Question: When doing pull ups…palms facing away from you…how high up do you pull yourself? Until your upper arm is parallel to the floor…or all the way up until your elbows are down at your sides?
Pat / Bloomfield, NJ
Answer: I would try to touch your upper chest to the bar (or within a couple inches), which puts your elbows fairly close to your sides.
However, after a certain number of reps you won’t be able to do that due to fatigue.
But don’t terminate the set just yet…keep going until you can no longer get your shoulder joint higher than your elbow joint – or until you can’t get your upper arm parallel to the floor. (roughly the position in the photo at right)
Best,
Dr Clay
I have recently been diagnosed with diverticulitis. I had an attack and I am currently trying to modify my diet to prevent any further occurances. I am concerned that after an attempted colonoscopy the Dr. told me that my case was “severe” in both the number and size of the diverticuli (to the extent he could not perform the proceedure and sent me for x-rays instead.) Are there any risks involved in continueing to train heavy or is there concern I should be aware of? He spoke of a weakened colon wall and I invision the internal pressure created when squating or deadlifting heavy possibly injuring the colon. Is this possible? Thank you in advance for any information you can give me on the matter.
Barry, I wanted to give your question the attention it deserves so I moved it to:
http://www.drclay.com/questions-answers/health-wellness-questions-answers/is-it-ok-to-do-heavy-weight-lifting-with-diverticulitis/
All the best,
Dr Clay