Pull up pain tends to exist at the elbows, shoulders and wrists. The pull up exercise is a great way to develop back, shoulder and arm strength. Pull ups can be done at home or in the park on a bar or with suspension equipment (Gymnastic rings, “TRX” equipment). Those who utilize a horizontal bar tend to complain more of pain as it can be slightly more strenuous due to your joints in a fixed position rather than suspension equipment, a free motion exercise.
Pull up pain tends to occur due to 2 main reasons:
- Incorrect form causing compensation at the various joints.
- Dysfunctional articulation AKA Problematic Joint
2 common mistakes that cause pull up pain (Refer to Picture Below)
- Not setting the shoulders
- Not keeping your elbows back.
Keeping the scapulae (shoulder blade) back and down (Depressed and retracted) is the first step before initiating your first pull up to prevent pull up pain.
Keeping the scapulae (shoulder blade) back and down (Depressed and retracted) is the first step before initiating your first pull up. By “setting” your shoulder-scapulae-thoracic complex, will allow you keep your back muscles tight. It will also allow to reduce the strain on your biceps muscle and use the back muscles such as the latissimus dorsi and trapezius. Without proper setting, compensation can cause shoulder impingement syndromes, overuse in the biceps tendon or elbow sprain/strains.
Keep your elbows forward rather than keeping them back to prevent pull up pain.
The second common mistake is to keep your elbows forward rather than keeping them back. The elbows need to be driven back otherwise the area of stress over the elbows will be large. This can lead to medial elbow pain or “Golfer’s elbow”.
After these cues, what happens if you or your client cannot keep their shoulders down and back or keep the elbows back?
The person may not have the ability to perform this movement because they have poor mobility (flexibility, control and strength) in certain articulations (joints-elbow, shoulder, thoracic spine). Many trainers or healthcare practitioners will try to downgrade the pull up exercise to try to make it “easier” to perform. Unfortunately, if your joints are not moving like joints, no matter how basic or “easy” you make the exercise (using bands for help, standing on chair/ball etc. ) you will not be able to perform the exercise. Although regression/downgrading (making it “easier”) of the pull up is important but the person needs to have prerequisite mobility.
Do you or your client have the prerequisite joint mobility to start? Can you or your client move your joints independently and with control?
Restriction of mobility can be because of a tissue (muscle and/or joint) problem or an issue with control (stability, nervous system control).
The source of why the poor movement is happening should be diagnosed and treated by a trained health professional, such as Chiropractor. Health professionals trained in Functional Range Release and Conditioning will be better equipped to assess your overall joint health.