Why did you start with 20 sets?
Dear Mr Rip/Mr Morris
I realise there are quite a few posts about this already, and I've read them all but haven't come accross this particular point
I noticed the infamous pain on both medial epicondiles (worse on right) about 10 weeks ago.
I switched to the high bar squat position for a couple of weeks, where my shoulders/lats allow a proper grip, and the left elbow pain just faded away, the right got a bit better but still remained.
I am taking steps to improve my mobility so I can squat properly, and the elbow got so annoying (all the usual advice not working) I decided to attempt the Pin Firing protocol.
I'm 32 years old
100kg
Can do 12 chins on a good day.
Pain level before starting: 6/10
I take 1.5 minutes rest between sets
Monday: 20 sets (10x3 & 10x4) 70 reps total
Pain level about 8/10 for next 4 days
Friday Second: (20x 4) 80 reps total
Pain 8/10
Tuesday: (20x4) 80 reps total
Pain - still 8/10. On the 4th day it went down to maybe a 6, which encouraged me to continue, albeit with an extra day off;
Sunday: 25 sets 90 reps total
Pain level 8/10
Down to 6/10 again today (Saturday) left it an extra day as was away
My question is whether I should contiue, or is it clearly not working for me. By my reckoning the pain should be reducing quicker as Rip says it's usually gone by the 5th workout.
Thanks for reading this (long) post, any advice much appreciated!
Ed
Why did you start with 20 sets?
My thinking was to keep the total volume high but the number of reps low. In all three videos on youtube I found (one being the podcast with Mike Matthews) you mention 20 sets as the number to go for. And increasing total volume each session.
Should I have started with fewer do you think? And if so, what would you recommend I do now? Should I reduce it or start over with, say, 15 sets of 3 and work up from there? Really appreciate your advice, thanks.
First, your pain level is not 8/10. 10 tends to produce convulsions and unconsciousness, and shit like this is why both the Numerical Rating Scale and RPE are useless. You're already into the process, even though you started with an overdose, so just keep going and see what happens.
Fair enough - agreed; not in convulsing territory quite yet. I suppose I was trying to illustrate the fact that the pain was still the same at workout 4 as it was after workout 1.
The pain today does seem to be better so
I will carry on slowly upping the total reps and report back in a few weeks.