Pain in elbows joint when german hangin'

[Simon Grégoire]

I've been doing the BtGB for a year now and had trouble putting the pieces of the puzzle together, mainly the part about prehab and stretching to avoid injuries, which I get pretty easily. So I decided to read all of the sticky of the forums. That helped me a lot; tons of infos here that I was missing with just the book.

Anyways, I tried the german hang as prescribed here, being a prerequesite to BL. The problem is that it hurt the outer side of the elbow joint, on the tricep side, as if I was overextending it. I'm not even hanging, I use my feet to adjust tension and depth.

It's the same if I try the floor variation, unless I bend the elbow a little (unnoticeably). Note that it only happens when I do it palm facing down which seems to be the only way if I want to be actually hanging one day. If I do it palm facing up, I'm fine.

Note that I don't feel anything when I actually do tucked BL. It's a s if I can't let my arms relax. I have to contract them somehow. Seeing that people here recommend that you must not resist the stretch, I'm in trouble...

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[toasty]

the thing is that this position is basically a loaded stretch for the biceps. Yes it also stretches out the pecs and the front of the shoulder but you will probably feel it most in the biceps, especially with palms down. This is because the biceps also acts to supinate the forearm and flex the shoulder forwards. When you use an undergrip the bicep is highly stressed because the shoulder is being flexed forwards even though it is in a very backward position. and because the forearm is supinated.

When you use a pronated grip, the humerus is in a slightly different rotation so the elbows do not face directly down (biceps not acting so much as shoulder flexors). Also because of the orientation of the forearm less of the brunt is born by the biceps and more by er...the brachioradialis i think.

If you are exceptionally tight in the biceps and pecs, the tissues may take a while to get used to it. You can try stretching out the wrists and forearms muscles as this might help free up the elbow a little.

something like this might be what you need as a stepping stone towards german hang and back lever. You can progressively increase resistance by going onto your feet and then leaning forwards more like a planche.

[Simon Grégoire]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I'm already stretching my forearm in a similar fashion as the one you mentionned. So I guess it's not a flexibility issue. Maybe I should try some planches lean with finger forward like you suggested to get my bicep accustomed to the stress of the position?

I'm still wondering why would it hurt when I do the german hang but not when I do the tuck back lever???

And what should I do to get more ROM in that plane of movement for my shoulders if I can't do the german hangs? I have very tight shoulders and I really need to loosen them up.

I already do wall slides, shoulders dislocate, door frame pec stretch and lying dumbell external rotation. But these are for opening the shoulder girdle right? Shouldn't I do something that stretch the shoulder backward too, like in a manna?

[Cole Dano]

Yes you can! And its important to work the 'backwards' stretch. There are numerous ways to work this, the German hang being a very intense and effective variation.

A simple one is to simply sit and take your hands behind you and lift your chest. Am ore active variation would be something like the ag walk, done as a static and focusing on lifting the chest.

Of course with the rings doing the German hang with your feet on the ground, and letting the knees bend you into the stretch will give you a way to control the intensity.

[Simon Grégoire]

Great idea with the Ag walk variation! The stretch it gives in my bicep is intense! But it feels great and doesn't hurt.

So, for my elbow problem, I'll try forearm stretch, planche lean and the AG walk stretch variation (hands toward my feet since I can't do the other way, it hurts my elbows).

Thanks a lot!