I have no idea why, but for the first time in my life, I have problems with my elbows. I don’t usually lift heavier than 5 reps minimum in a set. But, recently, they’ve been hurting so bad that I can barely do tricep pushdowns unless I go for reps with light weight. I was wondering if anyone had any advice for how to get my elbows back into working order.
Dude, I had the same problem. Make sure u do sets of 8-12 for 2-4 weeks minimum. Ur joints will all be healed up, and ull have a much harder look. Ur strength will also go up. U dont say so in ur post, but i have the feeling uve been doing sets of 5-6 reps so far. i would strongly reccomend u follow my advice. Also, u might want to check out some supplements for your joints - check out your local pharmacy. They should have something around.
Pakmanu, one, give your elbows a rest. Two, an excellent supplement for keeping your joints healthy is glucosamine chondroitin. Must be taken for four months for its effects to be realized. Take the glucosamine chondroitin with Vitamin C (about 2g/day in 3 or more divided doses). All of these should be taken as long as you’re lifting weights and want to protect your joints. Traumeel (a homeopathic arnica gel) and MSM, a type of sulfur (5g 2 or 3 times a day) might also give you some pain relief. And three, do a search on this site for “Leahy” the originator of something called Applied Release Technique.
Good luck to you!!!
First off, you need to give your body a break from the pushdowns and change your joint angle to something less stressful on your joint for 2 to 3 weeks. Then you must develop a transition plan to ease back into using your existing poundages over another 2-3 weeks. Without taking these warnings seriously you may set yourself up for larger problems down the road. Also have you looked into the possibilty that your joint problem could be causeed by an imbalance with regional muscle groups (forearms, biceps, etc).
PAK, Elbows on fire, I have been there grasshopper. You need to flat out face the facts as Dicky V would say. # 1 your elbows are telling you to stop doing what you are doing to them. You have progressivly worn them down by doing the same movements over and over, most T-MEN read this site but they don’t think about what they are reading. I used the same movemnts for years over and over, I could only do 1 exerecise pain free, Close-grip flat presses. Every other exercise was totally agony. I did lying scull crushes with 140 lbs in the begiining of my weightlifting career, when I was battleing my pain I couldn’t do this exercise with more than 20 lbs. I felt like there were knives going into my elbows. I tried the old Glucosamine/ chondroiten stack, I’m sure there great for your connective tissue over the long haul but it did jack for my elbows after being on for a year. I can help you fix your elbows but you won’t like what your going to have to do.
First thing you need to do is stop all tricep work, yes all tricep work. Start icing your elbows 3 times a day. Use a cycle of motrin of 6 a day for 3 weeks. No more than 3 weeks because you should have leaned from T-MAG that all pain suppression drugs lower your Test. levels. I know what your thinking, that you have to do somthing for your triceps or they will shrink. WRONG, WRONG. Pay now or pay forever. I think this program will actually put some muscle on your frame. The program you should try is this week’s “REST PAUSE TRAINING RE-VISITED” it’s the perfect routine for your current situation. There are no direct single joint tricep exercises. If your elbows can handle flat bb presses and shoulder presses your are in luck. Email me if you would like, I have been through all you are going through. DOOCH
If you’re like a lot of guys you’re probably overtraining your arms. Try laying off ALL direct arm work for a meso-cycle or two. Not only should your elbows heal up, but you may find that your arms get bigger and stronger in the process.