Pain in elbow from curls

[Inquisitor]

Since I have gotten stronger lately and can lift more weight, I have developed a pain on the outside of my elbow right where on the tip of the bone where the joint comes together. I'm almost positive it's my tendons, but that's a damn shame the I won't be able to lift heavy weights without this pain reoccuring. Doesn anyone know a way that I can lift the heavy weights without hurting the elbow? Also, I've been taking Aleve to get rid of the inflamation in the joint and it's taking a long time to heal. It's been hurting for the past two weeks, easily.

[Inquisitor]

I really think that the I get this problem when I do preacher curls. When I do curls freely, with no arm support, I don't seem to get the pain and it's where my gains came from. The minute I started with the preacher curl support bench, I felt the pain.

[Hard2Gain]

Well, stop doing preacher curls and try Concentration curls or even spider curls as an option. I would also suggest looking into the elbow paint/injury sticky above. I posted some information that I got from my doctor last week in there. I have been dealing with pain on the inner side of my elbow (golfers elbow as it is called) (the outside of elbow pain is referred to as tennis elbow). The bottom line however, is that it is tendonitis and standard physical therapy does not do a whole lot for it.

I am currently taking glucoseamine (can get you a link to the type I am taking if you are interested) and using this device called a Thera-band Flex bar. So far things are going well and I have not been feeling any pain with my lifts or post workout.

[mperk]

Are you using an EZ curl Bar on the preacher? if not do so. I'd say do isolation exercises till it gets better. you can also get a tennis elbow brace - which helps a ton for that. Plus you should look into elbow wraps from ACE Tek Zone - i love those.

Good luck dude - post what works for you!

[lovbyts]

I remember years ago having similar pains. I think it stopped when I went down on weight and focused more on slower perfect curls and added in concentration curls and used the straight bar more and not the curl bar as much. Also use Dumbbells more.

[stevey_6t9]

could be tendonosis or anything, if you have the $$ get a MRI or CT scan so you can fix the problem where it lies.

[Inquisitor]

Wow ! Thanks a lot, gentlemen. This really helps a ton. I will surely look into this advice. To answer some of the questions,...
Yes, I am using an EZ Curl Bar. This is actually the second time I get this and the first time I did exactly what "lovbyts" said. I went down in weight and it slowly went away. But, now, I am doing a low dose of TEST and I really wanted to get the most out of my workouts. Even if I go down in my weights, it takes quite a long time to diminish. Regarding the Ace Wrap... I tried that and when you put it tight enough to support, it restricts blood circulation and that's not good either. Thank you all for your input. This is great site.

[lovbyts]

Yeah I never liked wraps or supports, they just feel weird and do nothing unless tight enough to cut of circulatory like you said. Find what doesnt hurt and stick with it for quite a while, I mean stay away from what hurts for months. Also take an aspirin 1 hr before working out to cut down on inflammation and see if that helps. If you still have problems remember, Ice is your friend. After any workout if you feel pain Ice the offending joint. Dont use heat, they will bring more blood there and cause more inflammation.

[Hard2Gain]

I used a tennis elbow support for months and it did little to nothing for me. I have 3 different versions of them and none of them work any better than the other. However, from a comfort stand point you want one that is some what stretchable. Like this one.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...pf_rd_i=507846

this one is pretty much the most comfortable one I have worn. As far as wraps go, I can't use them when doing pull movements. As you mentioned it simply cuts of the circulation and irritates my skin. However, I also got the pain during my push movements and I have been wrapping my elbow for these lately but am going to try to run my push workout today without doing so.

Good luck man!

[Inquisitor]

Thanks to all. This is a very helpful thread. I'll try to let you know about my progress.

[nk92mi]

i had the same problem for months until i went to physical therapy. i could not even grab a bottle of water without my elbow hurting. do not get that wrap, it only gave me muscle atrophy in that spot. it is really hard to build up the flexor muscles that cause that injury. PT helped out tremendously. another thing that helped out was ice and NSAIDS (ibprofen). google some exercises to do.

[bass]

most of the injuries in that area occurs because the use of the wrist, your wrist uses that muscle/tendon when you do bicep curls, so you need to bypass your wrist joint when you lift, and the only way to do this is using cables for curls, but you need to use a wrist strap so you can hook the cables to. i had this problem and the only way i got rid of it is when i bypassed the weight on my wrist, and gave it time to heal. Good luck!

[mperk]

most of the injuries in that area occurs because the use of the wrist, your wrist uses that muscle/tendon when you do bicep curls, so you need to bypass your wrist joint when you lift, and the only way to do this is using cables for curls, but you need to use a wrist strap so you can hook the cables to. i had this problem and the only way i got rid of it is when i bypassed the weight on my wrist, and gave it time to heal. Good luck!

Can you elaborate on that, Bass? What exercise did you do with the cables? I don't find that any different than the ez bar or DBs. thanks

[frawnz]

Can you elaborate on that, Bass? What exercise did you do with the cables? I don't find that any different than the ez bar or DBs. thanks

It's different because you're hooking it to your wrist strap as opposed to holding the cable handle in your hand. It would be more like setting the curl bar on your upper forearm below your wrist and doing curls like that.

[bass]

Frawnz, exactly! I'll post a photo tonight.

[bass]

Here is a photo!

[gypsy]

interesting setup there..... any type of db curls kill my elbows except when doing curls with the cables (like above but no wrist strap).

[bass]

yea with the strap you can do heavier! give it a try!