Elbow pain from Pullups/chinups

[Gary W]

Hey guys, so ive been doing Pullups for a long time without problems, ive recently dropped rows and added ring Chinups so i Alternate each workout.

Ive started getting inner elbow pain on the first set, and they feel abit stiff the following day.

Im pretty sure i just need to warm up better, currently i do 10x band pull aparts 10x band shoulder rotation 10x band press 3mins crawling.

Any suggestions on warming up the elbows to avoid the pain?

 

[Steve Freides]

The simplest suggestion is to go back to what you were doing before you recently changed things and see if your symptoms improve. Take a few days off, consider taking a NSAID like naproxen for a those few days, then ease back into your earlier training regimen.

-S-

 

[bluejeff]

So the issue has only began since starting chin ups, but pull-ups have been fine? Not medical advice, but: To me that suggests potential shoulder restrictions. How is your general overhead mobility? Can you dead hang from the bar/rings with a supinated/chin up grip without pain or discomfort?

It’s interesting that switching to rings (which rotate freely) seems to have aggravated things compared to (I’m assuming) a standard pull-up bar.

As is pretty standard, a video might be helpful if possible.

 

[Gary W]

So the issue has only began since starting chin ups, but pull-ups have been fine? Not medical advice, but: To me that suggests potential shoulder restrictions. How is your general overhead mobility? Can you dead hang from the bar/rings with a supinated/chin up grip without pain or discomfort?

It’s interesting that switching to rings (which rotate freely) seems to have aggravated things compared to (I’m assuming) a standard pull-up bar.

As is pretty standard, a video might be helpful if possible.

I know! I thought the rings would be more friendly, i do get the pain on straight bar Pullups now as well since adding the ring Chinups but with both its just the first set really, some stiffness the day after.

I can deadhang but not tried in the chinup grip so ill give that ago.

Edit..
So i just tried to deadhang in a Chinup position, i cant. I can do over hand or hammer grip but not palms facing me.

 

[Gary W]

 

[WhatWouldHulkDo]

Teacup drill might be a good one



I'd also just say, take this kind of stuff seriously... for me, if the elbow flares up, it remains painful for months. Not a good thing to try to train through.

 

[bluejeff]

So i just tried to deadhang in a Chinup position, i cant. I can do over hand or hammer grip but not palms facing me.

A couple things spring to my mind:
-When using the rings, just let your hands rotate in such a way that lets your body feel okay, if that's possible at the moment. When you hang at the bottom, you are maintaining the supinated grip. If letting your hands rotate to a pronated position at the bottom alleviates the issue, I would start there so you can still do your pulling without aggravation.

-Without bombarding you with shoulder mobility stuff, I'll give you a drill I like, and then I'll post a link you can read through if you like.

-The drill: adjust your rings or bar such that your feet can rest on the floor. You are going to do dead hangs with your feet on the ground. If you use the rings, try and rotate your hands as best you can into a supinated position without feeling pain or discomfort, and lock your elbows (not forcefully, just keep them straight). If you use a bar, find a setup such that you can hang supinated at a comfortable angle of shoulder flexion, one that doesn't aggravate anything (even if it's just past 90 degrees). Do this drill in a way that allows your body to expand and loosen up. If you can only do one "rep" at a time, that's fine.

a) you will do a long exhale until you feel your abs start to engage. Maintain the engagement and take a silent inhale through the nose. You ought to feel your ribcage expanding. This ab engagement should not be forced; you aren't doing an ab exercise. It's just enough to keep you from arching your back when you inhale.

b) the above-mentioned ab engagement will prevent you from arching your back to compensate for shoulder flexion, and it ought to help you to feel a lat stretch.

c) do this a couple times a day, for something like 3 rounds of 5 breaths. Just let additional ranges of motion come on their own.

That's the simplest drill I have found to help with the chin up position. I know you've posted about back issues, so if anything here aggravates it, obviously stop and reassess.

A quick and general "how and why:"
-the elbow must transmit all the forces to and from your hand to your torso. When you move your shoulder through that 180 degrees of flexion, the humerus will pass through a series of different relative rotations. When we push or pull the elbow sees relative motion between the forearm (radius and ulna) and humerus. If things aren't moving well, the tissue around the elbow gets the brunt of it.
-Additionally, the humerus ought to end up in relative external rotation at its max ROM approaching 180 degrees. If it's not, and you are trying to supinate your hands, you are essentially twisting your hands the opposite direction of your humerus.

This remains one of the best shoulder health articles I know of off-hand:

What You Need To Know To Fix Shoulders: Scapulohumeral Rhythm

www.conorharris.com

 

[offwidth]

And it could just be the elbows are getting overworked.
When this has happened to me it’s generally because I’ve skipped doing what I call pre-hab. Dodgy elbows are pretty common in rock climbers. What has always worked for me are finger extensors using rubber bands such as the ones from Iron Mind, and wrist pronations using a heavy hammer, frying pan, or similar object.

 

[Boris Bachmann]

Dan John calls this MAPS (middle aged pull-up syndrome). It's truly wise because in my teens and 20s, I could do hundreds of pull-ups a week and be fine...

Take some time off from pull-ups. Heal up. Slowly reintroduce them, and be careful about pushing the volume.

