Shoulder/Tricep "injury" ?

Lyadeia

I'm not sure what exactly the problem is, and it isn't nearly severe enough to warrant spending money at a doctor, just thought I might get some opinions.

I took about 3 weeks off from weight training recently (the week before I went on vacation, the week I was away, and then last week). I simply didn't have time to go to the gym the first week, I didn't feel like exercising on my cruise, and last week I was trying to readjust to my third shift schedule causing me to sleep at weird hours...

That being said, Tuesday this week was my first upper body weight training day in nearly a month. And it sucked. While I was doing bench presses, I noticed a weird "pain" in my left arm. I couldn't really pinpoint exactly where it was coming from, but when I was attempting to locate it by doing different movements to see if I could determine which muscle it was, I could feel it doing lateral arm raises and tricep kickbacks (neither were weighted at the time). Now this wasn't exactly a "pain," more like a discomfort, but it still caused me to pretty much dog the shoulder presses and bench presses.

I was annoyed with that fact, so I went to the machines. When I isolated the chest and shoulder muscles using chest press machines and shoulder press machines, I felt as though nothing was wrong...

The last part of my workout was 1 set of bi's and 1 set of tri's. Doing the tri's I felt that weirdness again and had to lower my weight from 30 down to 25 when I was doing the standing overhead tri extension.

After the workout...no pain or discomfort. Nothing. Today I did a short warm up and then some push-ups...and noticed the weirdness again on the backside of my arm above the elbow (almost like the lower end of the tricep?)

So, my questions are basically what do you think this is? And should I just use the machines to isolate the shoulders and chest while resting my triceps for a while?

If I had pulled the tricep, it would hurt and I would have lost more strength/mobility. This doesn't really "hurt" and when I am not working out, I wouldn't know anything was "wrong." I wish I could describe it better, lol.

junlex123

Sounds like the beginnings of tendonitis in your tricep from the location/sensation you described. I suffer from the same thing in my left tricep, though by resting for a bit, some mobility drills for the elbow joint, and really focusing on forms, especially keeping elbows in as much as possible on bench press/pushups, it's not come back for a while. I do tend to stay away from skull crushers etc now though.

Slrajr

I have such a long history of issues with my shoulder and don't want anyone to go through what I went through! For now I just want to repeat what the previous post said. Really focus on form. This is soooo important. If you have a tricep issue you may compensate by doing a lift incorrectly and causing another problem somewhere else. I used to lift with my shoulder shifted slightly out of its socket which only made my condition worse. Look in the mirror and do raises to see if both arms are doing the same thing. Think about posture frequently during the day (pinch shoulder blades together and down, pelvic tilt, stand tall), . I hope that with rest and/or lowering the weights for a bit this will go away and you will be able to continue on as strong as ever!

Lyadeia

Thanks for the advice, guys. I just did a search on the tendonitis in the tricep and pretty much what the different websites described was what I have been feeling. It's just really annoying to have something like this right now. I am still cutting, so I don't necessarily have to work on increasing weight or using a lot of volume. Yesterday I used some substituted exercises that didn't seem to aggravate the area but I still got a great workout. I think some people talk bad about machines too much, ya know? I do enjoy my free weights, don't get me wrong, but you can still get a good workout with some machines.

Anywho, I will just take it easy for a while and do some stretching and other iso moves for the triceps tendon area. Hopefully this will heal up quickly and I can get back to normal.

Slrajr

For now, cable rows and pull downs are my best friends. I'm recovering from shoulder surgery and these machines are less likely to cause pain afterwards than dumb bells and even equivalent therapy band exercises. You could think of it as a temporary measure to help keep you strong until you're back to your usual routine with free weights:)

Lyadeia

Is it ironic that when I came back to check on the thread to see if there were more responses, the ad at the top of the screen was for Tiger Balm? That's just awesome.

I also think I may have to change my cardio routines for a while. I typically do Turbo Kick twice a week, and I am thinking that the punching isn't the best choice for my issue. Actually, I was wondering if the TK could actually be the culprit anyway since I am always careful with form during weight training...but TK classes have me throwing punches for an hour? It seems the overuse of the muscle/tendon could come more from that than a few seconds of presses followed by 3 minutes of rest and repeat.

I might try Zumba or something. I have to have *fun* cardio (AKA ***not*** treadmill or elliptical) or I won't do it at all.

Slrajr

That's funny:)
Zumba sounds like fun and definately not as bad as punching.
I'm still afraid to do any dance like movements. I used to tap dance competitively and loved kick boxing and any aerobics in general. I've had to stop that because its more about keeping in time to the music or being aggressive than focusing on posture and form. Now I run and am just starting to lift, both of these activities allow me to slow down enough to focus and don't put strain on my shoulders. Pulling exercises are my new therapy. Pushing exercises can be harmful and I'm just starting slowly now with wall push-ups. My issue was my rotator cuff, I hope yours is a tricep issue and it's resolved quickly.