Resuming your upper body workout after being diagnosed with tennis elbow can be a difficult decision. For most people, it’s reasonable to return when you are pain-free at rest and with light daily activities. Here are some tips to keep in mind when coping with this condition while still getting to the gym a couple of times a week.
1. Wear an elbow strap while working out your upper body. When a muscle contracts, there is strain on the tendon. The strap allows the stress to be distributed over your muscle belly instead of your healing tendon. Keep in mind that counterforce straps are only meant to be worn during activity. They are not designed for wear while sleeping or during sedentary activities, like watching a movie.
2. Stretch your forearm muscles before and after working out. Start with your right arm in front of you, with the shoulder at a 90 degree angle and your palm facing down. Place your left hand on top of your right hand and gently stretch your right wrist down towards the floor. If you don’t feel a stretch in your forearm, try making a light fist. If you still don’t feel a stretch, rotate your arm so that the palm is away from you and bring your arm down across your body (towards your left knee). Do two to three repetitions, holding for 20-30 seconds. Repeat on the left arm. Try two to three repetitions, holding for 20-30 seconds. This stretch is just one of the many exercises and tips that can be found in Treat Yourself Therapy’s Tennis Elbow program!
3. Lighten your grip whenever it is safe to do so. Many people don’t realize that what you do with your wrist and hand greatly affects tennis elbow. This means you may need to modify all of your upper body exercises. Here’s how:
5. Have good form and keep the elbow in a midrange when doing military presses or shoulder presses. Initially, avoid the extremes of flexion and extension during bicep and tricep exercises. Do lighter weight so you can have more control on the negative.
6. Keep the elbow bent when possible. Shoulder exercises performed with the elbow straight and a weight in your hand put a lot of strain on the elbow. Lateral or forward raises or flies should be performed with the elbow bent to reduce the strain.
7. Start back slowly. This is very important! Decrease the weight and do fewer reps initially. See how you feel over the next three days. If the pain returns, you know it was too much, too soon. If you have no pain, gradually progress to your previous level utilizing the tips above to decrease the risk of recurrence. Good Luck!
Treat Yourself Therapy, LLC provides innovative and inexpensive do-it-yourself videos for people unable to attend hand therapy. These videos were developed by Jessica Karge, OTR, CHT and Kathleen Papi-Baker, OTR,CHT, both certified hand therapists who have over 40 years of combined clinical experience. To learn more, visit www.TreatYourselfTherapy.com.
1. Wear an elbow strap while working out your upper body. When a muscle contracts, there is strain on the tendon. The strap allows the stress to be distributed over your muscle belly instead of your healing tendon. Keep in mind that counterforce straps are only meant to be worn during activity. They are not designed for wear while sleeping or during sedentary activities, like watching a movie.
2. Stretch your forearm muscles before and after working out. Start with your right arm in front of you, with the shoulder at a 90 degree angle and your palm facing down. Place your left hand on top of your right hand and gently stretch your right wrist down towards the floor. If you don’t feel a stretch in your forearm, try making a light fist. If you still don’t feel a stretch, rotate your arm so that the palm is away from you and bring your arm down across your body (towards your left knee). Do two to three repetitions, holding for 20-30 seconds. Repeat on the left arm. Try two to three repetitions, holding for 20-30 seconds. This stretch is just one of the many exercises and tips that can be found in Treat Yourself Therapy’s Tennis Elbow program!
3. Lighten your grip whenever it is safe to do so. Many people don’t realize that what you do with your wrist and hand greatly affects tennis elbow. This means you may need to modify all of your upper body exercises. Here’s how:
- Wear gloves with a textured palm to improve your grip.
- Use weights that have a thicker diameter on the grip. You can also add pipe insulation or tape to bars, dumbbells, or machine handles to enlarge the grip.
- Utilize wrist wraps to take some of the weight out of your hands to alleviate strain to the tendon at the elbow.
- For those doing light weight, using ankle weights attached at your wrists instead of holding dumbbells is another option.
- Using resistive bands, where the handle can be placed across the palm (like for bicep curls) or on the wrist (like for some shoulder exercises) can also help.
5. Have good form and keep the elbow in a midrange when doing military presses or shoulder presses. Initially, avoid the extremes of flexion and extension during bicep and tricep exercises. Do lighter weight so you can have more control on the negative.
6. Keep the elbow bent when possible. Shoulder exercises performed with the elbow straight and a weight in your hand put a lot of strain on the elbow. Lateral or forward raises or flies should be performed with the elbow bent to reduce the strain.
7. Start back slowly. This is very important! Decrease the weight and do fewer reps initially. See how you feel over the next three days. If the pain returns, you know it was too much, too soon. If you have no pain, gradually progress to your previous level utilizing the tips above to decrease the risk of recurrence. Good Luck!
Treat Yourself Therapy, LLC provides innovative and inexpensive do-it-yourself videos for people unable to attend hand therapy. These videos were developed by Jessica Karge, OTR, CHT and Kathleen Papi-Baker, OTR,CHT, both certified hand therapists who have over 40 years of combined clinical experience. To learn more, visit www.TreatYourselfTherapy.com.
