Elbow Pain + Silent Click

Hi All,

I've checked out the various elbow threads and none of them quite match up with my elbow situation, so I'm going to share.

Let me start with a few facts:

I'm 23 years old.

I'm just getting into bodyweight strength training (BtGB arrived today )

I've had no previous injuries.

I've been pretty active most of my life, except for the past four years of college. (I casually rock climbed)

I have horrible mobility/flexibility (slight-moderate internal rotation, poor t spine flexibility, poor wrist flexibility/strength, super tight hamstrings)

I'm on a computer for 8+ hours a day.

I've been working on full body mobility and basic strength for a couple of months and I'm trying not to get too excited about all of the cool bodyweight exercises. To prevent injury, I'm willing to go as slow as I have to. Anyway, yesterday I did 1 pushup and 1 pullup on the minute for 30 minutes. I started out doing pushups on my hands (which I don't normally do) and my right elbow and shoulder started to hurt about halfway through. I switched to pushup bars and the pain decreased significantly. However, it lingered for a while after the workout. (I've done 3x5 pullups and 3x8 pushups on bars with no pain)

When really focusing on my elbows, I noticed that my right elbow makes a little clicking feeling (no noise) whenever my arm fully extends. The clicking feeling is very soft when my arm is straightened in a "bicep curl" position and becomes stronger when extending in a "hammer curl" position. My left arm actually makes a soft clicking feeling in the "hammer curl" position, but not in the "bicep curl" position. I unfortunately don't know enough about physiology to know what's going on. I'm assuming that I have some imbalance/weakness which I could remedy with some basic band strength exercises. (Also, I'm left handed.)

Should I lay off pushups and pullups until my mobility/basic strength is better?

The numbers you are doing are pretty low, especially as you are doing singles. If you have no pain i wouldn't worry about laying off.

I have a similar elbow click from falling too many times on a skateboard. Its not a problem you need to worry about if there is not any pain associated with it.

I would recommend you add some high volume work as well though. Wall push ups, feet assisted pull ups for example.

If you have access to bands there are a few exercises i have found very helpful. High rep biceps curls and triceps extensions. And the Front Chest Pull. To do a FCP keep one arm straight at shoulder height to the side, the other arm bent at the chest, first pull the band like you would a bow string to the armpit and then straighten that arm to the side.

I also do this diagonally across the body as pre for Muscle Ups, as it works in a similar way to the transition.

Thanks for the recommendations MrBrady. I'll start doing some high volume work and try out the exercises you mentioned.