Elbow do not fully lock.

Hi guys,

 

I'm a 16 year old guy who has been in calisthenics/street workout for about 2 years now. In the last year I have been training for the planche, front lever and back lever. My main concern is all about good form of those elements, but I have one problem. Both my elbows cannot fully lock out, I miss a tiny bit, maybe 3-4 degrees, which kind of ruins my form in straight arm elements. Some people are saying that it's genetic, and that I cannot do anything about it, yet all my family members have no problem locking out their elbows. Some say that it's because I did not do dips and pull-ups with full ROM and that the result was calcification on my elbows. 

I'm interested if anyone has had this problem, and how it should be dealt with. It does not hurt at all, nor I have any visible deformities. 

 

Thank you for your help,

 

Filip

Elbows can vary in how 'straight' they are.  If your elbows don't go straight and never have, then it's just the way your elbow joint is. Your elbow joint is considered locked out when it's at the end of it rom, where ever that may be.

Hi Cole Dano,

 

Thank you for your reply. I have no idea if my elbows could have extended more before I started training. That's why I assume that incorrect training was responsible for the lack of full rom. Right now my goal is to make them fully extend, as straight arm elements cannot go with bent arms. Also when I'm warmed up in the middle of training, I am actually able to extend them a bit more. 

If you have done 2 years of bent arm strength without any straight arm strength then you may have trouble straightening your arm as your elbow lost ROM and you will have to really work to get that ROM back.  I see this all the time with people who sit at a desk all day and can't straighten their legs.  A few degrees short of straight can totally change not only the aesthetic but also the mechanics so if it does not feel like your arms are locked out in handstand or levers then they aren't and you need to address it.

Thank you on your reply, in the last few few days I really researched this topic, and discovered that some other guys have the same problem as I do. One of them claims that he had my problem, and that he corrected it by trying to extend his arms by force at the end of every training session. Now he does have full ROM. Is that a smart method, or is there any other method that you recommend? thanks a lot in advance

From the description the OP gave, ti's not a 100% given that he just has tight biceps / brachialis,  Proceed carefully. There's a difference between stretching and forcing.