Hyper extended elbows

My elbows naturally hyper extend more than an insignificant amount past normal extension. I do not have a protractor on hand to measure, but by eyeballing one on the screen and my arm, I would say it is close to a good 20* past 180.

This puts me in an odd position for straight arm statics. I read a lot that the elbows should be locked out, but this put me in a compromising position; I don't have nearly as much strength in the joint after I pass 180*. If I do not lock my arms I have a tendency to let my elbows bend a little for support. It is very difficult to maintain a straight arm when they want to go both ways with any little movement.

The main holds this gives me issues with is the planche lean, hand stands and front Levers. The hyper extension doesn't seem to bother me on back levers or German hangs, although I am quite sure it still happens. I have some issues with it in ring supports as well.

Any advice on what I should do about it would be appreciated. I hope as I become stronger it becomes easier to maintain a straight arm, but until that point, it my elbow does bend, which way would be more beneficial towards building proper straight and tendon/ligament strength?

Do you have pictures/video?

I'm sure you seen plenty of high level gymnasts on the still rings whose elbows hyper extend pretty far, and they seem to do alright.

In fact, for most of the holds on rings you should be feeling it in your elbows before anything else.

I've wondered a lot about this myself, as I have one normal elbow and one that hyper-extends making some things awkward.

I work with a former gymnast who was on the soviet olympic team in 1972, and he always says to fully lock out the elbows regardless of position. I told him about my elbows, he says he has an elbow that doesn't straighten, but that makes no difference. Locked elbows.

As for handstands, you should be fine with completely locked elbows though if you want to train one arms it might get a little tricky.

I'm curious to hear what the more experienced members of the forum have to say about this, but I'm guessing it will be "lock the elbows regardless".

Coach Sommer is very clear about this, don't hyper extend. However it does seem to be that some elbows bend naturally past straight so where the cut off is i don't know. I'm pretty sure if you look at Dillon his elbows are also over straight.

I know some yoga teachers who are fanatical about straight, but personally i think you have to know your own elbows, as long as you aren't sitting on your joints its ok if they bend past straight. In other words are you just resting on the elbow joint or is the arm supporting the joint under load?

Mr Brady said:

Coach Sommer is very clear about this, don't hyper extend. However is does seem to be that some elbows bend naturally past straight so where the cut off is i don't know. I'm pretty sure if you look at Dillon his elbows are also over straight.

I know some yoga teachers who are fanatical about straight, but personally i think you have to know your own elbows, as long as you aren't sitting on your joints its ok if they bend past straight. In other words are you just resting on the elbow joint or is the arm supporting the joint under load?

If I hyper extend all the way in a support hold it feels mostly like the elbow joint is taking almost everything and the upper arm muscles are doing very little. I can definitely feel my muscles engaging more when I straighten my arm. As I said before, this isn't a locked position for me, so I wanted to be sure it was still right. I have been training by trying to keep my arms straight, but sometimes it is hard to tell if there is a small bend in the arms.

It sounds like this is just something I will have to be very conscious of? I think I have the hardest time with it in front levers, being unsure of how straight my arms are.

I wouldn't overextend. I'm sure it would be hard and time consuming in the beginning, but if you keep that in mind, in time, neurologically, you would adapt and it wouldn't even require a second thought to be in a proper straight position.

It has been said before that for those with natural hyperextension in their elbows that they need to make sure they are doing enough bent arm strength to protect the elbow.

This is very common in gymnasts and the population. Sometimes it is merely a matter of a weak bicep and other times it is because there is so much straight arm work and the triceps get worked in gymnastics. It also can be genetic.

Mine actually round in a bit and I suppose this may be due to the fact that I did my share of curling and bent arm work way before I ever started gym (in my 20s). Or maybe that's how they have always been. I should look for some pictures.

hey nick is is more or less than this?

al i can say is do your biceps triceps an underarm work, very important for your elbow

if you do biceps curls always go the whole way, from hyper extension to maximum curl

Yeah, mine isn't quite that much, although it used to be when I was younger.

I guess I will add in a few sets of curls and tri-extensions every once in a while and hope it helps. My elbows have always been troublesome, it takes a lot for not to strain them when I get into heavy workout cycles.

It's also encouraging to see someone with a lot of hyperextension holding a cross. The thought of that right now with locked arms is just painful.

okay, this guy is doing gymnastics from when he was 6, so he have quite a prehabbed strenght, don´t do anything if it hurts. the full range curls are the most important

don´t use that much weight lost of reps always do maximum reps

good luck

I have a great deal of hyper extension in the elbow myself (probably the same as yours). Now my advice isn't based on anything except my own elbows so if anyone with coaching experience wants to chime in, me and the OP, would be glad to listen. What I do is every time I do a straight arm exercises, I first get a feel for what a straight elbows feels like (to me it feels like I slightly bend it, due to hyper extension) then I do the exercise trying to keep the elbow straight. I won't lie to you, it's going to take a lot more work to build the strength to do that. Why do I fight to get the elbow straight? It simply feels like it's getting overstretched when it hyper extends and I am assuming would lead to injury. The only exercise where it hyper extends and doesn't quite feel like it is being damaged is manna. I still try to keep the elbow straight during manna training but it seems, despite my best efforts, it still goes into some hyper extension.

Years ago I went to a physical therapist (separate issue), he noticed my hyper extension and said curls will fix the problem. Well I can curl over a 100 lbs (no it's nothing amazing but I expected it to at least do something for the elbow hyper extension) for reps and getting close a one arm chin up and honestly this did ZERO for the elbow. Yep nothing. Translated to great bent arm strength but hyper extension is a problem of straight arm strength. When I tried doing a back lever with palms forward I was at the same level as when I wasn't curling that amount. So now I train my elbow with very slow (VERY SLOW progressions) elbow intensive back levers. I include as prehab work in my training, since a backlever itself isn't challenging for me.