Doc said I have tennis elbow and possibly bicep tendonitis (elbow) at the same time. What I have are overuse injuries (develped over a period of time) and not accute (sudden injury). I think that this qoute from Mauro Di Pasquale explains my condtion perfectly:
“Overuse injuries are caused by repetitive stresses on vulnerable tissues and develop over days or weeks. Overuse injuries can also be caused by an overly rapid increase in intensity of training. Repeated mechanical stress, due to improper biomechanics of technique, cause overuse injuries by disrupting the microstructure of the tissues in the area. An example of mechanical stress is repeated tugging at the site on insertion of a muscle or facia, causing tearing, lifting and/or inflammation such as is seen with tennis elbow.”
All those 500 lb deads 450 lb bbell shrugs and 70 lb lateral rasies (which I did regulary when following the Max-OT program) really took their toll on my biceps tendon and elbow (forearm muscle insertion points), not mention I was on PH with further increased my strenght gains. My weights all jumped up very quickly and the tendons at my left elbow just couldnt handle it (currently have swelling and a “pumped” feeling around the elbow though the bicep tendon pain has subsided somewhat as I have really backed off in regards to back and bicep training). So, my question is: Would ART be good for this type of injury? Any suggestions on how I should modify my training with tennis elbow?
The ART would be right up your alley. I’ve suffered from similiar injuries and I simply work around it. Try different exercises tha stress the elbow less. You’ll have to experiment a little.
I have suffered the same injury, ART worked quite well, really sped up recovery, indeed I never had to stop lifting.
Another thing is perhaps to reduce shock loading, if you are bouncing or jerking the weight that can really increase the load on the tendon and increase the likelihood of injury. Slow, clean reps will help prevent injury while it acclimatizes to the load.
I learned one thing, there are no rules. I don’t use straps, but would in this situation for a few weeks at least.
I’ll give you a for instance. I’ve been suffereing from shouldet tendonitis, so I bought a safety squat bar. I found that straight bar squats and good mornings aggravated the shoulder, so I looked for an alternative. After two weeks, I’m seeing good changes. I’m getting ART done, but remember it’s only part of the picture.