Bicep Tendonitis and Weight Lifting - Stronglifrts 5x5

michaelmadonna

At this time this is self diagnosed and I know I need to see a doctor but by the time I get an appointment with my PCP a referral to an Ortho, a prescription for an MRI and then a follow up appointment for the results it'll be a few weeks at least ...

In the meantime I thought I would ask who here has had this and what have you done regarding weight lifting. I've been lifting on and off for a few years and recently a little over 2 months doing Stronglifts 5x5 - I began noticing some pain in the front of my shoulder and some loss of range of motion. This primarily occurs when I'm bench pressing. I also do some isolation arm excercises about 1x a week and I havne't had any discomfort with most bicep and tricep work. From my research it seems to be inflamation or a strain of the short head bicep tendon going into the shoulder.

Has anyone dealt with this? What have you done (besides rest, ice and ibuprofin) to ease the pain and hasten recovery? How long did it take to recover?

What have you done regarding weight lifting?

Regarding this program, obviously I can still do the squats, deadlifts and rows .. I'll lay off the bench press and I'll see if/how the OHP bothers me on Thursday or Friday (I'm taking a few days rest completely for now)?

Any help/info is greatly appreciated. TIA

michaelmadonna

BUMP

michaelmadonna

BUMP - Anyone?

ncahill77

I haven't had that particular issue but I have tendonitis in my forearm elbow area. I took a full week off of any lifting then went back while avoiding lifts that directly aggravated the area (basically curls, shrugs and farmer walks) for a couple of months. The issue basically resolved itself.

JNick77

It almost sounds like your front deltoid is irritated for some reason and not necessarily the bicep. If that is the case, I would most likely point to some flaw in your bench press form. Nobody is perfect so please don't take that as an insult. First, watch "So You Think You Can Bench" on YouTube or see if you can find some video from Chad Wesley Smith or Brandon Lily. Second, get yourself a set of light bands and do 50 to 100 band pull aparts every day. Also do shoulder separations with them. Lastly and using the light bands, Google "Spider Crawls" by John Meadows, those were incredible in rehabbing my shoulder too. I think they literally saved me from shoulder surgery last year.

Third, once you have your form down and you've done some shoulder support work you may need to do some isolation work on your deltoids, a couple super-sets of lat raises and front raises would suffice. I know SL5x5 doesn't have you do any but not everybody is the same and may need more. Even Louie Simmons recommends do some lat raises or something to help strengthen the deltoids which are obviously a supporting muscle in the bench press. That's just my two cents.

keflexxxx

JNick77 has some great advice, and it's effectively what i would suggest as well. if you don't have bands or don't feel like buy them however, the principle of high-rep work still holds true. bloodflow through tendons only tends to occur during movement, so putting those affected tendons through a lot of movement pushes a lot of blood through them, which is good. it can be as simple as benching the empty bar for 100 total reps, or more, or less; whatever it takes.

michaelmadonna

It almost sounds like your front deltoid is irritated for some reason and not necessarily the bicep. If that is the case, I would most likely point to some flaw in your bench press form. Nobody is perfect so please don't take that as an insult. First, watch "So You Think You Can Bench" on YouTube or see if you can find some video from Chad Wesley Smith or Brandon Lily. Second, get yourself a set of light bands and do 50 to 100 band pull aparts every day. Also do shoulder separations with them. Lastly and using the light bands, Google "Spider Crawls" by John Meadows, those were incredible in rehabbing my shoulder too. I think they literally saved me from shoulder surgery last year.

Third, once you have your form down and you've done some shoulder support work you may need to do some isolation work on your deltoids, a couple super-sets of lat raises and front raises would suffice. I know SL5x5 doesn't have you do any but not everybody is the same and may need more. Even Louie Simmons recommends do some lat raises or something to help strengthen the deltoids which are obviously a supporting muscle in the bench press. That's just my two cents.

Thank you for your input. I've been pushing a lot of weight, for me, on the bench press lately doing Stronglifts. My first guess was that it was a problem with my form, although I've worked with a very good trainer for a few years, watched videos and read up on it, it's hard, for me anyway, to tell how off my form is, especially on the bench press and especially when the weights get heavier.

I really don't think it's my deltoid, it feels a bit more isolated in the "groove" for the short head bicep tendon, and my ROM is pain free on everything except moving across my chest and behind my back, I haven't had any real pain on any other lifts even the OHP (which happily tells me it's not my rotator cuff). But I guess that'll all have to wait for an MRI .. eventually.

After a few days of rest, I'll definately try your suggestions. It's very much appreciated.

michaelmadonna

JNick77 has some great advice, and it's effectively what i would suggest as well. if you don't have bands or don't feel like buy them however, the principle of high-rep work still holds true. bloodflow through tendons only tends to occur during movement, so putting those affected tendons through a lot of movement pushes a lot of blood through them, which is good. it can be as simple as benching the empty bar for 100 total reps, or more, or less; whatever it takes.

