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Barbell Suggestions for training with tendonitis

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Darrin

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I was diagnosed with calcific tendonitis in my right elbow a few weeks ago. I know it's in my left elbow as well (old X-rays showed that much). Doc said it's obvious I've had this a very long time.

Anyway, I'm not wanting to go the surgery route. He suggested the old ice and ibuprofen routine (icing does help a bit) if I don't want him to cut on me (three month downtime I think...not gonna happen). I haven't been able to do any sort of triceps work in, gosh, I want to say 10 years or so. I can get one set in then the pain comes back. If I stay away from it, and wrap my elbows tightly, the pain isn't too bad at all. The lack of triceps strength is really limiting my benching though. I'm reasonably fast off of my chest, and feel I have 5% more in me, but I just can't lock out like I used to (was kind of automatic at that point when I was younger).

Anyway, hoping for some advice either in the form of alternative treatments (ESWT for example, maybe ART) and training tips as well as perhaps grip advice for me. I'm 52, but not quite ready to quit just yet.

Here is a video of me testing where I was at a week or so ago. You can clearly see my sticking point.

 
Well, I'm no doctor, but I am a lifter who has dealt with pain and injuries and found ways to train around it and in many instance, heal them. However, take anything from someone who' s not a physician with a grain of salt. it's your body and your choices so make sure to take care. That being said, what aggravates your elbow and what doesn't /You'll have to experiment, and with grit, you can usually find a way. There are 1000's of triceps exercises to choose from. Training your biceps may help, as well. I find when one side is causing pain, training the other side often helps. I.e. when I hurt my knee, I couldn't squat, but I could DL and box squat. And as my hamstrings/glutes/hips got stronger, it helped my knee pain a lot. Avoid what hurts! Benching hurts? Have you tried incline, decline, dumbbells, reverse grip, Wide grip or just bottom only bench? If all triceps extensions hurt, don't do them! Light band pressdowns without a full extension can help bring some blood and pump to the area. Better then nothing, or training with pain. Also, your bench press is very impressive and as a lifter, we want nothing but to keep progressing but sometimes to progress we have to step back. When you're injured, you have to make compromises and the more you hurt, the less you'll gain. No one is stronger when they are hurt. Get creative and view this as an experimental time for growth and new learning. The answer to your woes may be in the weight room. Good luck, and I wish you a good recovery!
 
I suffered from elbow tendinitis for years and after consulting with mountain climbers and gymnasts who are, in my experience, the tendinitis experts I got my problem under control. But I had old fashioned 'over-use' tendinitis and not calcific tendinitis which is not the same to treat, as I understand it, and in many cases requires surgery because the deposits don't just go away. The advice I got that fixed my problem is as follows but I'm not confident that this will help you:

1. Do not rest the joint but avoid any exercise that aggravates the injury. Experiment with changed exercises, range of motion, rep ranges, frequency etc whatever it takes to keep exercising without pain. For example I stopped bench pressing and switched to floor press then board press, seated row changed ROM so elbows stopped at my sides rather than v bar at my chest, dropped weight to lift 15+ reps, stopped chin ups etc.
2. If pain occurs stop what you are doing immediately. Never try and exercise through the pain. Any aggravation sets back healing
3. Aggressive use of anti-inflammatories at any sign of pain. This includes higher than OTC recommended dosages. Talk to your doctor. Mine was relaxed about me doubling the daily dose of ibuprofen for a time
4. Massage of the forearm muscles and tendons. I just used to roll my forearms up and down on all angles using one of my fat gripz

Good luck mate! Tendinitis can be a bitch
 




This is what helped my elbow pain because of bouldering. Although me/my pain not being at the same stage and of the same reason as you are/yours is (I guess?!?) you could give it a try. The first video is in german but I would say you can understand the advice from what is shown.
I really recommend the gua sha...it is no vodoo and it helped me more than once with achy ankles, neck pain and my elbow.
Let me know what you think and all the best for you!(y)
 
Darrin said:
I was diagnosed with calcific tendonitis in my right elbow a few weeks ago. I know it's in my left elbow as well (old X-rays showed that much). Doc said it's obvious I've had this a very long time.

Anyway, I'm not wanting to go the surgery route. He suggested the old ice and ibuprofen routine (icing does help a bit) if I don't want him to cut on me (three month downtime I think...not gonna happen). I haven't been able to do any sort of triceps work in, gosh, I want to say 10 years or so. I can get one set in then the pain comes back. If I stay away from it, and wrap my elbows tightly, the pain isn't too bad at all. The lack of triceps strength is really limiting my benching though. I'm reasonably fast off of my chest, and feel I have 5% more in me, but I just can't lock out like I used to (was kind of automatic at that point when I was younger).

Anyway, hoping for some advice either in the form of alternative treatments (ESWT for example, maybe ART) and training tips as well as perhaps grip advice for me. I'm 52, but not quite ready to quit just yet.

Here is a video of me testing where I was at a week or so ago. You can clearly see my sticking point.

Click to expand...

I didn't want shoulder surgery either. And it was close to a year recovery!!! But there was no way I was going to be able to climb without having it done.
I'm in no way recommending the surgical choice, and I highly encourage you (as you are doing) to exhaust all other options but it some cases it's the only way.

And welcome to SF...
 
Darrin said:
I was diagnosed with calcific tendonitis in my right elbow a few weeks ago. I know it's in my left elbow as well (old X-rays showed that much). Doc said it's obvious I've had this a very long time.

Anyway, I'm not wanting to go the surgery route. He suggested the old ice and ibuprofen routine (icing does help a bit) if I don't want him to cut on me (three month downtime I think...not gonna happen). I haven't been able to do any sort of triceps work in, gosh, I want to say 10 years or so. I can get one set in then the pain comes back. If I stay away from it, and wrap my elbows tightly, the pain isn't too bad at all. The lack of triceps strength is really limiting my benching though. I'm reasonably fast off of my chest, and feel I have 5% more in me, but I just can't lock out like I used to (was kind of automatic at that point when I was younger).

Anyway, hoping for some advice either in the form of alternative treatments (ESWT for example, maybe ART) and training tips as well as perhaps grip advice for me. I'm 52, but not quite ready to quit just yet.

Here is a video of me testing where I was at a week or so ago. You can clearly see my sticking point.

Click to expand...


I didn't want shoulder surgery either. And it was close to a year recovery!!! But there was no way I was going to be able to climb without having it done.
I'm in no way recommending the surgical choice, and I highly encourage you (as you are doing) to exhaust all other options but it some cases it's the only way.

And welcome to SF...
 
Really, really appreciate all of the feedback. I'm going to try the eccentric exercises for both my triceps tendonitis and my achilles tendonitis (used to dead lift a bit and I think that contributed to it).

Will update here in a month or so after I see how things go!
 
@Darrin, as some others have suggested, try various alternative therapies, e.g., I have found that a soft practice like tai chi / qigong helps my shoulders immensely and I do more of it when I'm in heavy training. Light getups are also restorative for many.

-S-
 
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