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Bodyweight Making pull-ups weighted to reduce volume and stave off tendinitis?

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Tirofijo

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I'm doing ROP with a pull-up for each rung. Right now I'm at 5 ladders of 3 rungs (30 pull-ups 3x a week) but that's about to jump to 5 ladders of 4 rungs (50 pull-ups a session) on medium days and 5 ladders of 5 rungs on heavy days (75 pull-ups, assuming I can handle the volume).

Unless I modify something, weekly volume will be 155 pull-ups a week.

Last couple of workouts when doing pull-ups I noticed a very slight pain that appears to be classic tendinitis. I'm changing my grip already. Nothing major but don't want it to get worse. Only time I've had elbow tendinitis is when I went overboard with GTG pull-ups.

I assume the tendinitis is due to the pull-ups.

Am I correct to assume tendinitis + pull-ups is an issue of too much volume?

Before I drop pull-ups altogether, I was thinking about making them weighted and doing a single rep for each rung instead of increasing with the rungs. (Instead of a 4 rungs ladder being 1,2,3,4 I would do 1,1,1,1).

This would make my pull-up volume 15 reps on light days, 20 on medium days and 25 on heavy days.

Or I could do a simple 3x5 weighted or some other rep scheme after I've completed the clean and presses.

Or drop pull-ups altogether for a while until I'm sure the tendinitis is gone.)

(I'm 44 y/o. Max body weight pull-ups has been stuck at 12-15 forever. Max weighted is 60 lbs. Probably more interested in increasing one rep max than I am hitting a particular number in bodyweight pullups.)

Any thoughts are welcome.
 
Your plan - fewer reps but weighted - sounds good to me.

Is there a connection between your pullups and your elbow pain? I'd immediately drop the pullup reps because your immediate need is to get rid of the elbow pain. That might mean dropping pullups altogether for a little while, or sticking to singles, or something along those lines. The only way to test your theory is to dramatically lower your pullup volume, IMHO.

Be sure you start each pullup/chinup rep with straight elbows at the bottom and finish each rep that way.

As I understand it, the purpose of the pullups in the ROP is to help your press, not to reach any particular pullup goal. Keep experimenting to find what works best for you. IMHO, with a max of bw + 60 lbs., you don't have any reason to do unweighted pullups unless you are chasing a reps-at-bodyweight goal, and if that's the case, I don't think ladders to 5 are going to help you much.

-S-
 
+1 to what @Steve Freides said. Especially about identifying and eliminating the source of pain.
Additionally...
Using rings as opposed to a bar does wonders for mitigating the risk of elbow issues. Additionally doing some pre-hab work in the form of wrist pronators is excellent preventive maintenance.
 
@offwidth, I am having a grand time with my rings. I'm particularly enjoying the archer pullup variation.

-S-
 
Cool! You have a nice set up with the high ceilings.
We are in process of moving, I'm not exactly sure where I'm going to rig up my stuff in the new place. I use Metolius Rock Rings for pull-ups. But it's been a while, as I am still nursing this dodgy shoulder...
 
I
Tirofijo said:
I'm doing ROP with a pull-up for each rung. Right now I'm at 5 ladders of 3 rungs (30 pull-ups 3x a week) but that's about to jump to 5 ladders of 4 rungs (50 pull-ups a session) on medium days and 5 ladders of 5 rungs on heavy days (75 pull-ups, assuming I can handle the volume).

Unless I modify something, weekly volume will be 155 pull-ups a week.

Last couple of workouts when doing pull-ups I noticed a very slight pain that appears to be classic tendinitis. I'm changing my grip already. Nothing major but don't want it to get worse. Only time I've had elbow tendinitis is when I went overboard with GTG pull-ups.

I assume the tendinitis is due to the pull-ups.

Am I correct to assume tendinitis + pull-ups is an issue of too much volume?

Before I drop pull-ups altogether, I was thinking about making them weighted and doing a single rep for each rung instead of increasing with the rungs. (Instead of a 4 rungs ladder being 1,2,3,4 I would do 1,1,1,1).

This would make my pull-up volume 15 reps on light days, 20 on medium days and 25 on heavy days.

Or I could do a simple 3x5 weighted or some other rep scheme after I've completed the clean and presses.

Or drop pull-ups altogether for a while until I'm sure the tendinitis is gone.)

(I'm 44 y/o. Max body weight pull-ups has been stuck at 12-15 forever. Max weighted is 60 lbs. Probably more interested in increasing one rep max than I am hitting a particular number in bodyweight pullups.)

Any thoughts are welcome.
Click to expand...

I would tread lightly with elbow pain.. speaking from someone who kept working through some minimal pain until I set myself way back in my pullup game a few years back. I took myself from a 14 rep max down to being off the pullup bar for about a year and when was able to return my new max was 3.

Tendinitis is no joke if pushed to the limits and will not only set you back it will most likely resurface much easier in the future if high volume is added again.

