Bicep/Elbow Injuries from bench

[betastas]

Alright here's the lowdown. I already used the search function, most of the results were golfer's elbow or about BB curls.

I have done this twice, or it may be a recurring injury from early december.

Basically, the inner portion of my elbow, like where your bicep inserts into your arm, has been sore. Both arms. I believe that I had strained them by hyperextending my arms one time with two dumbells. Silly mistake, but I took about 14 days off at Xmas and they were fine. First week back in the gym I did a heavy 5x5 PL bench, no problems.

Yesterday I did regular bench for a 1RM, managed a 250 (PL style). Later in my workout, after I did some light (3x10) BB Rows, my inner elbow started to burn and feel sore, both sides. I believe that I have pulled the tendons.

Is there a good way to avoid this recurrence? Has anyone had this too? It's not in my forearms, but in the soft tissue where the biceps would insert. Light work isn't a problem (did some light work today, band work), but going heavy would be a lot more painful. I have been icing them, and in the day to day world there is no pain worth mentioning, aside from the occasional tweak here or there.

[WILL006]

Dude, i have the exact same problem as you for about two weeks now. It is really irritating me to the point of total frustration. After every workout i ice it down and it feels goods for the moment however at the gym while benching i feel it again. Thanks betastas for starting this thread

[betastas]

Yeah I know. I didn't have this problem ever before, but moreso when I started lifting in a PL style.

[bjohnso]

I've had similar pains from what I believe was heavy benching. The bar had so much inertia that it was pulling on my arms and hyperextending them at lock out - I think. So, try using a slower and more controlled motion.

[smokinHawk]

do you lock out beyond straight? i lock out to straight any further exspecially at a fast speed will really hurt them.

also you might try elbow raps when you bench, even if they arnt hurting at the time to help them untill they are strong enough by themselves.

[betastas]

Do you think that it could be an imbalance? My bench speed for my heavy reps is slow, my 1RM is a few seconds.

[Relentless]

I had a similar problem recently. I noticed it particularly on days where I went from chinups and heavy pulldowns over into Arnold Press. My elbow area was sore and it felt like insertions from both biceps and triceps were somehow FUBAR.

I went to an RMT who did some MYOFASCIAL RELEASE work on it to break up the adhesions in there and it has felt MUCH better since then.

[Ruffian]

Buildup of scar tissue is very possible... But if its primarily on bench then it is most likely a control issue... I would knock back the weight and work on explosive power for a while, if you think it may have something to do with speed then you might as well work on it. Plus backing off the weight for a while may make it easier to heal.

No expert on the subject or anything, just my $0.02

[betastas]

Thanks everyone so far - I do intend to knock back the weight and focus a lot of control. I have also been using bands to do some tricep work and I'm going to try cycling them out for a bit - I have heard they can be tough on joints so maybe I'm doing too much too fast on them.

Anyone else?

[KevinStarke]

DB hammer curls, do them.

[betastas]

strength imbalance? Bicep and forearm tendons being underused overall then overexerted on max effort?

[use_the_force]

are you sure it's not medial epicondylitis (golfer's elbow)? The pain from medial is not always localized just on the lower, inner portion of the elbow -- it can migrate slightly. In any event, the causes are all pretty similar: over-stress of the wrist flexors/forearm which can cause irritation/small tears to the tendons.

I recently started re-lifting with significantly higher weights, and developed medial. Icing, nsaids, and rest seem to be doing the trick. I'm also being very conscious about how intensely I use my grip, particularly on back exercises. I noticed especially on pull-ups and rows that I really tax my forearms with an unnecessarily intense grip, which may be stressing my forearms too much. I'm also being very conscious not to fully extend my arm on certain tricep exercise and even on rows, just to reduce stress on the elbow. There may be certain short-time sacrifices of form, but it's also been fairly interesting to really concentrate and try to locate as much of the effort away from my elbow, while still doing the exercises in decent form. I also use an aircast to reduce stress on the tendons during workout. Finally, I've limited my tricep work to push-downs or cable pulls (the skull crushers and the dumbells were killing my elbow recently).

good luck.

[WILL006]

Buildup of scar tissue is very possible... But if its primarily on bench then it is most likely a control issue... I would knock back the weight and work on explosive power for a while, if you think it may have something to do with speed then you might as well work on it. Plus backing off the weight for a while may make it easier to heal.

No expert on the subject or anything, just my $0.02

i definetly feel like when i am pushing the bar up while benching i am using excessive elbows( if that makes sense). I right away feel a sharp pain after this. I think you nailed it Ruffian.

[Ruffian]

Will-
I had the same problem for ages, until Lucas started powerlifting. I realized, when you bench press your shoulders should be pulling into your chest. If your elbows are parallel with the bar then you are doing it w-r-o-n-g LOL. I learned that the hard way, I still have a tendency to pronate my elbows and have been having some RC problems because of it. Am I pretty correct in assuming you do this?

PS- thanks btw, glad I had something right.

[betastas]

Just an update.

It's definitely the brachialis muscle in each arm. I talked to a resident PLer and he mentioned that doing strict Hammer curls and strict preacher curls with the appropriate bar will help. I've incorporated these into my workout, but currently, I still experience tension/pain while doing presses and rows. Any good ideas for a rehab cycle?