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Other/Mixed Avoiding tendonitis?

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
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@GovernorSilver
I've also the green Flexbar and used it the last month on and off for some tyler twists. I'll start to use it continuously for the next weeks with tyler twists and also pronation/supination exercises. The thoracic windmill is also an exercise I'll implement in my daily routine in the morning and evening.
What's still missing is a workout with the kettlebells for building strength and muscles desptite the tendopathy.
@Georgiaoutdoors
In the meantime I've almost read the entire "Build from broken" book and it has really some good advices, but I'm not able to get back into kettlebell training with these infos because the focus is way too much on gym/barbell training imho.
 
I have tendonitis in both knees. If you can get your insurance to cover it I can't recommend physical therapy enough, it's helped me a ton. Even if you just go for a few sessions and then continue what they show you on your own it should be a huge help. Good luck!
 
LukeV said:
The first thing you need to do is abandon any preconceived notion you have about what "exercise" looks like and instead figure out what exercise looks like for you without tendon damage and pain. Drop the weight, increase the reps, increase the rest periods, increase the rest days, change the exercises, change the range of motion etc. As soon as you feel tendon discomfort stop what you are doing and go home. If you only accept one piece of my advice please let it be that! And before you workout again reflect on what you were doing to cause that twinge and don't do that again. I hate to say it, but why are you so fixated on S&S and using kettlebells? There's plenty of other ways to get a great workout that might not cause you such repeated discomfort. Try something else
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This.

Seasonal bodybuilding-style training cycles (light weight, high reps) and BFR have done more to improve the resilience of specific joints than anything else I've ever tried.

And even during competition prep, I still keep a little bit of bodybuilding style accessory mix to alleviate RSI. I only drop them entirely at T-2 weeks.

Plus eating a low inflammation diet.

I avoid NSAIDs (I don't need them these days) except in rare cases; I'll use them maybe once a quarter for a few days.
 
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clemsi said:
What's still missing is a workout with the kettlebells for building strength and muscles desptite the tendopathy.
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I've seen posts from people on Reddit saying they got tendonitis from KB work. The cause almost always turned out to be KB technique.

The only KB exercise I've done after recovering from my elbow tendonitis, so far, is just 2-handed KB swing. Elbow seems to be holding up fine. I did get coached by 2 different senior RKCs (pre StrongFirst era) in person, so that helped me avoid issues with the swing.

I also followed the advice in S&S to exercise the wrist extensors with elastic bands, like the rubber band that comes with broccoli or other produce. It's supposed to balance out the grip work that comes with high-volume swings. I have a set from Ironmind that I've had for years.
 
Maybe a minimalist approach is not working for you. Perhaps it is putting too much stress on the same joint/ligaments over and over and over. You might be better served with lots of exercise variety and maybe a variety of implements.
eg you could have a swing day, a get up day, a clean and press day, a front squat day and you might just focus on a different lift each day... take a day off and repeat... Idea being to do different lifts each day, strengthen your whole body, and keep the repetitive stress to a minimum. I know doing Strong Phase 3 my wrists are getting quite sore from all the reps and I am looking forward to finishing the cycle and giving them a chance to rest.
 
solarbear said:
Maybe a minimalist approach is not working for you. Perhaps it is putting too much stress on the same joint/ligaments over and over and over. You might be better served with lots of exercise variety and maybe a variety of implements.
eg you could have a swing day, a get up day, a clean and press day, a front squat day and you might just focus on a different lift each day... take a day off and repeat... Idea being to do different lifts each day, strengthen your whole body, and keep the repetitive stress to a minimum. I know doing Strong Phase 3 my wrists are getting quite sore from all the reps and I am looking forward to finishing the cycle and giving them a chance to rest.
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This is a really good point.

All the times I can think of where I had periods of tendonitis coincided with lots of volume of repetition with little variety.
 
watchnerd said:
Also:

Eat sardines.

A few cans a week.
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I would like to know more about sardines:). I eat mostly vegetarian food since I'm the only one in our family that eats fish. I take fish oil and vitamin D supplements but sardines could be easily added to my lunch menu.
 
mikko said:
I would like to know more about sardines:). I eat mostly vegetarian food since I'm the only one in our family that eats fish. I take fish oil and vitamin D supplements but sardines could be easily added to my lunch menu.
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Oily fish (sardines, salmon) are anti inflammaiton
 
I don't know if the technique is the reason, but after training with KB, even if I only do swings, I have some pain in the elbow area. The conjunctiva is certainly affected, but maybe other things, I can't say. With barbells, no matter what I've trained and in any way, apart from slight discomfort in the trained muscles / and sometimes, if I change the type of protocol for example / nothing else happens to me.
 
GovernorSilver said:
I had an elbow issue that was triggered while attempting an isometric bicep curl with too much force and bad technique. But I'd been abusing the elbow by too much holding of my iPad in one hand while fiddling with the touchscreen with other.

This video helped me out a lot:


After a few months of the sidelying thoracic windmill, wrist curls with a bag of soup cans, etc. I got a green Flexbar and it lived up to the hype:



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Thank you for sharing these. I've been having some elbow pain in this exact area. Its on my right arm which is my non-dominate hand/arm. When I first noticed it, I realized it started from my cleans so I looked at a lot of clean technique videos and tightened up my form/technique. Elbow pain got a lot better.

Fast forward to now, I'm in the middle of a double kb complex program that calls for double snatches. My cleans are good, but realized the elbow pain is coming from the double snatches. The first couple weeks I was running the program as a chain and that was not the best idea. I realized I wasn't driving the bells up with enough hike to snatch and compensating with my arms in turn the bells would smack on my forearms. On my right arm it felt like the inner elbow/arm was taking the brunt of the landing for the bells, causing pain. I swapped out the snatches for swings till I the pain goes away and my technique gets a lot better.

I'll be implementing some of the exercises for sure, along with some grip training.
 
Dydo said:
I don't know if the technique is the reason, but after training with KB, even if I only do swings, I have some pain in the elbow area. The conjunctiva is certainly affected, but maybe other things, I can't say. With barbells, no matter what I've trained and in any way, apart from slight discomfort in the trained muscles / and sometimes, if I change the type of protocol for example / nothing else happens to me.
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Yes, it is quite possible that errors in KB technique can cause an elbow issue. Mistakes with the KB swing and KB clean are actually common causes - eg. swinging with bent elbow instead of straight arm, allowing the elbow to bend on the backswing while cleaning the KB, etc.

rkcblog.dragondoor.com

Painful Elbows? Look at Your Technique

I can’t count how many people I run into, that have elbow pain and had to stop or back off their kettlebell or pull-up training. I’m sure you know someone who has developed pain in the elbows after…
rkcblog.dragondoor.com rkcblog.dragondoor.com

The suggestion to exercise your forearm extensors with rubber band(s), Ironmind Expand Your Hand bands, or similar items is also a good one. KB training tends to emphasize the forearm flexors.
 
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