*** The 2019 Gym Rats Thread ***

[Delvis]

Have you looked at your forearms, or shoulders actually.

Smash them.

 

[strumpusplunket]

Have you looked at your forearms, or shoulders actually.

Smash them.

Was this in response to my golfer's elbow question?

I do a bit of shoulder work already (inc press, OHP, lat raises, rear lat work). Not sure what else I need for them? Forearms less so since I've been using a grip strap on my sore arm (pulling movements hurt a bit without it). I do have a couple of grip squeezer things, but not been using them for fear of making things worse. Was that it that kind of thing you were thinking of? Or more dumbbell wrist curls?

 

[Somnambulist]

If you get to the point where you're doing pull-ups again, one thing I've found with them that really helps* is using rings or grips that can rotate, so you can move from somewhat pronated to somewhat supinated through the ROM rather than having the hand - and to a minor extent the arm position - fixed which lets things move naturally. Not qualified to diagnose or recommend anything to fix it though!

Also, this is anecdotal may be helpful going forward... I feel like practicing yoga has made me more aware of joint alignment (because certain poses can be hell on ligaments and tendons if you don't have the flexibility and compensate for that by twisting and forcing things into certain positions) and so I try to think about that in both executing movements and actual exercise selection in the gym... think of knee valgus when squatting, where a joint that is just supposed to hinge is being loaded whilst out of alignment, and as a result I've had less niggles.

Forearm/wrist stretches are nice and although it's probably placebo I've enjoyed voodoo flossing my elbows in the past when I've have the odd complaint.

Spoiler: *

I don't do fully supinated chins because my lats are tight. This makes maintaining shoulder external rotation hard (because tight lats want to pull the shoulders back into internal rotation), which means at the bottom of the movement tend to compensate for this tightness, but because the hands are fixed this puts pressure on my elbows and wrists. I can avoid this by cutting the ROM but then it's not really a full chin, so now I tend to stick to either rings or a more neutral grip.

 

[Delvis]

Was this in response to my golfer's elbow question?

I do a bit of shoulder work already (inc press, OHP, lat raises, rear lat work). Not sure what else I need for them? Forearms less so since I've been using a grip strap on my sore arm (pulling movements hurt a bit without it). I do have a couple of grip squeezer things, but not been using them for fear of making things worse. Was that it that kind of thing you were thinking of? Or more dumbbell wrist curls?

By smash, I mean mobilise. Lacrosse ball, soft tissue work.

 

[strumpusplunket]

If you get to the point where you're doing pull-ups again, one thing I've found with them that really helps* is using rings or grips that can rotate, so you can move from somewhat pronated to somewhat supinated through the ROM rather than having the hand - and to a minor extent the arm position - fixed which lets things move naturally. Not qualified to diagnose or recommend anything to fix it though!

Also, this is anecdotal may be helpful going forward... I feel like practicing yoga has made me more aware of joint alignment (because certain poses can be hell on ligaments and tendons if you don't have the flexibility and compensate for that by twisting and forcing things into certain positions) and so I try to think about that in both executing movements and actual exercise selection in the gym... think of knee valgus when squatting, where a joint that is just supposed to hinge is being loaded whilst out of alignment, and as a result I've had less niggles.

Forearm/wrist stretches are nice and although it's probably placebo I've enjoyed voodoo flossing my elbows in the past when I've have the odd complaint.

Spoiler: *

I don't do fully supinated chins because my lats are tight. This makes maintaining shoulder external rotation hard (because tight lats want to pull the shoulders back into internal rotation), which means at the bottom of the movement tend to compensate for this tightness, but because the hands are fixed this puts pressure on my elbows and wrists. I can avoid this by cutting the ROM but then it's not really a full chin, so now I tend to stick to either rings or a more neutral grip.

I will look up voodoo flossing! Cheers. My wife keeps trying to get me to do yoga with her, so maybe I'll have to give that a go too (though a number of the stretches I use are already very similar to yoga stretches tbh).

By smash, I mean mobilise. Lacrosse ball, soft tissue work.

