Let’s talk elbows

[beefreetwo]

@petermg49 Do you low bar squat very often? Blocks where I have multiple low-bar sessions per week tend to chew my elbows up pretty well. For me the biggest thing that helps general elbow pain is time off/rest, hangs from a bar, and ice.

 

[petermg49]

@beefreetwo Hi Turtle, no low bar squats currently but they are in my new program I’m starting this week so I will keep an eye on it, ty

 

[nyar]

@petermg49 I'd be very wary of assuming that the pain will magically disappear if you just keep on doing what you're doing, that the elbows will somehow "adjust" over time. You may be setting yourself up for a long-term injury that keeps you from working out at all.

As others have said, make sure that you're isolating and supporting your elbows & triceps. Also make sure that you're not over-extending the elbow at either end of movement. Don't snap your elbows into a straight arm at the end of the extension, and don't go too deep into a bend at the other end.

 

[petermg49]

@nyar thank you. You’re right, I should not/will not assume this will fix itself. I’ll educate myself more on elbows. I really don’t want an injury.

 

[questionsforthepotter]

@petermg49 I’ve had elbow issues before from pressing and skull crushers , and also banged it up during a move.

I started implementing resistance band workouts into my routine, either at the start of my workout as a warm up or on my off days. I did both. Specifically, pushdowns and hammer curls. I bought a light resistance band looped it on top of a rack or anything really I could find and did about 50-100 reps for both.
There resistance bands so you don’t have to worry about any weight putting any strain on your joints, but it will help with the connective tissue surrounding it.

After like a month or so doing this , my pain started to slowly subside. And then eventually it stopped all together, now this is my go to warm up whenever I do any type of pressing.

Hope this helps!

 

[petermg49]

@questionsforthepotter Oooooh I have mini bands and can imagine some push downs would be a great warm up, thanks for this idea

 

[borisv]

@petermg49 I was getting shoulder pain from benching dumbells. Barbell lifting fixed that. Smith machine ever more gentle.