Tennis Elbow?

Mr_B · Post by **Mr_B** » Thu May 24, 2007 7:15 am

Hi All,

I'm getting some pain in my right elbow/forearm. Coincidentally this is my mouse hand, but has anyone else experienced this?

I've layed off the SG for a couple of days to see what happens (which is easier said than done).

I'll keep you posted.

BTW, I was using my powerball for the first tiime in a long while, and was able to keep go0ing for unheard of lengths of time. Proof positive that SG has a positive effect on arm strength (even if my 6 pack still looks like a keg...)

Cheers,

Rich

Post by **reinhard** » Fri May 25, 2007 1:22 am

i Mr. B,

I haven't experienced anything like that that I can remember.

In the very beginning I occasionally got a little sore, and I was a devout weenie about taking days off when this happened. Which I'm glad about having done -- since I think that perhaps excessive caution bought me time to get strong and skilled enough at shovelglove so I've never had to take a "discomfort" day off again since (4+ years).

So do take it seriously. Give yourself a day off, at least. And try to avoid problematic moves for a while until this subsides.

Reinhard

St Matt · Post by **St Matt** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 12:42 am

I've had problems with tennis elbow. I get flare ups from using a computer keyboard and mouse. I have also noticed it is aggravated if my arms are in a bent position (say with my right hand touching my right shoulder) for more than a few seconds.

So, I try to avoid shovelglove exercises in which my elbows are bent that way. Specifically I have quit doing the "fireman". I also can't do the tricep exercise where the shovelglove hangs down your back and you lift it up along your spine...

Anyway, you may find that some exercises cause flare ups. I'm sure everyone is different. Experiment with your routine.

As a note of encouragement, I have been doing this exercise program for about 15 months, and I feel like my chronic tendonitis problem has improved.

Good luck

Mr_B · Post by **Mr_B** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 9:42 am

Thanks St. Matt - and what a coincidence!

I started to do shovelglove ahain this morning, witha light, low rep run-through. No obvious pain and I'm quite glad.

I have also changed my mouse in the office for a more ergonomic one. I think the combination of rest and new less mouse stress has done the trick.

I must confess that the first week of *not* doing SG every morning was quite tough, but I soldiered on... This was in fact quite encouraging as it means (to me at least) that the habit was/ becoming ingrained.

Well, back to the grindstone, I'll post again with an update on how the new regime is going.

tonez323 · Post by **tonez323** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 5:54 pm

Get a light hand-held sledge or put a light weight plate on one side of adjustable dumbell handle.

Do joystick movements for low reps.

rest your elbow on the table arm bent and pretend you're holding a joystick(you'll be holding small sledge) with your hand resting on the table.

lower weight all the way to the right while keeping bottom of hand on table then return to starting then do the other side.

Then go forward then back to starting

then pull back and go back to starting.

This is great for forearms and wrists..i learned it from boxers who used to get sore elbows from hitting the heavybag...after they started doing this the elbow pain went away completely or made recovery that much quicker when elbow pain did happen.

Mr_B · Post by **Mr_B** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 2:35 pm

Thanks for the tip. It sounds interesting - as a desk-jokey, anything that helps the mouse hand and staves off repetetive strain injury is a winner!

tonez323 · Post by **tonez323** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 2:45 pm

Then you surely must know about the carpal tunnel prevention..

wrapping a rubber band around your fingers then opening your fingers as wide as u can for a few sets of 5-10 reps

Mr_B · Post by **Mr_B** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:27 am

I didn't know that one - it really hits the spot (with or without band)!

Thanks for the tip. I owe you one!

WinstonWolf · Post by **WinstonWolf** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 2:27 pm

Another suggestion, as I had some seriously nasty forearm/wrist pain a couple years ago, from overuse of keyboard/mouse and a few other things...

Trigger point massage. Believe it or not, it really seems to work pretty well. You can look for books on it (amazon) if you want a more thorough explanation, but as for what to do...

I use a racquetball... small, maybe 2" and squishy. I get a "pain point" fairly frequently at the top of my right forearm, and for maybe 20-30 seconds a few times a day (or when it hurts), I'll massage the pain point with the ball. You can use your hand or thumb, but that can be painful to the other hand/forearm over time.

I find it helps. It works by releasing stored muscle tension, apparently... just like how any massage works, I suppose.

Oddly enough, doing pushups regularly have seemed to help quite a bit as well... different arm movements, I guess, than my usual mouse-potato self gets to do.

Hope this helps.

Mr_B · Post by **Mr_B** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 10:07 am

Thansk for the tip WinstonWolf.

Just by way of an update, the pain is gone. I took a week off and then started up slowly. I'm now doing more reps than before and with no problems.

One thing I will note is that when doing the flip-the-lever exercise if I hold the haft of the hammer with all four fingers it leads to pain in my forearm. If, however, I let my index finger rest along the line of the handle and grip with the remaining three fingers I have no problems.

I don't know enough anatomy to figure out why that should be though.

Cheers,

Rich