<p>Congrats AFPJ, I hope I get my first one soon too. I'll try exhaling, I think I usually hold my breath. :)</p>
<p>I had that tendancy. But holding your breathe really takes a lot of you. When I held my breathe while pulling my self up it took every ounce of will power and more to get halfway up that bar. But When I released, hit the floor, and started breathing again. I felt dizzy. I talked to my mentor about it. He said your suppose to exhale while pulling up. Makes sense because you need to burn more oxygen to get that energy.</p>
<p>That is true of most exercises. Exhaling on the most intense part of the motion will generally be the best way to go. There are times where momentarily holding your breath will help, but they are limited. A slow, forceful exhale will help keep your core tight through the motion, and will cause less strain. I have trouble doing this for bench, but am finally starting to improve (and my reps are going up considerably when I breath correctly).</p>
<p>Congratulations on the first one. Building further should come easier now. The fist one is the toughest. After you get to 3 or 4, increasing should become even easier...as long as you consistently practice.</p>
<p>Congratulations AFPJ! Keep practicing every chance you get and you will improve faster than you can imagine.</p>
<p>USAFA10s- you'll get there soon. I think about you everyday and know that we'll soon hear you completed your first one. When you do, imagine all of us here clapping and cheering!!!!</p>
<p>I do not know why but my joints in my right elbow extremely hurt. I don't feel the pain in my lats but only in my joints. Is this normal. The pain dosen't go away for a few minutes after the excersize.</p>
<p>If the pain is on the outside of your elbow you might be getting 'tennis elbow' which can come from sudden change in exercise or weightlifting, even pull ups. Here is a link to info on this and exercises to help: McKinley</a> Health Center - Tennis Elbow - University of Illinois</p>
<p>Definitely ice after each exercise session. Do you have access to a supported pull up machine...the kind at gyms that you step on and slowly decrease the resistance until you can do the pull up on your own? That might help you continue to workout without hurting your elbow. </p>
<p>Another problem might be your grip width. You might need to try different widths to find which strains your elbow less.</p>
<p>I don't have access to a gym. Anything else is homemade. Does the size of the diamewtor of the bar affect your ability to do pull ups? THe one I have home the diameter is about the size of a half dollar. The one I have at school is about a quater maybe smaller than that. It seems sometimes that the one at school is harder to do pull-ups?</p>
<p>I don't know about the dia. of the bar. However, the time of day, especially when you are just starting out, might have something to do with it. Sometimes, you are just tired! Do you have a gym teacher or coach at school that you can talk to? My son was able to get the athletic trainer at school to help him out.</p>
<p>Don't go too large. Most bars are somewher between quarter and half-dollar size. Half-dollar size seems a bit big...</p>
<p>your saying that this can affect my performance?</p>
<p>yes, larger bars are significantly easier to do pull-ups on.</p>
<p>Wow. That explains why I can do it at home but not at school. What kind of bars do they have at the academy?</p>
<p>
Don't go too large. Most bars are somewher between quarter and half-dollar size. Half-dollar size seems a bit big...
</p>
<p>like he said above. ^^^</p>
<p>darn it, all that training, for nothing. I gotta get myself a new bar.</p>
<p>No, it was not for nothing...just it did not benefit you as much as you thought. I had the same issue with a bowflex. I thought I was doing great on lat pull-downs. I could easily do 12 reps at more than my body weight. I did not realize that the first part of the motion is not at full weight, because the rods do not resist evenly throughout the motion.</p>
<p>That's a bummer</p>
<p>But I don't understand why. Can someone please explain it to me? I'm still pulling my body weight at a dead hang position.</p>
<p>I assume you're asking why the diameter affects your pullups... I think its mainly the distibution of your body weight on your hands. IMO a smaller bar would also require greater muscle in your hands.</p>
<p>The pull-ups that I have to do for the Academy require strength in the LATS, but I don't feel anything on my back after I do a negative pull-up. I feel exruitiating pain on my right arm only, particulary the joint sections. I think this is the tennis elbow that singaporemom was talkin about.</p>
<p>Do a few pull-ups on a ledge and you will see what people are talking about!...or go to a swing set with a huge bar (like 3in. or bigger.</p>