RC/PE10 L sit pull up

Not done with RC/PE9 yet, but just want to play around and feel the difference between L sit chin up and L sit pull up, especially initiating from a dead hang (in L sit, not really that dead), where I'm the weakest. Below is how I feel based on my attempt, please let me know if I'm doing anything wrong.

L sit pull is def harder at the bottom than L sit chin. I have to very deliberately rotate my lats forwards (or protract the shoulders) in order to point my elbows in the right direction. If I don't do this, my elbows end up flaring out, and my shoulders will feel weird while pulling up. I could even hear my shoulders or scapulars grinding in some of the reps. I wonder if I didn't warm up properly. On the other hand, I feel I have better control of the L sit part in the pull up than the chin up. Maybe I'm just more used to extending legs out with the over grip. 

I'm also playing with close grip (both the hands and the forearms are touching) L sit chin up. It's another kind of torture. But fun. I <3 pull ups. 

Those look pretty good to me. For nitpicking, your feet are probably not 100% above the hips at all times, and it is evident that you tire through the set. I don't see you protracting, and I don't think that would be desirable. Not sure what the action is that you do to pull out of the deadhang, but it looks ok to me.

Thanks @Kai Ewert. Maybe i shouldn't say protracting, it's not like that exactly. In a deadhang the lats are generally behind the ears. I was trying to bring the lats in front of the ears before I pull so that my elbows won't flare out. Even this tiny step becomes very demanding and crucial to the pull when I get tired. Not sure if anyone else experience this. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, or maybe I'm just extra weak at that range. If I don't drop to a deadhang, then I don't need to push my lats forward, and this pull up became much easier...

Hi Jin,

It looks good to me. The steadiness of your L will improve through your L-Chin training. Your elbow position in this video looks good to me so as long as this position is not uncomfortable and causing that grinding feeling, stick with it. If you're still in doubt, post a video from the front. 

Saw some pro doing toes to bar with something tucked under the neck to de-emphasize pulling back during the lift. I thought i could give it a try for the L sit pull up to minimize leaning back during the ascent. It did the trick! It also revealed that my range at the top of the pull up is maybe not enough. The chin up seems ok to me. Any feedback is welcome! =]

Nice work Jin! That does look like it helped. Cool trick. You are correct in that you should work to pull higher in the pull-up but the L in both looked good and your chin-up ROM was awesome!

Thanks @Everett Carroll!! =]

Great job and awesome idea with the chin tuck! Will give that a shot once I can do pull ups again.

Nice work Jin!

Now try with a towel under your chin and a glass of water on top of your head (Really! I think you can do it without spilling anything!)

25 minutes ago, Nicholas Murray said:

Nice work Jin!

Now try with a towel under your chin and a glass of water on top of your head (Really! I think you can do it without spilling anything!)

Haha! Let it be boiling hot water to make it real! 

Nope, it's hot here in Australia (and 30 degrees in my garage gym). So, cold water for me!

I should not have asked you to do this if I wasn't prepared to do it myself, so....

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1348289/RCPE10 with water.mp4

I used my cat's water bowel (it had a "lip" on the bottom, anything with a flat bottom just fell off my head immediately). I could not use the chin up bar at the top of the rack because my ceiling is too low, so I used one of the safety bars instead.

This was actually a great learning experience.

1. I felt I could not pull up to the bar as much, because....

2. ...The unstable water in the bowl made RCPE10 much harder than it usually is, as I had to make little adjustments with my neck all the time. The video doesn't show this, but my neck was very tense.

Yes, my compression isn't good, and neither is my shoulder flexion (surgery a few years ago), both need improving.

I will try with a towel under the chin next time (thank you for sharing this trick).

1 hour ago, Nicholas Murray said:

Nope, it's hot here in Australia (and 30 degrees in my garage gym). So, cold water for me!

I should not have asked you to do this if I wasn't prepared to do it myself, so....

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1348289/RCPE10 with water.mp4

I used my cat's water bowel (it had a "lip" on the bottom, anything with a flat bottom just fell off my head immediately). I could not use the chin up bar at the top of the rack because my ceiling is too low, so I used one of the safety bars instead.

This was actually a great learning experience.

1. I felt I could not pull up to the bar as much, because....

2. ...The unstable water in the bowl made RCPE10 much harder than it usually is, as I had to make little adjustments with my neck all the time. The video doesn't show this, but my neck was very tense.

Yes, my compression isn't good, and neither is my shoulder flexion (surgery a few years ago), both need improving.

I will try with a towel under the chin next time (thank you for sharing this trick).

You way is MUCH harder! I can imagine your neck being super tense. I also believe this is even harder than weighted L sit pull ups bc you can't jerk at any time in order to keep the water still.  I'll give it a try once i find an appropriate bowl =D