Getting a stronger pull up without having a rope.

Hello all,

Whenever I read about getting a one arm chin up, a recommendation that always comes up is mastering ropeclimbs without the use of the legs due to preparing your elbow the right way. How do you prepare your elbow if you have no acces to a rope?

I started doing weighted pull/chin ups and started getting a little irritation in the elbow area (nothing major).

How do I progress on my pull up without getting pain in my elbow, while not having acces to a climbing rope.

(Little side question: The pull up bar I use is about 2.5 (?) meters high, if i'd put a rope around that would that be worth the money? 2.5 meters seems a little short.)

Cheers,

Jurre said:

Hello all,

 

Whenever I read about getting a one arm chin up, a recommendation that always comes up is mastering ropeclimbs without the use of the legs due to preparing your elbow the right way. How do you prepare your elbow if you have no acces to a rope?

I started doing weighted pull/chin ups and started getting a little irritation in the elbow area (nothing major).

How do I progress on my pull up without getting pain in my elbow, while not having acces to a climbing rope.

 

 

(Little side question: The pull up bar I use is about 2.5 (?) meters high, if i'd put a rope around that would that be worth the money? 2.5 meters seems a little short.)

 

Cheers,

I could be more easy by achieving some prerequisites: Full back lever with hands supinated, Chinup or pullup with 50% added of your bodyweight , 15 strict chin ups / pullups to the chest and a ring tuck planche. This can help you to stay away of injuries. And also later using some methods like Subtracting fingers, Negatives , Holds and assisted work.

chuchodani said:

I could be more easy by achieving some prerequisites: Full back lever with hands supinated, Chinup or pullup with 50% added of your bodyweight , 15 strict chin ups / pullups to the chest and a ring tuck planche. This can help you to stay away of injuries. And also later using some methods like Subtracting fingers, Negatives , Holds and assisted work.

That is the problem though. At the moment I weigh 86 kg and doing sets of 5 reps of 25 kg. But this is giving me some irritation in my elbow already. How do I get to the 50%.

Working on the back lever and planche work. Might give those a bit more attention.

Might be good to know, that an actual OAC isn't a goal for me right now. Working toward sets of about 3 reps of 45kg pull ups (about 50% of my bodyweight) is for now a nice goal for me.

Jurre said:

That is the problem though. At the moment I weigh 86 kg and doing sets of 5 reps of 25 kg. But this is giving me some irritation in my elbow already. How do I get to the 50%.

 

Working on the back lever and planche work. Might give those a bit more attention.

 

Might be good to know, that an actual OAC isn't a goal for me right now. Working toward sets of about 3 reps of 45kg pull ups (about 50% of my bodyweight) is for now a nice goal for me.

Give attention to planche and backlever work and also remember your deload weeks for prevent injuries and take your time don't rush.

I think you can make up for the 2.5 meters by going up and down the rope more times than if you had a longer rope. In any case it's best to back of a bit from the pulling work if you are developing elbow tendinitis.

Jurre said:

That is the problem though. At the moment I weigh 86 kg and doing sets of 5 reps of 25 kg. But this is giving me some irritation in my elbow already. How do I get to the 50%.

 

 

 

You don't.

Here at GB I do not believe in weighted chin work for beginners.  For the very elbow irritation reasons you are now experiencing.  

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

So how do I keep progressing? I'm not doing weighted chins just because I like doing them, I do them to get stronger vertical pulling power. 

Is there a way to keep progressing without rope climbs, or is a rope necessary? 

Thanks Chuchodani for the tips, will give those exercises a bit more attention (working quite active on backlever, just not planche)

And thanks Dritar, that seems like a nice sollution.

Jurre said:

So how do I keep progressing? I'm not doing weighted chins just because I like doing them, I do them to get stronger vertical pulling power. 

Is there a way to keep progressing without rope climbs, or is a rope necessary? 

Thanks Chuchodani for the tips, will give those exercises a bit more attention (working quite active on backlever, just not planche)

And thanks Dritar, that seems like a nice sollution.

In what progression are you in pullups without weight ?

chuchodani said:

In what progression are you in pullups without weight ?

What do you mean by what progression?

Jurre said:

What do you mean by what progression?

I mean normal pullups, archer pullups, wide grip pullups, close grip ?

Jurre said:

So how do I keep progressing? I'm not doing weighted chins just because I like doing them, I do them to get stronger vertical pulling power. 

That is why the Foundation Courses were created.  So that you could increase strength following the same progressions that I used with my own elite level athletes.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Owh, regular pull ups and chin ups with weight. I switch these every few workouts to balance things out. I don't really do any different pull ups nowadays. Though maybe I should.

I'm very interested in the Foundation courses. But since i'm doing a full time internship without getting paid I really can't afford the courses. Which I find a big shame. But for now I have to do without.
Though i'm pretty sure there is rope work in the foundation courses is there not?  Is there no alternative to rope climbs? 

Jurre said:

Owh, regular pull ups and chin ups with weight. I switch these every few workouts to balance things out.

I'm very interested in the Foundation courses. But since i'm doing a full time internship without getting paid I really can't afford the courses. Which I find a big shame. But for now I have to do without.

Though i'm pretty sure there is rope work in the foundation courses is there not?  Is there no alternative to rope climbs? 

Try to do 3x8 or 3x10 on regular pullups or you can also do the strength range that is 5x5. Accomplish this and try to move to L-sit pullups or chinups.

chuchodani said:

Try to do 3x8 or 3x10 on regular pullups or you can also do the strength range that is 5x5. Accomplish this and try to move to L-sit pullups or chinups.

I got those down without weight some time ago. Doing 5x5 weighted now, as I want to build strength and now mass but that is giving me some irritation.

Jurre said:

I got those down without weight some time ago. Doing 5x5 weighted now, as I want to build strength and now mass but that is giving me some irritation.

Start weighted after take down the basics.

i trained chin ups with weight for a long time and never had problems with my elbows. probably you progressed too fast? are they clean with full lockout and close to chest?

however, what i found is that weighted chin ups dont give that much benefit at all especially if you train for one arm chin / pull ups

you will find very interesting pull up progressions in the foundation series. they will work your shoulders and biceps (+core) much harder than any weighted pull ups would do.

i don't have one arm chin ups yet but i think a good way to work up to them is by progressing them with a towel in the other hand. trying to assist with 1 hand on the towel at a lower position every time

but i dont know how much of a benefit a one arm chinup will give you and i doubt its a lot. it's just a flashy move you got. coach already said that his rope climbs give the most benefit.

One of the things I have kids do before they start doing legless rope climbs, rather as a substitute, is Straddle-L pullups, alternating hands.

So you could throw a rope over the bar, sit in a straddle and pull your butt off the ground for reps. The weaker kids will end up doing the same but keeping their heels on the floor so it's assisted. If they are really weak, it turns into a row.

Or you just do towel pullups. Or buy a small piece of rope to throw over the bar and do hanging pullups.

Cheers guys, Might progressed a bit to fast. Will scale down a bit.
The straddle L pull ups sound nice. Seems I have to get myself a rope!

Rope is the top choice but you can go a fair ways on short rope or towel pullups

Yeah, I'll start doing those indeed. 
Do you guys go for both hands on the towel or one hand on the towel and one hand on the bar. Or..?

Both on the towel

Those gave me a good challenge. My hands were killing. Thanks.