Clay Edgin Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Lately, I've been getting some pain in my left bicep/elbow tendon. I can crush and pinch fine without pain, but card and book tearing makes it ache. Especially card tearing. I think it's the twisting motion. Last night I was squatting and I could start to feel it and when I went to do my overhead presses I had to bail after a couple sets because it hurt to move my arm and the tendon was sore from elbow to shoulder. Obviously, the first thing I should do is to STOP whatever is making it hurt, but how should I help it heal? Rest is a dirty four letter word and if I can help myself heal faster in any way by doing some rehab work I will gladly do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danegarreau Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Clay, talk to the diesel crew guys. They helped me out with my elbow tendonitus tremendously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king crusher Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 im having a bit of the same thing. its is a painfull thing and an annoyance. grrrrrrrrrrrrr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbjr Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Here is what has and does work for me, got the suggestion from John Ware (was once the top powerlifter in the world) I do tons of light tricep ext daily 2x per day, and take ibuprofen 2x daily.. The tricep ext or skull crushers I do 1 arm with dumbells with like 15 -20lbs. Also do lots of these prior to any workout to warm up... Sounds very simple but it has worked very well for me....Brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Wood Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 This is by no means medical advice but it sounds like a case of too much training, not enough rest and too little attention to opposing muscle groups. Quite frankly, if you don't cut back willingly right now, you will be forced to later on because you will have no other option. I have seen this happen time and time again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAMMERHEAD Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Clay, I had the same thing happen to me from card tearing and bending with a reverse grip. The reverse grip is what really pushed it over the edge. What worked for me is to lay off the ripping for a little while and train around it. Also doing high rep sledge twists. Pop some anit-inflamitories as well. -E Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan McMillan Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Clay, All that anatomy near the elbow is pretty near damn conected somehow, take my case in point. I am still trying to heal up some tennis elbow in my left arm. My doctor signed me up for some physio at the local clinic. Basically the only thing they have offered me is some ultrasound, some scope, and a simple stretch and reverse wrist curls. While all this had some effect, I feel one of the things that is starting to help is some tricep specific training. Basically all those tendons all kindof merge at the elbow so take heed to what Brett mentioned it might help. Jon@han Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarudriller Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 This is by no means medical advice but it sounds like a case of too much training, not enough rest and too little attention to opposing muscle groups. ← John, what would you recommend in regards to exercises that will work the opposing muscles? I'm about 2 days into having symptoms similar to Clay and I definitely want to head this off at the pass before it gets anywhere near becoming an ongoing issue. Thanks.... Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clay Edgin Posted December 21, 2004 Author Share Posted December 21, 2004 Thanks for the helpful replies everyone. I first noticed the tendon pain after doing lots of tearing and it started nagging me again when I was doing some close grip bench press. Last night's standing presses started to make it worse so I'm a bit leery of doing a lot of tricep work for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarudriller Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Just to clarify, what I'm having in common with Clay in the pain, not the source (I don't do any tearing or bending). The location is.....when I gooseneck my right forearm, the pain is in the innermost part of the elbow, right next to the meaty part of the forearm. Pretty vague, huh? As someone who's never had this sort of pain before, is this tendonitis? (I know, why not just tape a sign on myself that says "grip newbie" ) Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Wood Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 John, what would you recommend in regards to exercises that will work the opposing muscles? I'm about 2 days into having symptoms similar to Clay and I definitely want to head this off at the pass before it gets anywhere near becoming an ongoing issue. Thanks.... Chris, It comes down to a lot more that just doing extra exercise. Everything must be in balance, (non grip related work as well.) While this includes equal work to opposing muscle groups, the amount, intensity and frequency of exercise must also be in the proper amount in order to not only prevent this type of situation, but also to allow for the maximum amount of possible progress and strength gains. I will say that in most of the workouts around here that I have seen, apart from the grip specific stuff, there is an overabundance of "pushing" movements and not enough "pulling" movements. Needless to say, this is a big problem. Yes, your "non" grip work can make a big difference in your grip progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbjr Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 I should clarify tons of tri ext, I do 2 sets of 10 2x daily, that is really not tons, but I do them every day and it seems like a bunch. I also do not do heavy tricep specific exercise very often as this stirs things up for me..Bench and OH press are about all I can get away with...With the light tri ext you increase the blood flow to tendons