Welcome to the elbow pain solution, after applying these strategies any pain you may have should completely go away. To get started you simply need some bands and secure object to attach them to. I recommend a power rack, but a door works too. The setup is easy, loop the band and if needed widen the base for more tension. Just make sure not double the bands, as this would make the exercise too difficult. You will be performing the band pushdown, by far the most important exercise in eliminating elbow pain. Use a fast tempo in order to get the overspeed eccentrics. This is what will truly aid in developing the soft tissue and beating your elbow pain forever. The form need not be perfect, just get the movement pattern and blood flow in. In terms of sets and reps, I advise 4×25, 3×33, 5×20, 2×50, or 1×50. Do this 12-24 hours after strenuous workouts, or 2-4x a week at random. Besides pushdowns, band extensions are also favorable in rejuvenating the elbows so feel free to use those too.
The next exercise I want you doing is the band curl, best done immediately after the pushdowns. This will pump the entire arm and do wonders for the bicep tendon and overall elbow pain. The same strategies apply, use a fast tempo with high reps and don’t be obsessed with the form. You can stand on the band or attach it to a secure object, and alternate between supinated and neutral grip.
Another culprit behind elbow pain is an overemphasis on wrist flexion exercises which is why we want to do the opposite. Wrist extension is the goal, and I found the reverse wrist roller to be the best for correcting this imbalance. Do these after the curls, and perform three sets of 5 revolutions (up and down counts as one). At the same time, you’ll want to incorporate band finger extensions. These will completely change your life, and the best part is that you can do them anywhere. I advise 3×15-20.
These main methods should fix your elbows, but allow me to present some additional tips. I believe it’s a good idea to wear elbow sleeves even if you don’t have any injuries or pains. You’ll get some nice compression and warmth and I feel you’ll get much better elbow recovery especially if doing grueling compound exercises and going heavy on tricep extensions. Speaking of which, you should not get pain from doing this exercise. If this occurs, you have not corrected the root cause behind your elbow pain.
That said, you’ll want to bring the barbell behind your head and not keep them completely stationary. This is less stressful on the elbows and will better develop the long head of the triceps. I also want to stress the importance of not going excessively heavy or ego lifting. Use proper form and perform sets of 8-20. At the same time, treat your warmups seriously as if extensions were a competition lift. You may choose to pre-exhaust your arms through pushups, pushdowns, and curls or drop the reset intervals which will help in getting more out of less weight.
That’s all there is to it! I used to have horrible pain to the point where even 10lb dumbbell extensions were problematic. The instructions in this article completely “cured” the pain. I should also note that hundreds of people have had success with these methods. You’re next, so be sure to keep me updated!
Until next time,
-Alex
Hey, great and very interesting article!!
Question I have is that will this work with people like me with Golfer’s elbow?
All now I am doing eccentric wrist extension and flexion with a dumbbell, but this
style of training looks very interesting and I am willing to try this.