Thread: Frustrated training

Lower weight, higher reps. Treat it as a long-term deload. Do high reps to get a burn going then continue doing negative reps with that lower weight.

I also have elbow problems. A big thing that helped me go heavy again were elbow sleeves. It seems to take some of the pressure off when I go heavy. If your at your complete wits end you can try some hgh. That has helped my shoulder pain/problems big time.

golfers elbow is a pain especially on some biceps and shoulder raises exercises, ice it every day after the gym and choose moves that do not hurt. low weight and high reps, don't train biceps or any move that hurts more than once a week.
i got golfer's elbow i kept lifting carefully and got over it in about 2 months.

How much isolation work do you do?

Lateral Raises, Skullcrushers, Barbell Curls, Pushdowns, Tricep Extensions, Front Raises, Preacher Curls...that sort of thing?

All of those movements are pretty common causes of elbow pain. If you do them, what kind of intensity/frequency are we talking?

Does it really benefit you if you ice it down even though it's been a couple months since I noticed it? I don't think I injured it at once, it was like I slowly noticed it.

I used to...Lateral Raises (frequently), Skullcrushers (what is this? some kind of milpress?), Barbell Curls (not often), Pushdowns (is this like a dip?), Tricep Extensions (fairly frequent), Front Raises (occasionally), Preacher Curls (almost never)

Now...I do a variety of things, I know I should have a set routine for a few weeks and then change it, however I get bored very quickly. So I vary it frequently. Since I've been hurt I've been trying different things to see what I 'can' do without pain. I've also been doing alot of lower body and core stuff.

I really need to nail down a routine, but I have a hard time sticking to it.

BTW, I did pretty good this morning and yesterday morning, I did alot of reps with really light weight. I thought I would never get the burn but it finally did come. Had relatively little pain, stopped when it start to hurt. I guess that's just the way it's going to have to be for a while.

as long as there is an accute pain and/or burning like pain ice seems to help especially on elbows

Originally Posted by TheJ

BTW, I did pretty good this morning and yesterday morning, I did alot of reps with really light weight. I thought I would never get the burn but it finally did come. Had relatively little pain, stopped when it start to hurt. I guess that's just the way it's going to have to be for a while.

Don't forget the negative reps! Once you can't lift the weight, use your other hand to help (or cheat and use body english, whatever works) and then simply resist the weight moving. It's the eccentric part of the process that will both help strengthen the tendon causing the golfer's elbow and allow you to still gain a bit of muscle in the process.

As for getting the burn, do slow-ish reps, and don't let your arm go straight.

The light weight is annoying, but necessary in order to not cause additional harm to the tendon. Doing them until you feel a burn and can't do any more reps is to trigger a growth response. Tendons and cartilage take a long time to both heal and grow, much longer than it takes muscles to get stronger, so be very careful not to go too heavy even if you don't feel pain. Give it a good two extra months even after the pain is gone before you begin using heavier weights.