and and help pump out waste....This is definitely not due to weakness but rather overuse, or more specifically over stress from heavy weights, the ibuprofen will help with the inflamation but seems to work even better with the light elbow ext. You also might try avoiding full lock-out, this also seems to help some people..I know this seem illogical as it is just more reps, that is what I thought to, but it does work...Brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossman Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 clay.....i had elbow pain like this, and i started doing extensors, and shot rotations....this cleared it up..i also began taking vitamin b complex, MSM and glucosamine chondroitin...dont think i helped much, but give it a try Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 In my experience, a lot of joint problems are greatly affected by diet. I have done Harvey Diamond's lymph clearing diet twice during the last year (basically 7-10 days eating as much as you want, as long as it's raw - good thing I love sushi! plus fruit, veg, sprouts, nuts, seeds, raw goat's milk, raw milk cheeses etc.) and each time it was amazing how good my joints felt and how much more flexibility I had. Beyond that I get alot of essential fatty acids in my diet, drink only alkaline water from an ionizing filter and use liberal amounts of turmeric in my whey shakes - the turmeric I believe really helped with the elbow tendonitis I had last year. Training wise, what seemed to help most were one and two arm chinning bar hangs, rubber band extensions and when mostly healed, doing slow lever bar twists. I think the hangs were of the greatest value. Also doing Pavel's Super Joints mobility drills every day especially Russian pool and broomstick dislocates are very helpful and a good preventative as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foggymountainmuscle Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 Clay, when you train your card tearing, do you also train it left handed? When you get to feeling better in the elbow this would help the muscle balance issue a heck of alot, especially considering tearing bothers it the most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underdawg Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 Clay, I'd say some good ol' reverse and hammer curls would help a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clay Edgin Posted December 22, 2004 Author Share Posted December 22, 2004 Foggy, I only ever train card tearing one way - with my right hand on top and left on bottom. Now that you bring it up, I have noticed that in several feats I use the left hand for bracing while I use the right hand to manipulate the object. Spike bending and frying pans get bent with my left hand braced onto my thigh while holding the object and I don't even know if I could do one with my right hand bracing and left hand pushing. Not sure if I could tear a deck with the left hand primarily either. I guess I didn't realize how right hand dependent I was Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eli72 Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 Which tendon is it? more specific I would Ice cup for 5-10 min after and invest in some Rehband elbow sleeves, they helped me tremendously also try some Naperson and maybe DMSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJones Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 Clay, I ran into this when I was working on tearing - the left arm takes a ton of stress because the right arm is pushing down into and twisting out against the left - so the left arm in addition to trying to twist and clamp onto the deck has to brace against the force of the right arm - You know you can tear decks so lay off the tearing a bit and maybe see an ART (active release therapist) or massage therapist (maybe neuromuscular) - your left arm needs some TLC. Accupuncture would be a good idea - I can find out some names if you are interested. Ice, heat - mobility drills - and not irritating the area would be a good thing. John's advice is good - and as I described above - card tearing is just one of those "uneven" feats that lends itself to overloading a particular area. Heal Fast Brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eli72 Posted December 24, 2004 Share Posted December 24, 2004 I saw an Osteopath, no ART's around , and he also helped balance me out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Steve Posted December 24, 2004 Share Posted December 24, 2004 This is what I did Clay. Took four weeks off and went to my Dr. and got some ultra sound around the elbow area on the stressed out tendons. Took anti-inflamatories for about three weeks. At the in of this time I was wanting to check out how my card ripping was. I went to the store and got a few packs of cards. The skill was off the chart. It was the 1st time I ripped them in the pack. It was like ripping a sheet of paper. The only thing I lost was endurance. Heal well my friend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedd Johnson Posted December 25, 2004 Share Posted December 25, 2004 Clay, Any chance you can send me a link to a video that shows just where the pain is and what movements aggrevate it? -Jedd- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 Here's the things that have helped me with my nerve damage pain. Perhaps it may help you. Extensor work with "expand your hand bands". Shoot for medium to high reps with low resistance (for Clay, that's probably 25 packages of them) :-p Ginger Extract capsules taken twice daily. Turmeric Extract capsules taken twice daily. (On these herbs, be careful that they're FROM the US, many times they are of indian or chinese origin and contain high levels of lead). DMSO. Watch out, this stuff gives you nasty breath. Bextra or other long acting COX-2 Inhibitors (at last resort). Also, a "foam core pillow" if you sleep on your arm. After going through several pillows, I have found that one such as the Sealy Encompass from JCPenney's will keep my arm from falling to sleep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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