L-Pull Up, the bane of my existence

I can't do L-Pull ups - at least not from a dead hang, arms fully extended. When I try to pull from this position, I feel intense pressure/blockage of motion in my shoulders that tells me to stop. If I decide to push through it, I can feel both of my shoulders "click" rapidly and painfully into internal rotation(its like they hit a pothole on the highway), then I can pull up no problem, no pain.

I weigh 190. My strength numbers are deadhang pull up + over 1/3 BW. 8-10 Deadhang pull ups. 30+ kipping pull ups. I can hold the L-Sit on bars for almost a minute.

My shoulder flexibility leaves much to be desired. I can clasp my hands behind my back but barely raise them, and it is an all out effort to do so. Wall extensions are terrible. Both of my arms come off the wall completely when I try to extend up.

What's going on here??? Flexiblity? Strength imbalance? I'm concerned about the "click". No shoulder injuries to speak of in my history. If it is flexibility, my guess is that my shoulders are not use to being in an externally rotated position, as in the bottom hang of a L-Pull Up. Because I'm right up on the edge of my external rotation flexiblity for my shoulder, my pulling strength is sapped some how.

any ideas or thoughts would be most helpful!

xx

I find L-Pull-Ups very difficult as well.

Think about this, when in a regular pull up your center of gravity is in line with the rest of your body.

When you pull your legs to an L Sit position it is going to alter where your center of gravity is. It will still be directly below your hands but your back and butt are pushed back. Which will cause the shoulders to stretch in a way that some people are not used to.

It's where those wall extensions come in handy, you might also check out the 'cat stretch.'

Good Luck

Try an using an undergrip first or only tucking your legs instead of piking at the hips.

Another solution is to initate the LPU by cheating. Start in a dead hang, lift legs to horizontal then as you transfer to the pull. Sort of a "kipping" LPU.

Blairbob said:

Try an using an undergrip first or only tucking your legs instead of piking at the hips.

Another solution is to initate the LPU by cheating. Start in a dead hang, lift legs to horizontal then as you transfer to the pull. Sort of a "kipping" LPU.

Yup, both of those make the movement much easier. Start in a dead hang and then lift legs to horizontal removes the rough click in my shoulders completely. I could do that...but I'm trying to figure out what is my deficiency that is not allowing me pull up when I start from a L-Hang.

My strength isn't that far off if not more so than other people who can do the L-Pull up with no problems. It is starting to narrow down to flexibility and I'm just wondering exactly what it may be, as much academic interest as personal interest, and trying to attack the problem and see if it produces better results.

For most strong people who experience problems with L-pullups, the difficulty lies in insufficient flexibility throughout the shoulder girdle. A regular pullup/chinup or Chinese pullup (kipping) allows the body to lean backward to a degree at the top of the movement. An L-pullup, like a correctly executed muscle-up, requires the body to remain vertical.

(As a side note, a correctly executed muscle-up is not one that is defined by aesthetics, but one that lays a foundation of strength that allows an athlete to progress onward to more difficult ring strength variations in the future.)

Active flexibility is an oft neglected, yet essential, component of gymnastics conditioning. As such it may help to picture the body as a spring: if the "spring" is too weak the body collapses/breaks down under load; if too strong the body will be unable to react explosively in a athletic environment; if too brittle (lack of flexibility) the body lacks elasticity and is easily damaged outside a very narrow ROM (note: this is the issue Xi Xia is encountering above). The aim with Gymnastic Strength Training™ is integrating strength, power and active flexibility to create the strongest, most explosive, most resilient spring possible.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

I have been doing L-pull-ups in the steady state cycle for a few weeks now and I can do them fine but it seems like my left arm fatigues before my right arm. I have been noticing that on my last set (or second set when I am having a bad day) I pull up skewed to my right side. Should I just continue with the L-pull-ups at that point, rest longer or move to an easier variation in order to keep better form?

This is the first week I have had this problem since starting my cycle 4 weeks ago.

I did train hard this week so I might have just been worn out because I do the L-pull-ups on Friday. I also added in regular pull ups to my warm up all this week (which are easy but I think I am still adapting to the extra work).

I have been doing L-pull-ups in the steady state cycle for a few weeks now . . . I also added in regular pull ups to my warm up all this week (which are easy but I think I am still adapting to the extra work).

If you are changing the workouts during your training cycle, you are not following a Steady State cycle.

I have been noticing that on my last set (or second set when I am having a bad day) I pull up skewed to my right side. Should I just continue with the L-pull-ups at that point, rest longer or move to an easier variation in order to keep better form?

My recommendation is to always discontinue a set immediately when you are no longer able to execute a repetition correctly.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Yea, if you continue a set after you lose perfect form you are allowing your neuromuscular system to start learning a bad habit. Whether it's unbalanced bilateral movement or just altered joint angles within the exercise, it can cause a slow shift to poor form, and with that shift comes increased risk for injury as well as decreased performance increases. When you reach your limit with the L pull-ups, go back to whatever pull-up you can do properly to finish your workout. If you find the weakness extends to all pull-ups, either take an extra 5 minute break or move on to a different part of your workout and then come back for that last set or two later.