Ah, I see! Yes, I have a lacrosse ball and I do use that to dig into my forearms and front delts. Maybe I need to up the frequency I use it (only once every three or four days at the moment, so could try it daily).

Cheers.

 

[Delvis]

I will look up voodoo flossing! Cheers. My wife keeps trying to get me to do yoga with her, so maybe I'll have to give that a go too (though a number of the stretches I use are already very similar to yoga stretches tbh).



Ah, I see! Yes, I have a lacrosse ball and I do use that to dig into my forearms and front delts. Maybe I need to up the frequency I use it (only once every three or four days at the moment, so could try it daily).

Cheers.

Just need to explore and see why it's hurting, could be all sorts on gumpf

 

[Somnambulist]

I will look up voodoo flossing! Cheers. My wife keeps trying to get me to do yoga with her, so maybe I'll have to give that a go too (though a number of the stretches I use are already very similar to yoga stretches tbh).

It depends on how the yoga practice is being taught as to how worthwhile it is. A lot of fitness-class type yoga is mostly stretches and flows (and don't go into the mindfulness aspect which is what really makes it yoga, but that's a whole other thing), but I've had the fortune of having a friend/teacher who understands that strength at end ranges plays just as much a part with flexibility, so we do a lot of drills, maintaining active positions for at least 5 breathes etc etc, which makes a much bigger difference than just sitting in a passive stretch for ages or going through a vinyasa sequence over and over again. If it's just stretching type stuff and no hands-on adjustments then you could just do that sort of thing yourself.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Speaking of pain...

Anyone had experience of recovery from golfer's elbow?

I have it quite bad in my left arm and less bad in my right. I've dropped pull-ups from my routine, which are the main thing I think aggravated it this time around (it's a recurring issue for me - quiet for years and then it can flare up again). I'm also using forearm/elbow straps on both arms and a grip strap on my left for pulls and I'm now happy that I'm lifting without pain (and thus I'm assuming I'm not making it worse with my exercise).

Thing is - it just doesn't want to go away this time! I'm doing Tyler twists with a Theraband bar, along with massage, stretching, icing. About 80% of the time it feels fine, but then I'll wake up one morning, push myself up out of bed and *bam* there's that soreness and pain again, and it then hangs around most of that day.

I really want to get to the point I feel it's improved enough to put pull-ups back into my routine (one of my favourite exercises), but it's not happening. About six weeks since it flared up badly this time around, and whilst it's better than it was in the first three weeks or so, improvemnet has definitely stalled.

Any advice (hopefully not cortisone injections) would be really appreciated.

Hammer curls (high rep, low weight) were recommended to me and after about 4-5 months I have no more pain.

 

[mrthingyx]

I found tennis elbow cured by heavy deadlifting... Kind of weird, but nice to know my lifting is medicinal.

Ultimately, you need to see a sports physio (assuming you haven't already): chinups might be one of those exercises that you currently don't have the mobility for, so you could fix that but the likelihood of getting it right without a "spotter" is moderate to low.

It could be that all your pulling work needs to be done with hooks for a while...

Do regular bro curlz hurt and if so where?

 

[Somnambulist]

^
Funny you say that, I got a bit carried away a couple of weekends ago with weighted chins (worked up to a single with 40kg on the belt before I did my working sets) and my elbows were still complaining when I came in for my first lower day the next week, but after doing my RDLs... much better.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

CGBP killed my elbow and OHP would further aggravate it. Pull downs probably the worst.

 

[Kreeeee]

So, randomly got on to pistol squatting due to my daughters ice skating hobby. Thought I would it a go, and surprised myself, I can hit pistol squat on my right leg, as soon as I attempt on my left leg, as soon as my knee breaks in to the movement I get pain.

The pain gets more intense the further in to the movement I get. Oddly enough I do not get this pain during normal squats, now I am concerned this might be due to my right leg doing a lot more work to compensate without me realising.

Any thoughts on what the issue might be with my left knee, could it just be weakness in my left leg that then just forces more pressure on to the knee joint itself or something more?

The training I had to do to rebuild muscles from a broken left leg meant that I could easily do ATG pistol squats on that leg, but on my good leg I couldn't get out of the hole and had a sharp pain behind the kneecap.

