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Kettlebell Keeping your elbows healthy for C&P

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Ryan T

Level 6 Valued Member
Certified Instructor
I have experienced both golfer's elbow and tennis elbow (at the same time!) which is what benched me from KB work for about 6 months. For the most part it is healed. I have no pain during pressing, however I get little hints of the tendonitis sometimes either later in the day or the next day. I had it in my left elbow and I feel it ever so slightly on the right. I really have not been programming with presses at all, just a little practice here and there.

I've noticed sometimes that rather than "catching" the KB at the bottom of the clean with the hinge, occassionly the kettlebell does more of a drop and in an effort to make sure it doesn't come out of my hand there's a bit of a flexion in the elbow which will put more stress on the inner elbow. So I think for the golfer's elbow it's a matter of technique. For the tennis elbow on the press, I know my technique is solid. I stopped practicing with 20kg and 24kg and shifted to 12kg and 16kg to keep the groove and practice body tension to "drive" the kettlebell up rather than using my elbows.

I think the root of all elbow problems are usually technique. But do you guys do anything else? Perhaps flexbar work or finger extensor exercises with a rubber band (as Pavel metions in S&S)?

Thanks.
 
FWIW, I had a stem cell treatment done on a serious case of golfers and it cured, literally overnight. Adipose derives regenerative cells (adrc) , for years now it’s been perfect.

I’ve had grappling buddies get prp with similar results. In fact i understand that orthopedic issues are getting better outcomes with prp.

Prp is quick and painless and relatively inexpensive.
 
FWIW, I had a stem cell treatment done on a serious case of golfers and it cured, literally overnight. Adipose derives regenerative cells (adrc) , for years now it’s been perfect.

I’ve had grappling buddies get prp with similar results. In fact i understand that orthopedic issues are getting better outcomes with prp.

Prp is quick and painless and relatively inexpensive.
I had heard of PRP before and seemed like it's had mixed results, but thanks for sharing your experience. Might consider it. I've got an HSA with a decent buffer so I might be able to afford it with nothing immediately out of pocket. Can you speak to any of the risks that the ortho made you aware of?

Do you do anything now to do like a preventative maintenance?
 
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure as the saying goes...
I can't speak to C&P but I can relate to elbow PM. Years of rock climbing, pull-ups, and swinging swords have taught me a thing or two.

  • Wrist Pronators
  • Reverse wrist curls from the neutral position
  • Finger extensors (rubber bands)
  • Baoding Balls
  • Backing off at first sign of pain and re-evaluating
 
  • Wrist Pronators
  • Reverse wrist curls from the neutral position
  • Finger extensors (rubber bands)
  • Baoding Balls
  • Backing off at first sign of pain and re-evaluating
Thanks for the info. I haven't seen Boading Balls since my college days! What kind of exercises did you do for wrist pronation?
 
I use either a small sledge hammer or a 'Wrist Reinforcer' (iron mind)
- mine is home made.
Rest elbow on knee, rotate wrist back and forth along longitudinal axis.
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My understanding the risks are very minimal, mostly standard infection of the injection or draw site.

I dont do anything for maintenance, no need.
 
My understanding the risks are very minimal, mostly standard infection of the injection or draw site.

I dont do anything for maintenance, no need.
How long ago was that? Curious if it seems like a long-term cure.
 
For nagging pain I find an ice pack at the end of the day does wonders. Most of my problems are 100% inflammation related and disappear with ibuprofen. But that's not good for my stomach or BP, so out comes the ice pack. I'll keep it up for an evening or two even after symptoms abate.
 
Good Morning Ryan,
I can relate. I had golfers elbow for almost a year. For me, it was a lack of shoulder mobility. Many times a chronic injury can evolve up stream or down stream. For example, an elbow issue can be a wrist or shoulder issue. A knee inury can be a hip or ankle issue. A great resource is Trevor Bachmeyer at Smashwerx. Through his insight and humor my elbows are back to normal. I wish you well.....Peace, Fyreman
 
Lots of possible causes, and lots of possible treatments, so the trick is finding a treatment that fits your cause. A fix that a hundred other people swear by may do nothing for you.

I've had some very severe and persistent golfer's elbow symptoms until I found a fix that worked almost instantly for me:

Get a lacrosse ball and find a doorway or outside corner between two walls, such that you can pin the ball between your pec and the wall and extend you arm on that side in front of you. With your arm at your side, roll the ball around to different places on your pec until you find a tender spot. Keep the ball pinned in that sport and move your arm up and down, from your side to out in front above parallel with the floor and back, about 10 times. Keeping the ball pinned and moving your arm works much better than just rolling or pressing on the trigger point. Then roll around to find another tender spot and repeat until you hit all the tender spots you can find, all around your pec area.

That's it.

If it works, you will feel a lot better immediately. If not, then this fix doesn't address your particular cause.
 
@Ryan T

I have found these remedies almost supernaturally effective, since I've had the same problem, especially doing ROP. The Therabands are only about $20.
(link goes to previous post in another thread)
Kote gaeshi
 
I've had some very severe and persistent golfer's elbow symptoms until I found a fix that worked almost instantly for me:

Get a lacrosse ball and find a doorway or outside corner between two walls, such that you can pin the ball between your pec and the wall and extend you arm on that side in front of you....

Using a lacrosse ball on your pec helped fix your golfer's elbow?
 
Using a lacrosse ball on your pec helped fix your golfer's elbow?

Yes. It improved immediately, and completely eliminated any symptoms within a few days of doing it a few times a day.

Now, whenever I have an occasional flare up (maybe a few times a year), I use this method and it continues to work.

[Edit: After stumbling across this treatment (I forget where) I've recommended it several times on this forum, but have never gotten any feedback on anyone else trying it or whether they got positive results, so I'm interested to see if it works for anyone else.]

The site of the symptom is not necessarily the site of the cause.

This goes for a lot of mobility issues as well. Drills that hammer away at the site of the problem don't necessarily have much effect. And drills that don't seem to directly target a problem area often have surprising effects. A lot of the OS drills seem to have indirect effects like this. But in my experience the causes and effects vary greatly by individual, which is why drills some people swear by don't do anything for others.

It takes a lot of experimentation and trial and error to find the big bang for the buck drills for a given individual. But once you zero in on an effective individualized mobility toolbox, you can get by with a pretty minimalist routine to keep yourself tuned up.
 
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