To anyone who is doing or has done Krypteia, have you had any issues alternating chins/pull-ups with the deadlifts? The two concerns this raises for me are:
1-Grip for the deadlifts would be negatively affected from chins and vice versa
2-Biceps would be at risk from injury from deadlifting right after chin-ups/pull-ups
Please let me know if I am being overly concerned. I am 40+ by the way if age is any factor. Bottom line is I love the idea of the programming but don’t want to risk a bicep tear. If there’s a way to mitigate this I’m all ears.
I have run Krypteia with weighted pull ups/chin ups done on DL day, and I was 44 when I ran it. I would do 5x10 with 25 lbs added, and had no trouble with the DL after. My DL is not super strong (1 RM only 385, no straps or belt), but I’m pretty good at pull ups.
That said, when I did it a second time I tried for pull ups +35 lbs added, which was a mistake. It lead to golfer’s elbow that has taken a long time to heal, and really the weight/work was just too ambitious and not smart. I think just doing controlled, full range of motion pull ups with either no weight added or a small amount of weight will yield the best results for most.
I wouldn’t worry about it. I don’t know how old Jim is, but I think he’s over 40, and he said in 5/3/1 Forever to not worry about doing chinups and deadlifts together. If it’s an issue, it will no longer be once you’ve gotten used to it and stronger.
I don’t remember how Krypteia is set up, but I doubt you need to rush yourself in between movements, so taking 30-60 seconds to recover and prepare yourself for the next set will probably be fine.
If you are worried so much about the bicep issue or grip, just use straps. You can build a solid grip on other exercises and won’t really lose anything using them.
I’ve been doing Krypteia for a few months now and love it. I’ve had no issues with grip strength failing. I’m 38, and deadlift with both palms facing towards me. When I do chins/pulls I use different grip widths, as well as what I’m doing them on. I really like using the frame of the rack instead of the actual pull up bars.
I also got a bad case of golfer’s elbow from doing chin-ups, and chin-ups/pull-ups still irritate me from time to time.
I got a bad case that persisted for months and I tried everything with no luck.
Quite by accident, while working on wrist flexibility for front squats (I have long forearms and short upper arms which press the bar against my throat) I found a forearm stretch that gave me immediate relief, and when done 2-3x per day cured it within a month.
With your fingers pointed down and your elbows locked straight, walk your hands up the wall and then hold the stretch for ~30 seconds. Repeat three times. Do that twice a day until the problem goes away, and then just do it as part of your regular stretching.
Your mileage may vary. It was absolutely magic for me.
