all posts post new thread

Old Forum How I finally learned to lock my elbow

Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)
jgruginski

jgruginski

Level 3 Valued Member
It seems like an easy enough task. "Just push it straighter!" I would tell myself, but the elbow always felt "soft", especially during getups. I tried crushing the handle, but it didn't give me that solid feeling.  I've been going through the S&S program for the past month and really enjoying the progress, but hadn't yet gotten that solid elbow lock until I just played with my wrist angle a bit. When I first started with the getup a few years ago, I had a lot of success trying to work isometric wrist flexion and crushing the handle.  What I didn't realize was that I had forgotten about pressure with my pinky, probably because the size of the handle didn't put pinky flexion in as advantageous a position. As I was playing with my wrist angle recently, I found that just trying to add a little ulnar deviation and pinky pressure got my elbow to lock completely. It definitely makes the roll to elbow, up to half sitting, and the "get down" feel so much easier.

The one thing I've noticed is that while my elbow is more solid, my tricep fatigues faster. This has improved greatly over the last week but I'd imagine that it's due to using the same nerves for pinky flexion, ulnar deviation, and tricep activation(C7 & C8 from my recollection).  The daily TGU practice is probably not as effective as GTG, but I'm seeing enough improvement that I'm not going to deviate from the program. At any rate, I don't know if this little tweak will help anyone else, but I figured that I would share.
 
Joe, very insightful!

Master SFG Geoff Neupert even coaches slight ulnar deviation in military presses.

 
 
Joe -

Thank you for posting this. I read this shortly before my S&S today, and it was a very helpful cue for my getups. It also felt for me that the ulnar deviation helped my shoulder pack better.

 

- Bill

 
 
Would this cue be protective of the elbows in pullups as well, I wonder?  It would obviously be more of  an "intent" with the bar interfering, but I did some hollow hangs while exerting a bit in that direction and it seemed possible.
 
Not sure where I heard this, (somewhere on this board, I'm sure)  but accentuating the pull with the pinky/trying to ulnar deviate while pulling up seems to make a significant difference.

 
 
Thanks, Chief. High frequency training does offer more opportunity to become more aware of these subtleties.

Bill H., I found the same and felt it was just because I was able to better align the bell's center of gravity. Regardless, a nice side effect.

Bill B., I'm assuming by your concern that you're having some issues with your elbows currently. I hope this helps!
 
By deviating the ulna do you mean tilting the hand towards the little finger like when you make a fist and tilt the hand towards the little finger to line up the first two metacarpals with the radius?
 
By deviating the ulna do you mean tilting the hand towards the little finger like when you make a fist and tilt the hand towards the little finger to line up the first two metacarpals with the radius?

Not certain if that is what Joe originally meant, but that's what I took it to mean, and if felt right.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Bill.  I tried it and the side of my wrist adjacent the little finger cramped.  Evidently there's a neglected muscle in there!  I'll work on it.  I have a lot of problems keeping the elbow straight and I'd like to fix it.  This looks like the key.  Thanks for the observation and analysis Joe.
 
I have the same problem of not being able to lock the elbow at sections of the TGU. I tried the ulnar deviation technique yesterday and saw a big improvement. Thanks to the OP.
 
this is slick stuff.

put your arms out in front of you.  make a fist, but emphasize squeezing the outside (pinkies) and then the inside (pointer fingers).  note the elbow movement in each.

at max shank's bw workshop we were talking about this applied to pushups, i.e. emphasizing outside for extension and inside for flexion and I asked him what he thought of that.  He said "do both."   Brilliant!

i think there's a similar thing going on with the feet and knee movement.
 
Joe - yeah, buddy that works great. You're on the money with the innervation - the other reason is that the lat is also innervated by thoracodorsal nerve which is derived from C7-C8 along with the ulnar nerve which is derived from C8-T1. The triceps are innervated by the radial nerve, which is derived from C7-C8. So they all  "share" C8. Therefore, cuing the pinky will actually engage the lat, extend the triceps, and pack the shoulder a little better, allowing you to keep the arm upright.

Bill B - For Pull Ups, cue the pulling from the pinky, almost like a false grip, then, either a) pull the bar to you (my favorite) or pull your elbows to your waist/hip bones.
 
I'm really glad that this is working for folks because after just a week and a half, that earlier tricep fatigue is now gone and I feel locked in during the whole movement. I've always been one of those folks who pressed a lot more then I was able to TGU safely because of this reason (press- single 32kg for reps, 36kg max, but a TGU max of 24kg). TGU progress is just flying now.
 
Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)
Back
Top Bottom