Thanks, that's really what I was wondering, if there was a way I should work through it i.e. rehab it with particular work or reps or if I needed to stay off it for an extended period of time.

Thanks again!

pwk9

I think you have the same problem as me. Pain in the front of my shoulder first caused by bench press and pushups. Caused some numbness and tingling in my hand especially the day after the push exercises. After a couple times I stopped benching and I've sort of just ignored it for a while but I can still feel its a bit tender. I even started to notice some irritation doing incline curls and back exercises like bent over rows and pull ups.

Whats happening is your humerous is translating too far forward and putting pressure on the anterior compartment of the shoulder, namely the biceps tendon. This happens during bench when your elbow goes below parallel. The more you bench the more load you keep putting on that tendon. You could try doing floor presses or stopping at parallel on bench and you might find it helps.

Probably some mobility exercises to get that shoulder working properly would help. Heres a video I found by Kelly Starett that address this issue and gives you some exercises to work on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxdtCVUv8f0

I'm planning to see an ART practitioner (sports massage technique) at some point. Last time I had a persistent problem similar to this, I went in for one visit and all the pain went away.

Let me know how its going for you, I'd be interested to hear if you figured anything out.

ninerbuff

Tendonitis is FOREVER once you get it (unless you stop lifting altogether). If benching bothers your shoulder, stop benching. Personally flat barbell benching bothered my shoulder, so I stopped doing it. I now use Hammer Strength and vertical bench press machines to help with bench presses or use dumbells instead. And chest shape and size are still good.
Continuing to bench with tendonitis will force your body to try to compensate for the pain and start shifting the load to other muscles which could cause more problems with muscle balance.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

SJ46

Read this: http://spectrumfitness.blogspot.com/2008/06/anterior-shoulder-pain-when-benching.html

It addresses a few scenarios that could cause this pain, including bicep issues, with accessory exercises to fix the problem.

Snow3y

You may find stretching may relieve the pain a bit... Doing so before and after your workout, and possibly the night before the workout too...

justinhatchett

when you do bench are you in more of a T shape or do your elbows come closer to your body more like a W? Most people incorrectly bench with their elbows all the way out to the sides, when proper form keeps them about 45 degrees out from your side. Tons of people develop shoulder and chest problems from incorrect bench form.

Snow3y

If benching bothers your shoulder, stop benching.

wouldn't it be wiser to first suggest a tweak in technique before suggesting to drop benching dead cold?

Millz5231

Sounds like you have muscular imbalances. It's too much strain on your front delt from chest pressing. You have to think of your body as one connected kinetic chain. Just because you feel it in your bicep does not necessarily mean that it's the root of the problem. I would recommend some corrective stretching specifically foam rolling. Also some additional shoulder work for the laterall deltoid and the rear deltoid in your routine. I guarantee you do this and your bicep problems will be gone.

ninerbuff

If benching bothers your shoulder, stop benching.

wouldn't it be wiser to first suggest a tweak in technique before suggesting to drop benching dead cold?

While bringing the arms in and keeping the elbows closer will help to alleviate some of the pressure on the shoulder, the "tweak" takes away force from the pecs and increases it on the triceps. But even this tweak doesn't assure that the shoulder won't still be affected.
I'd make the same suggestion to someone who feels pain doing deadlifts even if the form was dead on.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

obsidianwings

Sounds like it could even be early stages of shoulder impingement? I get this a lot due to the shape of my bones. Just take it easy with anything that hurts until you've got it checked out

Does it get worse at night when you go to bed?

michaelmadonna

I think you have the same problem as me. Pain in the front of my shoulder first caused by bench press and pushups. Caused some numbness and tingling in my hand especially the day after the push exercises. After a couple times I stopped benching and I've sort of just ignored it for a while but I can still feel its a bit tender. I even started to notice some irritation doing incline curls and back exercises like bent over rows and pull ups.

Whats happening is your humerous is translating too far forward and putting pressure on the anterior compartment of the shoulder, namely the biceps tendon. This happens during bench when your elbow goes below parallel. The more you bench the more load you keep putting on that tendon. You could try doing floor presses or stopping at parallel on bench and you might find it helps.

Probably some mobility exercises to get that shoulder working properly would help. Heres a video I found by Kelly Starett that address this issue and gives you some exercises to work on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxdtCVUv8f0

I'm planning to see an ART practitioner (sports massage technique) at some point. Last time I had a persistent problem similar to this, I went in for one visit and all the pain went away.

Let me know how its going for you, I'd be interested to hear if you figured anything out.