 

[LukeV]

After recurrent bouts of elbow tendonitis I ditched pull ups and chin ups. They just weren’t working for me. There are plenty of other exercises to choose from

 

[GovernorSilver]

Game changer for me was the exercise taught in this video. It trains a spiraling action that pulls from the back, through the external shoulder rotators, and out to the hands... and relieves load from the elbows.

After enough practice of this exercise, I was able to apply it to pull ups, without re-aggravating my elbow tendonitis. Leads to stronger feeling pull ups of course. For me this works well with hands at shoulder width or closer together. On rings, the spiraling action pulls the pinkies of the palms towards each other, so I end up with supinated palms at the top, pronated at the bottom. Seems kind of unintuitive that external shoulder rotators, along with the upper back muscles, would pull the palms inward, but that's where the exercise in the video comes in - to teach yourself that spiraling action.

 

[Joel the Savage]

After recurrent bouts of elbow tendonitis I ditched pull ups and chin ups. They just weren’t working for me. There are plenty of other exercises to choose from

+1 plenty of good row-variations to do instead.
There's no magic exercise for all, if it simply does not work for you, do something else.

 

[Gary W]

After recurrent bouts of elbow tendonitis I ditched pull ups and chin ups. They just weren’t working for me. There are plenty of other exercises to choose from

Not really for me, i train at home with limited weight.

Thanks for the tips guys I will try a few of them out and see if they work.
Its not too bad at the moment, i can feel its there but i wouldn't says its tendinitis yet, ive had it before along time ago but on the outside of elbow not inside.
This morning its a little stiff again, its the twisting of the forearm like if you were looking at a watch is when i feel it.

 

[jayjo]

I can't do pullups or chinups anymore. I am too old and too heavy and my joints cannot take it.
But you can try to warmup with CURLS first. You can also try to elbow sleaves / wraps.

 

[LukeV]

Not really for me, i train at home with limited weight.

Thanks for the tips guys I will try a few of them out and see if they work.
Its not too bad at the moment, i can feel its there but i wouldn't says its tendinitis yet, ive had it before along time ago but on the outside of elbow not inside.
This morning its a little stiff again, its the twisting of the forearm like if you were looking at a watch is when i feel it.

Sounds exactly like tendinitis to me. You just haven’t aggravated it enough to burst into tears … yet! Be careful my friend, you do not want to turn episodic tendinitis into chronic tendinitis. I’m the poster boy for doing exactly that. Search on here, I’ve posted before

 

[Gary W]

Ive ordered some elbow sleeves, ive got some knee ones and they really help at times i feel any niggles in my knees.
I dont really want to stop doing them so will see how it goes, i done bar pullups last night, slight pain on first set but feels fine this morning so thats good.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Dan John calls this MAPS (middle aged pull-up syndrome). It's truly wise because in my teens and 20s, I could do hundreds of pull-ups a week and be fine...

Take some time off from pull-ups. Heal up. Slowly reintroduce them, and be careful about pushing the volume.

I have found that doing either presses or getups between sets of pullups basically eliminates the inner elbow discomfort.

I train a variety of pullups year round as well as climb two - four days a week.

A few years ago, I did LOADS of edge pullups, which helped tremendously, but after a few months the elbows started to bark at me. I started doing Iron Cardio with the emphasis on the pullups and the pain has been gone since.

I have also tried to work in weighted pullups as part of my pre climbing warmups and have noticed that if I do them between sets of getups, the elbows stay happy.

 

[Torin]

I've noticed that using abduction or adduction in pullups bothers my elbows when I start doing higher reps, so I switched to neutral grip thumbless pullups.

Without the thumb to grip, I can't use the forearm like a lever, so it always stays perpendicular to the bar which eliminates the irritation.

(I've heard of people with weaker grips who have the opposite problem YMMV)

 

[Gary W]

I have found that doing either presses or getups between sets of pullups basically eliminates the inner elbow discomfort

I do this already as it goes, i do a set of Pullups then a set of Pushups or pike press, i do that for 3 sets.

I've noticed that using abduction or adduction in pullups bothers my elbows when I start doing higher reps, so I switched to neutral grip thumbless pullups.

Could be something to this, ive used a bar forever, thumbless grip. I did do ring rows with normal grip, using the thumb.
Never any issues untill i introduced ring Chinups and i think its the gripping so tight .
Also my bar is fat grip and the rings are quite skinny which causes me to grip tighter i think.

 

[Zuma2]

Over the decades I've had 3-4 bouts of inside elbow pain from chin ups, pull ups, or hanging from a straight bar. Restricting myself to ring chins has helped tremendously. However, last May I decided to add hanging from a 2x4 ledge. Bad elbow decision.

What's worked for me whenever I've had the kind of pain you've described is to do my pulling only by grabbing dish towels (They're not terry cloth but are a denser weave. Sorry I can't describe them better than this.) draped through my rings or TRX handles (I'm a bodyweight guy, so these are my pulling exercises.) until the pain subsides. Don't rush it. Slightly moisten your hands to help with your grip.

I've added a few ring chins into the mix over the past month, but still don't want to push this exercise. On the other hand, on a good day I can do 8 strict towel chins with no elbow discomfort.