Workouts during injury recovery

mar_sbar
mar_sbar Posts: 105 Member
in Fitness and Exercise

I got a case of golfers elbow about a month ago, and despite it not being severe, I've had to lay off of several key exercises like bench press, bicep curls, pull ups and tricep extensions.

I've only done some careful dumbbell overhead press, push ups, light incline dumbbell presses and lower body workouts in the meantime, but I'm concerned about not getting sufficient exercise for hypertrophy. I'm a hardgainer, so putting on mass is my never-ending quest. Is it best to just continue lighter exercises to allow the elbow to heal, or is there anything else I can do to somewhat continue hypertrophy? Thanks in advance.

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Best Answers

  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 2,043 Member
    Answer ✓

    You're right to keep working around it. Warm up the area a bit more than usual too.

    Try to look for alternatives. Maybe bicep curl is out, but preacher curl may be OK. Maybe bench press is out, but close grip press might be OK. Pullups are out for you, but maybe T-bar row or similar is OK. Etc.

    Whatever you can do without aggravating it. If lifting heavier on some things, use straps or an elbow sleeve to reduce grip demands.

    Also do wrist curls and reverse wrist curls. You can do those isometrics at first, or if you can handle more, use a db and for the wrist curls let it roll down to your fingers then curl it closed. Do these multiple times per week.

    Try dead hangs too.

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 13,865 Member
    Answer ✓

    To replace bench press for chest activation, look for a chest-fly machine with pads along the upper arms, no stress on the elbow. Or you can do cable flies with the handle at the elbow instead of held in the hand.

    Some of the others might still be an option if you rotate your wrist to a different angle, such as neutral grip. (May work for DB bench presses, too.) Be careful, though, it's still better to lay off completely to allow time to heal if possible.

    One last thought: never underestimate how many muscles are worked during the mighty deadlift, to include biceps and lats. (Even chest to a very lesser degree.) Shrugs have a similar effect, just with a smaller range of motion.

Answers

  • mar_sbar
    mar_sbar Posts: 105 Member

    That all sounds helpful. Thanks very much!

  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 2,442 Member

    you'll have to play around with different exercises to see which ones don't cause any pain. Just do those if there's pain don't do the exercise it's just gonna exacerbate the problem as far as which exactly that's going to be strictly personal because what works for one person may not work for somebody else due to form and other factors so you're just gonna have to experiment

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,223 Member

    Golfers and tennis elbow for the most part is a GRIPPING issue. So USE STRAPS for anything that you have to hold onto when you PULL things: IE rows, curls, pullups, etc. The less you have to grip, the less the pain.

    Hypertrophy happens with overload but if you keep overloading with injury, it WON'T heal. So just workout to maintain what you have till you're healed then restart.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer

    IDEA Fitness member

    Kickboxing Certified instructor

    Been in fitness for 40+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

  • mar_sbar
    mar_sbar Posts: 105 Member
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48567794#Comment_48567794

    Those are great tips. Thanks very much!

  • mar_sbar
    mar_sbar Posts: 105 Member

    Great info from everyone here. Thank you! I've had to accept the fact that I likely won't be able to lift heavy for bulking for a while, so I will adjust to exercising for maintenance and general health for the time being.

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