away the wear and tear on your bod. You're just getting old. It happens to everyone.

I've found that using lighter weights and higher reps with slow, controlled motions has helped a lot to counteract the wear and tear of aging. That, along with intermittent fasting, has gotten me great results lately. I'm seeing defined abs and I'm close to 50. Feeling great too. Energy levels are up, joint and back pain are way down, etc.

[Bienvenuto]

Its been discussed elsewhere on these forums but this is where Paul Wade's Convict Conditioning comes into its own. There is a lot of criticism, perhaps fair, of his insistence at working the early.. light.. progressions for a long time at high rep ranges. He recommends at least a month on each progression if not longer in order to squeeze every last benefit from one exercise before moving onto the next one.
A lot of younger people who use systems like 5 5 3 or Starting Strength are critical of that approach (again perhaps understandably) but one of the main benefits the author advertises is that this approach helps to condition the tendons and ligaments as well as the muscles and that that makes a big difference for the older athletes.
The second pull up progression in his CC programme is the Australian Pull up or Down under Pullup as promoted by Al Kavadlo for 3 x 30 reps. The first progression is very easy unless one uses extra flexion and tension on the 3 x 50 rep range. An athlete can exhaust themselves doing just that.
Wade advises using a smith machine bar from doing the pull up vertically and gradually lowering it and meeting the 3 x 30 rep standard until eventually the body is at a horizontal angle. That process should condition the ligaments and shoulders and especially the elbows.
Whatever you do will probably be personalised and made up of many different things but hopefully this could be a useful angle..

[Stallion]

+900000 for Theraband flexbars. Seriously, buy one right now.

I'm quite young (late 20s) and have always been athletic. Have been able to do 10+ strict pullups since I was a kid. Extremely healthy joints.

Yet... in the last few years when I decided to go really hardcore into pullups I started to feel the pain on my elbows. I thought I was getting old or I wasn't as invincible as I thought.

Turns out... my elbow connective tissue wasn't as strong as my muscles so it couldn't keep up with the volume. Everyone has this problem, simply because muscles adapt way faster than tendons/connective tissues.

A few weeks of consistent use of therabands got my elbow tissues up to speed. No problems since.


Everyone should incorporate therabands into their mobilty work... it's the same as rotator cuff work, if you don't do it you will pay someday.

They market them as recovery tools, but I consider them preventive. Google tyler twist and reverse tyler twist to get an idea of what you use them for... (you should be doing both twists as a preventive measure.. it takes a few minutes per week).

I bought the blue theraband first because I thought I was so tough and strong. I can definitely bend it, but I have discovered that the easier bands are better because I can do veeeeery slow controlled stretches and really feel the tendons working. If you have the cash, buy 2 or 3 and see what works for you.

[bucky]

(12-06-2017 11:19 PM)Stallion Wrote:  

+900000 for Theraband flexbars. Seriously, buy one right now.

I'm quite young (late 20s) and have always been athletic. Have been able to do 10+ strict pullups since I was a kid. Extremely healthy joints.

Yet... in the last few years when I decided to go really hardcore into pullups I started to feel the pain on my elbows. I thought I was getting old or I wasn't as invincible as I thought.

Turns out... my elbow connective tissue wasn't as strong as my muscles so it couldn't keep up with the volume. Everyone has this problem, simply because muscles adapt way faster than tendons/connective tissues.

A few weeks of consistent use of therabands got my elbow tissues up to speed. No problems since.


Everyone should incorporate therabands into their mobilty work... it's the same as rotator cuff work, if you don't do it you will pay someday.

They market them as recovery tools, but I consider them preventive. Google tyler twist and reverse tyler twist to get an idea of what you use them for... (you should be doing both twists as a preventive measure.. it takes a few minutes per week).

I bought the blue theraband first because I thought I was so tough and strong. I can definitely bend it, but I have discovered that the easier bands are better because I can do veeeeery slow controlled stretches and really feel the tendons working. If you have the cash, buy 2 or 3 and see what works for you.

This sounds like brilliant advice. Do you incorporate the bands into your main workout, or use them separately like when you're watching TV or something?

[Stallion]

I have tried both ways (between sets in the gym, and at home while doing something else).

I don't think it matters as long as you do it a few times per week. The key is consistency.




I haven't been able to replicate the exercise with just dumbels.

At the beginning it takes practice to feel it the way are supposed to, keep watching videos until you get it. This guy explains it very well

[Gorgonzola]

Weighted CHINS. Palms facing you. Pull ups are terrible for your elbows. 45 yo dude here.

[deuce]

(12-13-2017 07:41 PM)Gorgonzola Wrote:  

Weighted CHINS. Palms facing you. Pull ups are terrible for your elbows. 45 yo dude here.

I've always been very good at pullups and love doing them. The last few years I've been doing weighted chinups (palms facing you) and my pullups have always been there when I needed them (I have to test on them every year).

I do 2 sets of 6-8, when I can get 8 on both sets the weight is increased. The pullup numbers will lag a little behind the chinup numbers, but I always know I can knock out at least 20 strict ones on demand.

[bucky]

(12-13-2017 07:41 PM)Gorgonzola Wrote:  

Weighted CHINS. Palms facing you. Pull ups are terrible for your elbows. 45 yo dude here.

I've been doing mostly chin-ups and neutral-grip for the last few months and my elbow has basically recovered. Even threw in a few sets of regular pull-ups last work out (a few days ago) and the elbow feels fine still.

Gorgonzola is one hell of a cheese, by the way. Good stuff.