Forearm Discomfort

I’m guessing that you are right handed.
Being right dominant means that your left side is a little weaker/has less muscular development.

Most of us have a weaker side to some extent, it usually catches up over time.

I made sure I wasn’t over extending my left wrist to compensate, and did little light forearm/wrist curls while watching TV to help strengthen mine. I don’t know if it helped or my left side just naturally caught up though.

Cheers, h.

You you have a job/hobby that requires you to use the left arm more than the right?

I would not suggest resting. We want to strengthen, not the opposite.

I suspect your load management is inappropriate for that movement assuming its not cramping from fatigue.

Dropping the intensity while adjusting the volume usually takes care of this.

Finding a alternative grip, lift, or ROM is also decent options.

The massage you are doing is literally a distraction from the pain. Similar to when we pinch a finger in a door our first reaction is to squeeze or rub it. It gives a sensation to distract.

If you can define what "lift heavy" means it might help. Rep/scheme with how many left in tank for each set would be helpful.

Remember to increase the load of a movement that doesn't always equate to the weight itself.

Stay with the weight that doesn't give you pain. We're into this for our health, not our pain. I don't do some exercises just because 1) I hurt doing them 2) I might get hurt doing them 3) I don't want to.

We need to have as much fun exercising as we had with doughnuts. Chose your doughnut carefully.

PiscesIntuition wrote: »

Thank you @Chieflrg .

It’s 40 lb weight in each hand for stiff leg deadlifts. I’m doing the M&S Full Body Dumbbell Program (coming from a few rounds of P90x).

Doing the same exercise with 30 lb weight in each hand was easy, no fatigue, able to do more than the 12 rep max required.
I don’t have any 35 lb dumbbells, so I went from 30 to 40.

Would you recommend doing stiff leg deadlifts with the 30s and add another set? Or more reps?

Th for the info along with some training history.

Dumbbell training can be a tad more tricky to increase the load to the desired dosage. Yet, you have asked a great question which is exactly where I was leading.

Taking a jump from 30 to 40 "might" be the issue here being a 33% increase of acute loading issue. Then again it might not.

I prefer adding a set in this case and see if things feel better, same, or worse. If they feel the same or better, I would consider adding a 2nd set after a week or two if the program allowed for the volume increase and things still were going in the right direction.

We want things to be tolerable and over time get better. It's okay if they feel the same for a bit as long as things eventually progress for the better.

If they feel worse, lets revisit other options instead.

Depending on the routine it could be how you’re gripping the bars.

PiscesIntuition wrote: »

@Chieflrg Wanted to report back that lowering the weights and adding another rep worked!

Awesome! Glad to hear training is going well.