IMO rest, ice stretch your ex-tensors and proceed with caution. Lower volume should also help once you return.
 
Karen Smith said:
I would tread lightly with elbow pain.. speaking from someone who kept working through some minimal pain until I set myself way back in my pullup game a few years back. I took myself from a 14 rep max down to being off the pullup bar for about a year and when was able to return my new max was 3.
Click to expand...

That was pretty much my experience from trying to work through elbow pain on pull ups. It took me twelve months before I was able to bear the weight again for multiple reps. Bodyweight exercises are a particular bugger for tendonitis because the minimum weight is actually quite substantial so you can't reset very low and build back up slowly (classic recovery method for tendonitis with barbells, dumbbells or on machines). I only do pull ups occasionally now because of the psychological factor (I imagine twinges when there none there). My advice with any form of tendonitis pain is to cease the offending exercise immediately and don't do anything that aggravates it (even minor pain) until you achieve complete recovery. You don't have to rest, just avoid whatever is aggravating it
 
Hello,

Tirofijo said:
Am I correct to assume tendinitis + pull-ups is an issue of too much volume?
Click to expand...
Pull ups and tendinitis can be common if one goes for high volume, above all done simultaneously with ROP.

In that case, the safest thing to do is to drop the pull up and check with a med.

Then, if you decide to get back to pull up training, several option can be considered:
> Varying wide / narrow grip
> Making the more or less heavy
> Using "partial" ROM (not straight arms at the bottom position)

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Thanks everyone. I really butchered the title. Sorry about that. Mods, can that be changed to "Making Pull-ups Weighted to Reduce Volume and Stave Off Tendinitis"?

To complicate matters, I dawns on me that the elbow pain almost corresponds with some grip workouts I did. I wish I had made better notes in my training log, but I didn't write down what day I first notice the issue with my elbow. I think it predates the grip workouts but I could be wrong.

So I'm going to take @Karen Smith 's advice to heart and drop the pullups for a bit. I'll be on vacation for the next few weeks and won't have access to my grip workout stuff anyway, so I'll drop that too for now. (I'm planning on buying another KB where I take vacation so I can continue the ROP.)

In a few weeks I'll restart w/a lower volume of weight pull-ups with rings, and then at some point later I'll restart the grip workout at a lower intensity. Hopefully the pain doesn't come back, but if it does, at least I'll have a better idea of what caused it.
 
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Great advice here already.

My elbows start to complain a long way short of that weekly volume (even if careful rotating grips and trying to keep form tight). I think there's a volume threshold with most things where the ability to do good starts to become the chance of wearing joints/connective tissue down. What is one person's sweet spot can be someone else's poison.

Rings sound like a wise addition.

@Karen Smith It would be great to hear how you built back from that setback and lessons learned in relation to pull ups. Apologies if you have already written an article on it, but would be keen to read your take as a lead instructor.
 
IANK (I am not Karen), but the biggest lesson to learn, IMHO, is to stop when you feel a _little_ pain before it becomes a _lot_ of pain. The less badly you injure yourself, the more quickly you can come back. For me, recovering from shoulder issues has just been a matter of easing in to the volume and the weight.

-S-
 
Carl said:
Great advice here already.

My elbows start to complain a long way short of that weekly volume (even if careful rotating grips and trying to keep form tight). I think there's a volume threshold with most things where the ability to do good starts to become the chance of wearing joints/connective tissue down. What is one person's sweet spot can be someone else's poison.

Rings sound like a wise addition.

@Karen Smith It would be great to hear how you built back from that setback and lessons learned in relation to pull ups. Apologies if you have already written an article on it, but would be keen to read your take as a lead instructor.
Click to expand...

I will add that to my articles to write :)
Funny is I was just logging in to ask you all what you would like to read. I am making a list to get caught back up on my writing deadlines.
I did learn a lot and still learning and returning to that old PR.
 
Great minds....;)

Look forward to the new articles.

Karen Smith said:
I will add that to my articles to write :)
Funny is I was just logging in to ask you all what you would like to read. I am making a list to get caught back up on my writing deadlines.
I did learn a lot and still learning and returning to that old PR.
Click to expand...
 
Great advice from all sides. In my experience (as others have said it's highly individual) stopping all activity stunts recovery. I'd be hesitant to add weight, but rather drop the volume as @Steve Freides recommended, concentrate on form and calling it quits prior to the onset of pain.
1. Rest
2. Ice
3. Stretch and train conservatively
4. Pay attention to the activities you do throughout the day that exacerbate the symptoms and modify as needed (little adjustments go a long way)
 
I don't have experience with elbow tendinitis, but I have struggled with patellar tendonitis for a long long time. I've learned the following:

1. Avoid by all means becoming chronic. Take care of it before.

2. Stopping exercise only works at the acute stage. My opinion in general is that dialing down weight and volume works a lot better than stopping altogether. Reduce weight and volume to the point it doesn't hurt any more.

This is a great article on the subject

Overcoming Tendonitis
 
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