Are weighted commando chins (very narrow parralel grip, one hand in front of the other) worse for the shoulders than chins/pull-ups with a wider grip?
Thanks, Vlad
For myself I find the load of Commando Pull-Ups to be completely different on my upper body than normal pull-ups or chin-ups… it is an interesting exercise and it has been an extremely shoulder and elbow friendly movement in general.
Commandos were all I could do, albeit carefully slow, for the first two months after major shoulder surgery. I started performing them, just at BW, less than two weeks after the surgery. By four weeks I was up to a 20 kg plate for five reps. I wasn’t able to handle neither a bodyweight pull-up nor a chin-up at any hand width for a good two months and weighted well that took almost four months. By the time I was performing bodyweight chin-ups I was already up to my normal weighted commandos level.
You may have to experiment with your hand distance and your body lean to find the best position and movement for your body and shoulder limitations if you have such problems. A nice variation is to pull to the side of your sternum/stomach instead of to your shoulder and ear; you must lean back and arch your back a bit.
Even Neutral Close-Grip Pull-Ups/Chin-Ups feel completely different than a Commando Pull-Up.
Thank you very very much. I was afraid they could be more stressful for the shoulder due to the ~narrowness~ of the grip. I found that I am stronger when doing them than when doing regular chins, and wanted to add weight, but didn’t want to risk blowing my shoulders (big pain once when trying one arm chins, feeling they want to separate from the body after doing military presses some years ago-now they’re fine and I MP with a wide grip).
So, once again, thank you.
Vlad
Just like when close-grip barbell bench pressing, neutral-grip dumbbell bench pressing, and/or powerlifter bench pressing your elbows are kept tucked closer to your body and to your centerline which calls on the triceps and lats a lot more. With commandos you also use the serratus and maybe even the biceps a bit more… all of which in turn protects, supports, and even stabilizes the shoulder girdle much better.
I have been doing this kind of Chin Variation, cyclically for years now.
I still use them as a BB’er, though I was training for MA in the past.
These are a great, unknown almost Chin Variation ( consider all vertical pulls a Chin Variation ).
I never experienced any discomfort or pain.
I shared the wealth of the CC, and nobody I know had any new issues 'cause they stared training CCs.
It’s most likely though that some trainees may xp some issues with this in the long.
There seems to be minor variations in bone-structure that makes something ‘safer’ for one trainee than another.
I can’t tell you this has NO POTENTIAL to cause SOME harm to YOU, over the net.
Even if CCs are ‘safe’ for YOU, YOU could still fuck it up somehow.
Just try them out for yourself.
I like these though, and suggest people give them a try, for BB’ing.
In the long run, I mean a span of 6-8 months I have seen a lot of people in the gym develop shoulder issues and proximal bicep tendonitis by doing these. And yes that includes me as well.
Are we speaking of the same exercise? As many mistake the neutral-grip chin-up/pull-up with the Commando…
Yep, this is what I was speaking about. Thanks. Guess I’ll just do more types of chins and take a break every once in a while…Dan John & the Russians know it