A few weeks of split leg training got the right leg used to working on its own and now body weight ATG pistol squats are a doddle on both legs.

 

[strumpusplunket]

Ok... voodoo flossing looks, er, really extreme! I've put some elbow floss bands on my wishlist, but will definitely want to look more into this before trying it!

Digging around with my lacrosse ball, I find there's some pain on the medial epicondyle itself when rolling the ball over it, and some definite tightness in the lateral side musculature, but not much else I can pinpoint. Not sure what if anything that signifies.

I found tennis elbow cured by heavy deadlifting... Kind of weird, but nice to know my lifting is medicinal.

Ultimately, you need to see a sports physio (assuming you haven't already): chinups might be one of those exercises that you currently don't have the mobility for, so you could fix that but the likelihood of getting it right without a "spotter" is moderate to low.

It could be that all your pulling work needs to be done with hooks for a while...

Do regular bro curlz hurt and if so where?

I saw a physio for golfer's elbow years ago, and got pressure release massage and stretching, which I've been trying to replicate myself.

Regarding pull-ups and the cause of all this - I'm pretty convinced it's not a mobility issue. I feel pretty certain it was a problem with my grip. I used a neutral pull-up bar, but it had very thick handles, and I was doing weighted pull-up with my thumb and index finger hanging off the front of the grip. So all the weight was on my smallest three fingers splayed poorly over the top of the grips. From what I've seen since researching all this, it must have put a lot of pressure right on the epicondyle insertion. I felt it getting progressively more sore and just ignored it until one day finishing a set left me with throbbing pain and soreness that was pretty overwhelming.

I have some hooks, but hate using them. It all feels so unstable! Might dig them out and give them another try.

Oh - trying out bro curls, I get a twinge of soreness on the medial epicondyle and down to about two inches below it only on the very bottom of the movement, when my arm is almost fully extended on the eccentric and concentric movements. It's really not very severe, though. Just a bit of soreness. The kind of thing I'd probably just ignore if I wasn't looking out for it.

You're the second person I've seen say that heavy deads helped, btw. I might give strapless lifting a go too on my RDLs (not that they use a very heavy weight at the moment).

 

[Kaka]

I had golfer's elbow that lingered for many many months a few years back. I think I made a post about it on these forums too.

I tried strengthening exercises with the TheraBand Flexbar and while it did improve a lot, once I was back on my routine any pulling movements would make it flare up again. In the end I had to take a break from any lifting as the constant numbing pain was getting boring and everyday chores would be troublesome. My sister is a sports physio and said as I was probably at the far end of the scale in terms of the condition with bad inflammation, a period of long rest with light strengthening exercises was the best course of action.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Been away for a few days. 2 weeks til I am away again, so trying to do as much as I can. Yesterday, brilliant bench session hitting every target. Today, completely lacking in energy and missed most of my deadlift targets. Frustrating. Need to eat more I guess.

 

[Skidder]

I'm on a three week holiday and off the weight training with only TRX as equipment. I'm using that every other day as well as loads of paddle boarding and few other water sports so at least doing something. Quite enjoying the trx. Knee is getting a lot better but have now been off the squats for ages. Going to see physio when home.

 

[Somnambulist]

Indoor bouldering = do I even lift?

Also = can I even lift the next day? Finger doms and back in bits. Going to be a less than ideal session tomorrow...

 

[Syla5]

Indoor bouldering = do I even lift?

Also = can I even lift the next day? Finger doms and back in bits. Going to be a less than ideal session tomorrow...

I suspect this has something to do with weighing twice as much as the average bouldering hipster.

 

[Somnambulist]

I suspect this has something to do with weighing twice as much as the average bouldering hipster.

Perhaps! I am a manlet of peace though... a lot of it is technique tbh (and specific grip strength); you can easily use too much upper body to pull yourself about and forget to use your legs, lose energy faffing when momentum or better planning would have been more efficient. Humbling, but good fun!

 

[Delvis]

I suspect this has something to do with weighing twice as much as the average bouldering hipster.

That and most people don't do grip strength on the manner a climber would