Mark Rippetoe's chin-up protocol for fixing Golfers Elbow

[nedeio]

@rotsenibad You’re lucky. I’ve had tendinitis in my elbow for months. Physical therapist said that contrary to what you might think, you need to load tendons in order for them to heal. And ever since I’ve been doing that, it’s been getting better.

The weird thing about tendinitis, is that it feels fine if you don’t work the tendon — even for a long period of time. but as soon as you resume the exercise, it returns.

 

[amduke26]

@nedeio Having been through protocols for achilles tendon re-hab, it seems like tendons really like negatives (extensions) under load.

 

[jay5034]

@nedeio So your physical therapist would agree that we should do low reps, high volume to fix this? I've had tendonitis in my elbow for months as well and have mostly just ignored it because it is not debilitating and is not getting any worse but obviously I'd like to fix it.

 

[nedeio]

@jay5034 For tendonitis, it seems like eccentric exercises are pretty commonly prescribed, regardless of which tendon. So I have tendonitis in my elbow, and my PT recommended eccentric pull ups.

 

[jamesdant]

@rotsenibad You probably just had some wear and tear and needed rest. This is why it’s recommended to switch up exercises every now and then (rotate between pullups, Chins, hammer grip, etc)

If it’s a nagging reoccurring problem because the tendon is weak from injury, then mark’s protocol is the way to force it to heal.

 

[allhailzenu]

@sannya This is a common rock climbing injury also with lots of information on their respective fourms. From what I've read the general consenus is that tendons don't respond well to drastic change - if inflamation occurs then lots of reps at low weight is the path to fixing it rather than a bout of rest.

For me that meant up 90-180 reps split into two workouts (morning and evening) with sets of about 15 reps of reverse wrist curls and 'hammer rotations' (Not sure the exact name but it's effectively holding a dumbbell or hammer vertically and rotating your wrist away from your body and up) on the affected arm. The weight ranges is pretty low - just enough to feel a low but managable amount of pain in the affected area.

I had the elbow pain for about 8 months but I did that for a couple weeks and haven't had any pain since.

See here for a good discussion on it (from a climber's perspective but still relevant):

 

[readerdavid]

@allhailzenu

From what I've read the general consenus is that tendons don't respond well to drastic change - if inflamation occurs then lots of reps at low weight is the path to fixing it rather than a bout of rest.

This is what every physio I know says, people here tend to recommend 2-4 weeks rest then go straight back into what they were doing before and end up in a cycle of getting tendonitis and then resting then getting tendonitis again

 

[charcoalpet]

@allhailzenu Man I really need to get on this, my elbow has an old bouldering injury that constantly flares up any time I climb!

 

[dalila]

@sannya So... If you have an injury, it is best to consult your primary care physician first, or even just visit a physical therapist. I know that Mark Rippetoe has a good reputation, but that doesn't mean you can properly diagnose your injury.

Seek personalized recovery advice first please!

 

[bathgate]

@sannya Man it sucks how easy it is to hurt yourself on some of these exercises. Like the point is to be healthier with all this but man is it worth it if I develop chronic pain?

I recently developed costochondritis because I was doing dips way above my pay grade and nobody was thoughtful enough to mention in their tutorials that that will happen if you overdo it. I thought I was killin' it. Smh.

Now I gotta do all these freakin stretches and shit to cope. Sorry I'm just ranting on your post here but.... yeah. A bit of a downer, this stuff can be.

 

[sannya]

@bathgate Yeah I feel you man, it's so annoying having all the motivation in the world to be healthy and strong but then having to deal with constant injury.

 

[cocuvufakawy]

@sannya Guy's a fucking maniac

 

[angelx29]

@sannya I had golfers elbow for nearly a year. I'd tried the standard 'extend arm and bend hand back' stretch to no success.

I got pissed off with it to the extent that I posted about it in the weekly rant thread. Then within about 24hrs I made myself do that stretch again, but this time really focusing on pulling the tips of my fingers back as far as I could, not just the hand.

Result: felt a deeper stretch; no more elbow pain doing pull ups. Delighted, and yet pissed for losing so much time.

Got back on the bar and was going great, but I've now got some sort of bicep tendonitis issue in the elbow area, stopping me doing pull ups again. So if anyone can advise on that that would be sweet. Resting it is not making any difference.

 

[azhariqbal73]

@angelx29 Chin ups. Many of them. Dozens of sets of 2-3. Do them every 4 days.

 

[jay5034]

@azhariqbal73 Like one day, then rest 3 days, then another day?

 

[azhariqbal73]

@jay5034 Yes.

 

[jay5034]

@azhariqbal73 You do the full chin up, not just the eccentric? And so you end up doing like 20-30 chin ups that day?

 

[azhariqbal73]

@jay5034 Yes. It hurts like all hell.

 

[jay5034]

@azhariqbal73 This is crazy. I've only done this protocol twice and I basically feel entirely healed? Even after the first one I felt 90% and now I feel 95 after the second working day.

 

[azhariqbal73]

@jay5034 95 isn't good enough. Keep going for a few weeks, even if you feel perfectly fine. Then remember to keep some sort of high rep work in your program in perpetuity- I do sets of 30 on tj cable curl.