I just noticed your more recent responses from my post last September. I actually did quite a bit of stretching, mobility excorsises, ice and advil. I definately had a form issue and got soem help on hat. My elbows were flared out way too far. I also switched to inclined bench both BB and DB work which really didn't cause me any pain. After a couple of months I switched my routine and went back to benching but at about 60% of my 1RM and a higher rep range. The shoulder feels a lot better, I haven't pushed the flat bench press to the weight I was at when it started hurting but I'm not that far from there now and I've worked more on getting better form which obviously helps too.

michaelmadonna

Tendonitis is FOREVER once you get it (unless you stop lifting altogether). If benching bothers your shoulder, stop benching. Personally flat barbell benching bothered my shoulder, so I stopped doing it. I now use Hammer Strength and vertical bench press machines to help with bench presses or use dumbells instead. And chest shape and size are still good.
Continuing to bench with tendonitis will force your body to try to compensate for the pain and start shifting the load to other muscles which could cause more problems with muscle balance.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Thanks Ninerbuff ... it was self diagnosed tendinitis, it's since gotten much better with stretching, mobility excorcises, ice and advil. It also didn't bother me with the inclined bench, which is what I switched out to for a while. When I finally went back to the flat bench I started at about 60% of my 1RM and worked in a higher rep range with better form - most important as I can now feel the difference from what I was doing wrong.

michaelmadonna

Sounds like it could even be early stages of shoulder impingement? I get this a lot due to the shape of my bones. Just take it easy with anything that hurts until you've got it checked out

Does it get worse at night when you go to bed?

Thanks, but I actually had no decrease at all in my range of motion, no pain or loss of strength with anything overhead. It's gotten much better since - took a good 4 months though.

michaelmadonna

If benching bothers your shoulder, stop benching.

wouldn't it be wiser to first suggest a tweak in technique before suggesting to drop benching dead cold?

Actually, I sort of did both. I corrected my form and stopped flat benching at such a heavey load (for me) for a while as that was really the only excersise that was giving me pain and switched to inclined bench, strecthing, mobility, ice and advil. Not 100% yet but much closer to being completely pain free.

michaelmadonna

when you do bench are you in more of a T shape or do your elbows come closer to your body more like a W? Most people incorrectly bench with their elbows all the way out to the sides, when proper form keeps them about 45 degrees out from your side. Tons of people develop shoulder and chest problems from incorrect bench form.

That was my problem, my shoulders were flared out too much and I didn't even realize it (no ceiling mirrors in my gym) and it wasn't something I was concentrating on much as I was doing SL 5x5 and still progressing fairly easily, I don't know what my 1RM would have actaully been at the time it felt like I had another 30-50lbs to add before stalling and deloading.

michaelmadonna

Read this: http://spectrumfitness.blogspot.com/2008/06/anterior-shoulder-pain-when-benching.html

It addresses a few scenarios that could cause this pain, including bicep issues, with accessory exercises to fix the problem.

Thank you, this was a very inforrmative article.

No_Finish_Line

did you ever go to the Doctor?

Personally i don't feel as though tendonitis is forever. I used to suffer a bout of it almost annually when i swam in highschool. I just worked through it... well some times it would be so bad that there really wasn't any working through it. For some reason, if i arm wrestle its garunteed to bring it on.

but it always goes away, and for awhile, perhaps whoever said that really meant that its always around the corner or something.

It feels like a throbing, inflamed, weakness throughout whatever limb. what you described didn't necessiarly sound like tendonitis to me.

Anyway, i had/have a forearm injury that i thought might be tendonitis, then again it didnt really feel like it. figured it would go away... deleted this exercise or that (the list kept growing). finally stopped going to the gym... still took about a month for me to go to the dr and discover it was a torn muscle that i was just making worse and worse.

michaelmadonna

did you ever go to the Doctor?

Personally i don't feel as though tendonitis is forever. I used to suffer a bout of it almost annually when i swam in highschool. I just worked through it... well some times it would be so bad that there really wasn't any working through it. For some reason, if i arm wrestle its garunteed to bring it on.

but it always goes away, and for awhile, perhaps whoever said that really meant that its always around the corner or something.

It feels like a throbing, inflamed, weakness throughout whatever limb. what you described didn't necessiarly sound like tendonitis to me.

Anyway, i had/have a forearm injury that i thought might be tendonitis, then again it didnt really feel like it. figured it would go away... deleted this exercise or that (the list kept growing). finally stopped going to the gym... still took about a month for me to go to the dr and discover it was a torn muscle that i was just making worse and worse.

Actually I never got to a doctor, I probably should have but initially at least I'm sure i would have been prescribed conservative treatment, rest, stretching, mobility, advil, ice - which I did anyway and it seems to have gotten a lot better. I still have a couple of months with the routine I'm doing now which doesn't have me lifting as heavy as much of a progressive increase workout to workout. I'm planning on moving to Madcow 5x5 or Wendler's 5/3/1 in June which will be a good 8 months since I initially hurt it. I'll see then if it comes back and if so I'll probably have to have ti checked out.

justinhatchett

Glad you found the problem! Hope it corrected and improved everything!