Jim,
Any tips for dealing with/training around golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylitis)? I know it’s not “health advice” but do you have any tips you’ve picked up from your years in training? Stuff to do or not do…exercises to perform or avoid that may have worked for you or guys you’ve trained with?
I just got a football bar to switch it up a bit…press and bench and any rowing movements just hurt like hell lately.
Thanks man…
1.Use straps on everything you
2. Switch to lighter weight and higher reps
3. Avoid anything that bothers it, It will only get worse.
4. Lots of stretching and heat. careful using ice, It will mask the pain and in some cases can make it worse.
5 ART an message can help somewhat.
I had golfers elbow for about 6 months and it kept getting worse as I pushed through the pain. using these 5 steps it’s completely gone now.
Looks like part of your response was cut off…use straps on everything you…?
Were you doing 531 during your elbow recovery?
may be a stupid question, whats the difference between golfers elbow and tennis elbow? I have elbow pain as well that comes and goes, but i think mine comes from repetitive motion at work.
[quote]GetitUp wrote:
may be a stupid question, whats the difference between golfers elbow and tennis elbow? [/quote]
Golpher’s elbow is inside, medial epicondylitis, tennis elbow is outside, lateral epicondylitis.
It’s confusing because none of us golf or play tennis…
Golfer’s is pain on the medial (inside) portion of the elbow.
Tennis is pain on the lateral (outside) portion of the elbow.
Both are usually related to tendions being strained or overused and it sets up a chronic inflammation…so it hurts whenever you perform a movement that “uses” those tendion attachments.
[quote]DogBiteCat wrote:
It’s confusing because none of us golf or play tennis…
Golfer’s is pain on the medial (inside) portion of the elbow.
Tennis is pain on the lateral (outside) portion of the elbow.
Both are usually related to tendons being strained or overused and it sets up a chronic inflammation…so it hurts whenever you perform a movement that “uses” those tendon attachments. [/quote]
Sorry, I meant to say “Use straps on everything you do” especially pulling movements such as rows, pullups and deadlifts. Anytime you grip a bar and squeeze, you are using forearm muscles and tendons. The use of these over and over will cause Medial epicondylitis (Golfer’s elbow). This does not mean that only golfers have this condition. But the golf swing is a common cause of medial epicondylitis. Using straps will take the forearms and grip out of the equation as much as possible to give the tendons and forearm muscles a bit of a rest. Hammer curls seem to help take some of the pain away from my golfer’s elbow but ended up giving me mild tennis elbow. I’m working on that now.
I’ve had elbow pain but only on pushing movements like bench and press. The two things that helped me were extending my warm up with lighter weights and wearing an elbow sleeve. If I got a suitable warm up and wore the sleeve by the time I progressed to heavier weights in my workout it wasn’t bothering me much at all.
[quote]Ecchastang wrote:
Golpher’s elbow is inside, medial epicondylitis, tennis elbow is outside, lateral epicondylitis. [/quote]
Thanks for that, sounds like mine is tennis elbow as it runs on the top, outer forearm towards the elbow.
This is copy and paste of posts I made in another poster’s log concerning golfer’s elbow
"On the elbow issues (golfer’s elbow is what it’s called), I’ve dealt with them, and two things fixed them up REALLY quickly. One ‘fixed’ it, the other has kept it from happening.
Usually paused pressing and lots of pull-ups/chins makes my elbows flare up after a few weeks, every time like clock work. Since adding in the high rep curls it’s basically been a non-issue. It’s not like I’ve neglected bicep work in the past, it just seems to be something about the higher reps (maybe just a lot of extra blood flow to the area?)
Hope any of this helps. This worked for me, and helped another friend with some crappy ‘tennis’ elbow stuff on 5/3/1."
“Yeah man I hope it helps. And I know the voodoo bands are a bit pricey, I made mine out of some old bicycle inner tube, was like way cheaper. I’ve also seen people use thicker ACE bandages like you buy from Wal-Mart in a similar fashion, so you could always try that if you don’t want to spend the money or wait on shipping and all.”
Thanks guys for the tips…
I didn’t read any of the responses but I am just getting over golfer’s elbow and the only thing that helped me (other than taking a week off from lifting) was the Flexbar from Theraband. Google it, it was like $20 on amazon. I would recommend it to anyone who has either Golfer’s or Tennis elbow.
It’s basically a piece of rubber that you use to do exercises that help strengthen the muscles in your forearm and surrounding your elbow. Also go to walmart or something and buy a cheap elbow brace, I wear an elbow brace when lifting it helps take the pressure off the tendon.
As far as deadlifting I have been using a trapbar, it seems to help.
Throw out skullcrushers
@pzimmerman1 – did you have golfer’s elbow (pain on the inside of the elbow) or tennis elbow (pain on the outside of the elbow)? I looked up the thera-band product and it referenced a tennis elbow protocal…
But, hey if it worked I’ll try anything…
I have Golfer’s elbow (inside) and there is an exercise that you use the Flexbar with that targets that area. If you go to youtube and put in “Thera-Band FlexBar “Reverse Tyler Twist” for Golfers Elbow” there is a video that shows you how to do it. It’s very easy to do and trust me I’m not trying to sell you this Flexbar thing.
But it was the only thing that helped me get back to lifting. Ice, Ibuprophen and rest didn’t help me one bit, but this exercise did. Give it a try I know it will help. Just do the exercise at least once a day like 3 sets of 15 or so and after the first time you use it you should start to feel a little better. Trust me I was very skeptical about this little piece of rubber but it works.
Thanks man…I’m totally gonna try it out. The elbow is annoying as hell, and I hate it when I feel otherwise strong but one tiny body part is holding me back…I can’t do pullups at all without it just absolutely killing me. Ordering that device overnight!!!
Good luck, it sucks when one little injury can screw up progress.
Oh thanks, I’m so glad to read some advice about what I should do with my elbow.
Got it in February from doing a lot of Pull-Ups and the wrong arm position when doing back squats.
DogBiteCat, did you have any luck with the Flex bar?
If it’s fairly chronic you may want to get a medical opinion on the issue.
I have the opposite issue (Tennis elbow) and I’ve found that triceps work outside of benching and pressing causes me to have issues, although dips seem to be tolerable. Also, holding the bar with my hands too close to the middle (on the Squat) also causes it to be symptomatic. If you’re doing any direct triceps accessory work you may want to cut it for now. I’m not sure how similar the two are (Tennis vs. Golfer), so take it for what it’s worth.
Edit: You may also consider taking a small break from pressing and or just do pressing at low deload percentages.