"Pin Firing" Chin Up Protocol for Golfer's Elbow - Looking For Anecdotal Evidence

[BTImpaler]

It seems to me that it's the squats that are irritating your elbows. I had a similar problem, and the only solution was using a thumbs around grip on the squat, which did wonders for me. I suggest you try it out. You WILL need a wrist wrap though. A strong one. I suggest these:

Amazon.com : Inzer Iron Z Wrist Wraps (Pair) - Powerlifting Weightlifting CrossFit Strength Training (20" - Medium) : Exercise Wraps : Sports & Outdoors

Just wanted to give an update as I've dedicated my body to science....

It could be a combination of the chins and the adjusted squat girp, but the end result is I'm now 95% better 3.5 weeks after starting the chin-up protocol. Last Thursday I did 22 sets of 3. It hurt a little at the beginning and didn't get much worse. Then this past Sunday I did 20 sets where every third set was a set of 4 (so it was 4, 3, 3, 4, 3, 3, etc...) for a total of 67 reps. No pain. I have also stuck with a thumbs-around-the-bar position when squatting. I've noticed that when I would go with the thumbless grip, I'd feel the golfer's elbow a bit more.

Also, I just completed an Ibuprofen protocol just yesterday to clear up some hip tendonitis/snapping in my hip (it had developed and stuck around from when I was giving my golfer's elbow a rest over a month ago when I was doing Safety Bar Squats). So maybe that could be adding to the lack of hip-pain.

I also dropped the voodoo floss nonsense the past week and a half and haven't been doing any extensor exercises. Just the chins.

The bottom line, is that it got better. I think there is a combination of reasons why:

- Changing to thumbs around grip on squat (but I was doing safety bar squats for a month+ and was getting no discernible improvement)
- The chin-ups healing it by mechanism of "pin-firing". The only reason I question if this was entirely it was that other things (like a thumbless squat grip) would actually hurt my tendinosis more, so why didn't it get better sooner? Which makes me wonder...

Is there some other reason why chin-ups could improve the tendinosis? Is the eccentric training cited elsewhere to improve tendinosis a limited sample study where more aggressive training helps? Or is this is a direct way improving the tendinosis and "realigning" collagen fibers? Does it just strengthen muscles around the tendon taking stress away from the tendon itself? I don't know. But hey, it worked!

Thanks to everyone's feedback, and I'd like to put myself down as anecdotal evidence of this chin-up protocol working. I'm going to continue doing it just for the heck of it and keep improving my chins.

Maybe in a month or so I'll try sliding back to a thumbless grip on the squats (because I can see how it'll affect my wrists long-term if I don't). But for now, I'm just gonna take it day by day to regain the strength I lost, and then press forward after that.

[Daniel Cavallari]

Yeah, it seems there is a small percentage of the population that just gets elbow pain using a thumbless grip on the squat (me included). My squat form was cleared during a SS seminar and yet the pain persisted, hence why I changed to thumbs around. Regarding the long term effects of this on the wrist, I have found the following:

- When I started, it felt like my thumbs would fall off from pain. I started to use wrist wraps to counter this, which alleviated the problem a lot but not totally;
- After a few weeks, my wrists adapted and I now feel nothing (when using wraps; have not tried to squat without them in a while);
- Wrist strength, mobility, pain, etc. seems now to be at baseline levels. So no issues.

Why this happens to some people, I do not know, but there you go. Keep at it. And buy the wraps, seriously, they help a lot.

[Mugaaz]

Maybe in a month or so I'll try sliding back to a thumbless grip on the squats (because I can see how it'll affect my wrists long-term if I don't).

You're worried about possible wrist issue you can easily solve with wrist wraps, when you already know for a fact is causes problems with your elbows? You think that reasoning is correct?

[BTImpaler]

You're worried about possible wrist issue you can easily solve with wrist wraps, when you already know for a fact is causes problems with your elbows? You think that reasoning is correct?

I've squatted with a thumbless grip for 3 years without issue to my elbow. I felt like when this really flared up it was a combination of lots of things (i.e. the stone-work). If I switch back and it exacerbates my elbow pain, I'll just stick with a thumbs around with the wrist wraps.

[Espen Lund]

It seems to me that it's the squats that are irritating your elbows. I had a similar problem, and the only solution was using a thumbs around grip on the squat, which did wonders for me. I suggest you try it out. You WILL need a wrist wrap though. A strong one. I suggest these:

Amazon.com : Inzer Iron Z Wrist Wraps (Pair) - Powerlifting Weightlifting CrossFit Strength Training (20" - Medium) : Exercise Wraps : Sports & Outdoors

I second this. I had elbow pain for many months, probably started by incorrect squat grip. I later did what I could to correct that, but the tendonitis persisted. Changing to thumbs around with wrist wraps solved it immediately.

[Nockian]

Golfers elbow started to creep back particularly right arm ? I can only put this down to wide bench grip, or alt grip dead lift ? Squats aren't giving me grief anymore. So I've decided shit or bust and trying the pin firing chin up protocol. Today ow fucking ow ow owwwwww. Right elbow definitely not happy this evening.

[Mugaaz]

Golfers elbow started to creep back particularly right arm ? I can only put this down to wide bench grip, or alt grip dead lift ? Squats aren't giving me grief anymore. So I've decided shit or bust and trying the pin firing chin up protocol. Today ow fucking ow ow owwwwww. Right elbow definitely not happy this evening.

For bench, if the grip is too wide OR too narrow, to the point that your forearms are no longer vertical and perpendicular to the bar when at the bottom, then there will be additional elbow stress. I don't think mixed grip inherently causes additional elbow stress. However, a lot of people tend to actively try to flex and contract their bicep on their supine hand. Video your deadlift and look to see if the supine arm is straight or bent during the pull.

[Nockian]

For bench, if the grip is too wide OR too narrow, to the point that your forearms are no longer vertical and perpendicular to the bar when at the bottom, then there will be additional elbow stress. I don't think mixed grip inherently causes additional elbow stress. However, a lot of people tend to actively try to flex and contract their bicep on their supine hand. Video your deadlift and look to see if the supine arm is straight or bent during the pull.

I use the supine grip on the left hand which isn't actually as painful as the right. The only thing that is changing is the weight on lifts now I've moved to high bar squats I've eliminated the potential for elbow problems.

I've added conditioning exercises -so initially I was doing pull ups on the machine but quit those when elbow pain became serious and moved to Lat pull downs wide grip prone. Also do HIIT on the rower and push the weighted prowler about.

Interestingly, I can use the theraband even with painful elbows and it hardly bothers them.

Today the pain is manageable, I'm back doing the chin up protocol tommorrow so I will see what's what.

The final thing that has me wondering is that at the beginning of the year I was prescribed a course of predisilone and wondered if this might have an effect during training as it coincided pretty much with the increased pain in elbows and hips.

[Nockian]

So, after my second session of chin ups I'm noticing an improvement in my elbows and interestingly also my right shoulder feels better. Managed 17 sets of 2 this time before the pain became excrutiating, last time I barely scraped 10 sets before my elbows called time so that's also an improvement.

Almost looking forward to my next session - Tuesday - just to see if there is more progress and lessening pain.

[Nockian]

Been bad the last two days after narrow grip benching and prowler pushing on Saturday. Another set of pin firing pull ups tomorrow-not looking forward to that quite so much given the agony I'm currently experiencing with my elbows.