Would like some advice onwhat specific movements, exercises, not to do with a bad case of biceps, tendonitis; also any suggested therapies for treatment that will speed up healing – how long to a full recovery considering that I have aggravated the condition?
Don’t do anything that aggravates it. Bench presses are notorious biceps tendon aggravators. What has happened is the biceps tendon is rubbing against the sides of its groove in the shoulder. Let it heal no matter how long it takes. Biciptial tendinitis is a non-trivial condition and it can get worse.
once it is good, i have read to do hammer curls. Thats the only bicep work most wsb guys do, to prevent bicep/ bench related problems.
I’ve gone through this, so I’ll give you some advice. If you have access to someone who performs A.R.T, definitely have that done. I don’t have anyone near me, so I just had PT and later followed that up with deep-tissue massage. PT was practically useless. Deep-tisse massage helped, but is not perfect and took many treatments before I noticed an improvement. As for exercises, mine is aggravated with bench presses and some shoulder and biceps exercises. If you plan on benching, I suggest you change your form and NEVER bench with your elbows out to your sides. You should keep your elbows tucked by your sides at all times. The thing you have to avoid is having your elbows go behind your body. Read Dave Tate’s article “How to Bench Press 600lbs” for more info on bench technique. If possible, try to avoid exercises that aggravate the condition. Ice your arm/shoulder after your workouts or whenever it hurts, and get some treatment!!!
rest
mine got so bad I couldn’t shift gears while driving.
I was bulking and wouldn’t quit…had to take 6 weeks off and lost all the gains I ‘forced’ on,
may be time to go to maint. for a few weeks
i have that problem at the elbows, i don’t know if you people are refering to the elbow area or not. the doctor said i ahd to relax with upper body elbow flexing for amonth to let the tissue heal properly. he said to focus on legs and do light intensity upper body with minimal elbow flexion like: flyes, pullovers, raises, pullbacks. laters pk
Rarely is a diagnoses of bicipital tendonitis really biceps tendonitis…it’s usually something else. Most often with weight trainers (ie, bench pressers) the problem lies in the subscapularis which inserts in close proximity to the biceps long head tendon. Get the ART ASAP as it will usually resolve in 1-3 treatments. To prevent further problems stretch pecs, lats, teres major, and subscap. Also work with PNF D2 patterns ( any decent PT or Chiro should be able to direct you in those) to keep the external rotators of the shoulder in good shape. Until then don’t train through the pain. Avoid painful movements to minimize increasing the inflammation.
I’ve actually read the opposite of what Bill was saying. I’ve read that most shoulder injuries are misdiagnosed and the problem is usually Bicipital Tendonitis. I don’t know which one’s right - but anyway.
I have the problem, and hammer curls fix it right up. Lots of sets, few reps, and not quite to failure.