I think that the joint pain comes from the reduced fluid volume in the muscles and around the joints, due to the lowered carb intake that is in fashion today. Since carbs hold onto water. I have found that taking creatine helps in this regard, but then again I never go low on the carbs.
Also taking the ephedrine, asprin, caffeine stack tends to dehydrate the body which can lead to joint issues.
The pulloer and press, awesome movement.
I read about that exercise in an issue of IronMan magazine from the mid 90s. A guy named Johnny McWilliams used it, supposedly getting his arms to 20" inches, drug-free. If I remember correctly, the pics showed he had a huge (albeit smooth) biceps and triceps.
Another exercise I love is the bench dips. The problem is that, without weights in my laps, I can do lots of them which doesn't really help my arms grow. And, piling too many plates in my laps is dangerous; I almost twisted my knee doing it.
So, I've found a way to duplicate the movement safely, using one of three types of machines:
1) The assisted chin/dip-machine, where your hands are on the platform where you rest your feet or knees. Simply sit on the rails (or squat in between them, depending on the type of machine) and push down on the platform.
2) Ab Crunch machine: If you have the kind with the rectangular pads, where you rest your chest on it and lean foward, all you have to do is push it downward, get in position, and start doing the dip motion, the rest of the way down.
3) Hammer Strength Seated Leg Curl machine: Same principle as the Ab Crunch machine.
That's how I've learned to train my triceps, while having mercy on my elbows. As for ephedrine, the last time I used any ephedra/ma huang product extensively was 2002; that was the old Hydroxycut. It worked well; but, I don't care for the heart-jumping-out-of-the-chest feeling ma huang tends to give.
2003 was the last time I used any product with ma huang. That was Nitro-Glycerol. But, I only used it, because it was an RTD with 50 grams of protein that GNC had marked down for $0.50, and I was looking for protein supplements, not fat-burners/thermogenics.