HLL crushing my neck

I've progressed to Negative Hanging Leg Raises.
The top bar on my stall bars is offset about 4 inches but I can't seem to lift my knees up with out crushing my neck. Lot's of pressure on my C7, is this normal?

How much back pressure is needed to ensure you don't cheat with the lats?

I'm thinking of setting up a high bar on the wall with a little more offset.
What do you think is the maximum offset I could use for someone 6' 1"?

The pressure on your neck is caused by your excessively using your lats to pull up into the HLL, which in turn is perceived by you as backward pressure into the rail.

 

Try hanging by fingertips only during your HLL work to help alleviate this pressure.

 

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Thanks for the response coach. Is it normal for a person just starting the negative hanging leg lifts to not be able to get their legs raised all the way to the top bar?

I was able to perform half hanging leg raises 5 sets of 5 but I can't bring my toes fully to the bar for negative HLL.

Are partial reps OK in the beginning?

Yes, it is quite common.

And yes, many people need to incrementally increase HLL ROM. This is fine as long as you remain mindful that this abbreviated ROM is not the end goal.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Thanks Coach, HLL are relatively easy on a straight bar, but the stall bars make it difficult to use full ROM.

Is there any value to alternating workouts on a high bar and Stall Bars for HLL?

 

How should master progress if you can't do full ROM?

 

Should I just stay in Week 1 progression until I can complete the full ROM?

Keep Repeating 3 set of 1 until I can get full ROM

OR

Week 1 - Week 4 until I can get full ROM.

Repeat weeks 1-4 while you build ROM.