am I kind of defeating the purpose of triceps training by using the sleeves?
Neoprene Elbow Sleeves, Knee Sleeves and Waist Bands
I am a proponent of all of these. They maintain heat to the area which increased blood flow.
They are like Compression Garments which increase blood flow to the area.
An increase in blood flow to tissue assist in its recovery.
They also provide some support.
So, the are are defeating the purpose.
"If It Hurts, Don't Do It"
There good and bad pain. If any exercise is producing bad pain, don't do it.
Find an exercise that works the triceps that doesn't hurt.
William provide some great advice, "Find temporary replacements that don't hurt... If you do exercises, consider changing your grip so your palms face each other using specialty bars and dumbbells. This MAY be easier on the elbows."
Example
I had shoulder issue a while back; it made Bench Pressing painful and did not allow my shoulder to heal.
Two exercise that allowed me to Bench Press with out pain and allowed my shoulder to heel were...
1) Reverse Grip Bench Presses
An Under Hand Grip eliminated the shear force place on my shoulder.
2) Swiss/Football Bar Bench Pressing
The handles on this bar allowed for a Neutral Grip, as well as a Semi-Neutral Pronated or Semi- Supinated Grip.
This illustrates William's point of experimenting with different grip to see what will work for you.
Triceps Exercises
Exercise like Skull Crushers and Triceps Push Down produce a lot of shear force on the elbow, as Dasho stated.
Close Grip Bench Pressing should be fine. However, pain is your guideline.
Injury Training Recovery
One of the key for recover is increasing blood flow to the area, especially if the injury is a tendon or ligament.
Due to the fact that there is less blood flow to connective tissue (if that is your issue), it takes much longer for it to heal.
Elbow Sleeves will increase blood flow to the area. Also, performing mega high repetition with an extremely light load with an exercise that does not cause bad pain; this increase in blood flow to the area decreases your recover time.
Years ago, I had a partial pec tear. Part of my rehab on it was performing the Bench Press for set of 20 repetitions with just a 45 lb bar; which at that point.
Connective Tissue Rehab
HEALTH: Traditionally, slow eccentrics are used for tendon health or tendon rehab. This decreases the stiffness of the tendon. But you could also use isometrics and slow concentrics.
“It’s not about the eccentric component, it’s about the slow component. So you can do the same thing by doing slow shortening or you can do the slowest possible contraction which is an isometric contraction … all three work to improve health of the tendon.”
KEITH BAAR, PH.D.
I had Patellar Tendinopathy in my early 20s. For 3 years, I couldn't dunk, squat, or play basketball without pain. Doctors told me to rest. This d
jackedathlete.com
see a doctor for medical advice..
Physical Therapist of Exercise Physiologist
Physical Therapist and Exercise are more qualified on thing like this that a physician.