Bent Arm vs Straight Arm Programming

[Jeff Walker]

Are Straight arm exercises like PL, FL, BL better trained with more frequency than Bent Arm movements like pullups, pushups, etc?

 

Should bent arm be done like 2xs a week and straight arm done 3xs a week?

[Guest]

Straight arm work will almost always work the tendons in your elbow/bicep, even if you are very comfortable doing those specific exercises. Tendons take approximately 10x as long as muscles to regenerate and become stronger, so I would think doing bent arm work 3x a week and SA work 2x a week would be better. However, if you check the F1 series, they have it all layed out and you KNOW you won't get hurt/overtrained.

[Daniel Burnham]

Frequency of bent vs straight arm depends on the level of the person.  In the beginning straight arm should be used in only small volumes and with simple SA exercises such as the one listed in Foundation series.  The amount of straight arm that a person can handle is also dependent on the person.  

 

So basically there isn't a set frequency and the answer to the question is much more complicated than you probably expected.  The good news is that coach has developed a program that leads through this and transfers you to the straight arm work as the prep work you need is completed.