Am I weaker than a 5 year old?

[Romanmaz]

This isn't the place to brag, but I suppose I should preface this with the simple statement that even by military standards, I believe my fitness level is quite high. Anyways, if I don't go to the gym on a given day (or run out of time there) I often run to the local park and do my pull-ups on the monkey bars (ha, at night so as not to be seen as a maniac...). So the other night I figured, hey, for old time's sake, why not just cross the monkey bars!

I could barely cross one gap... It felt as though my weight was ripping my arms right out. Going back yesterday the result wasn't much better. I suppose it's worth noting that this is after doing pull-ups and leg-lifts to exhaustion, but still, it doesn't even feel really like an issue of muscle fatigue, more that my shoulders just can't sustain it. This has actually really been troubling me as I currently have an application in the works and my ability to exempt the Express-Test won't mean anything if I can't even cross the monkey bars at Basic...

Anyone out there ever have similar problems? Ha, and I can't believe I'm asking this: but does anyone have any advice for the monkey bars?

I'm just going to toss this out there. Are you keeping your elbows locked out when you're crossing the monkey bars?  Have you ever tried keeping a slight bend in your elbows to take some stress off your shoulder joint and transfer it to your biceps/lats? If you can seriously do 20 proper pullups then you should have the proper endurance necessary to do this. Obviously you should still strengthen your rotator cuff muscles, although, I'd recommend cables or a band instead of the exercises linked above as they will keep constant tension throughout the movement. :2c:

 

[Sigger]

I'd recommend cables or a band instead of the exercises linked above as they will keep constant tension throughout the movement. :2c:

Agreed. I forgot about the physio elastic. I did find better results with that.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

If you do them slow, they can be quite hard, but fast where you are barely holding on while swinging you might have it easier.  5 year olds are lighter, and are more flexible then the slightly above average person, which helps.  My five year old can do them, but for some reason he can't do a push up to save his life.  (I'm not making him do them, he was imitating me.)

 

[Biggoals2bdone]

I have to ask since I RARELY see people do chin-ups and push-ups properly, and logically by you being able to do 20+ chin-ups your body should be used to holding your weight.  Are you doing full dead hang pull ups, by full I mean full arm extension (aka ARMS STRAIGHT, then bar to chin or chest)

 

[FoverF]

Funny you should mention that...

I just so happened to discover the very same thing by chance today.

And I also have no (or very little) problem doing 20 full extension chin-ups, or rope-climbing, etc, so I was actually quite surprised... and embarrased... my wife was watching...

But I very quickly discovered what Romanmaz said.

Just bend your arms a bit (somewhere between 45 and 90 degrees), and then you can carry on as you would have when you were 5 years old.

It's still easy to do monkey bars, you just can't hang limp from one hand and swing around anymore without risking injuring your shoulder.

 

[jklaus]

This isn't the place to brag, but I suppose I should preface this with the simple statement that even by military standards, I believe my fitness level is quite high. Anyways, if I don't go to the gym on a given day (or run out of time there) I often run to the local park and do my pull-ups on the monkey bars (ha, at night so as not to be seen as a maniac...). So the other night I figured, hey, for old time's sake, why not just cross the monkey bars!

I could barely cross one gap... It felt as though my weight was ripping my arms right out.

you make it sound like your in great shape, and sound like a gym fanatic.
monkey bars being your defeat sounds a little odd,
if you can do 100+ push ups (assuming they are good military form, straight arm extension) & chin ups, I don't see how you would not notice if there was any pre-existing rotator cuff injuries...
my first piece of advice is ask you'r doctor! tell him about the discomfort and pain, he will know more than anyone here (no offense to anyone here, haha!)
2nd. start doing forward grip chinups with PROPER form, ( if you already are, excellent! ) this is the best grip to cross any monkey bar.

the pain in your shoulders is most likely a deltoid or rotator cuff injury, but it could also be from improper training such as not fully extending on your chin ups. tips on the monkey bar is keep your arms at a slight bend, get a small swing in your body going, and twist the hips while reaching for then next bar. (the small bend in your arms will ensure you are not hanging the weight of your body on your unflexed shoulders (bad bad), the swing will create forward momentum, and the hip twist will 1. bring your shoulder closer to the next bar making your reaching distance shorter 2. ensure that your arm will be swinging out to the side of your body not backwards. your shoulders are not meant to rotate past the top of your head, especially not while holding weight.)

again, when i train with friends and family i can't stress enough. Form is EVERYTHING, watching kids in my Police classes who claimed they could do ridiculous amounts of push ups try to complete even 20 pushups is just painful, you can't help but feel for the guys who train the wrong way and are never told proper form.

P.S in no way am I assuming you are not doing proper form, I hope you are training to the best of your ability's and what ever is causing the pain subsides and you are able to achieve your goal!

For rotator cuff injuries this video helped me ALOT when I injured mine in the gym
-  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPgEmJdDQzg

Best of luck to you in the future,
Bye for now!

-Justin