Intense bicep/elbow pain from squats. Apparently not tennis elbow.

[broetof]

About me:
Age: 21 years
Weight and height: 172lbs, 6ft (78kg, 183cm)
How long and how much: Beginner. Have been training for 8 months. Current weights are
- Deadlift: 253lbs (115kg)
- Squat: 209lbs (95kg)
- Bench: 159lbs (72kg)
- Press: 110lbs (50kg)
Key points:
- Intense pain in left elbow/bicep tendon from squats.
- Have made sure the weight from the bar is not going through my arms (see attached videos).
- Pain occurs both in low- and high-bar squats. Quite a bit worse in low bar.
- A doctor have stated that it is not tennis elbow.
- Break from squats lasting ~3 weeks + eating Ibux did not help.
- I now use elbow warmer – not sure if it helps or not.

Where the pain is:
Picture 1 (If I push this exact point it hurts)
Picture 2

Long version:
Ok, so a while before Christmas I started getting an intense pain from squats in the place indicated in the pictures above (left arm). I tried to switch to high bar to fix it. It did not really help even though it was a bit better than low bar. When it came to Christmas I was trembling and could barely write with my arm just after every training - it hurt pretty much. I choose to take a ~3 week break and do front squats instead. After the break I started again doing low bars. Sadly the intense pain came back again quickly. I went to the doctor and he said it was definitely not tennis elbow (he pushed a very specific point on my elbow and told me it should hurt exactly there if it was – and it didn’t). I ended up just getting some anti-inflammatory drugs which did not help. I’ve tried eating larger amounts of Ibuprofen (albeit not in so large doses recommended in the tendonitis thread here), and that not not help either.
Now I’m currently trying high bar squats where I push my elbows forward after a local powerlifter told me to try it. I’m really desperate and thus willing to try all possible variations on gripping the bar in the hope of not getting the intense pain. Pushing my elbows forward is a bit better, but it still hurts after the heavy sets (although not that intense) so it really isn’t a proper fix. It’s really frustrating as it’s really holding back my progress. All I want is to be able to do some proper low bar squats and not let my progress be obstructed by this stupid thing.

Does any of you have any clue on what this might be?

Thank you in advance.

Videos
Low bar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5JtBVDCHIA&t=0m05s
(I know that there is a lot to fix with this squat – still I think the wrists and elbows are OK?)
High bar (pushing my elbows back): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ujG6FL5zkk&t=0m5s
High bar (deliberately pushing my elbows forward): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDmRhI6_THA&t=0m09s

I can't understand if any of these puts any considerable amount of weight down through my wrists.

[Nick Delgadillo]

I can't understand if any of these puts any considerable amount of weight down through my wrists.

Probably not, but pulling your elbows too far back can do something similar. See if setting your chest without pulling your elbows back helps it. Sometimes, lowering presses too fast can cause a similar deal. It could've been any number of things, but the problem is that it'll take a while to fix and you'll have to find a way to train around it without creating more damage. Search around the boards. People have had success with high rep chins, wrist curls, etc.

[deeprooted]

I'm having (or better yet had) this on and off myself. I think it's called golfer's elbow since the pain is on the inner side of the elbow (while tennis elbow is on the outside).

For me it was certainly the worst when I was doing squats and bench presses on the same day. By the time I finished the squat and started to bench my elbows were hurting badly and I could barely warm up. Even when I tried to push through it was like I suddenly became weak and could barely bench and my arms were trembling as well. I was fighting with this for months, with some workouts being able to push through and some where I just had to stop because of the pain and weakness. Taking some ibuprofen directly before the workout definitely made it more bearable.

At one point I switched to a Texas Method split (upper and lower body on separate days) and it made all the difference for me. Now and then I could feel a very mild pain (usually on the first rep during a bench set and even less during the squat). But it was barely noticeable and certainly didn't interfere with the workout. The elbow sleeves made things even better for me I think (worn on all sets even during warmup) and I basically had no issue for a year or even longer.

My biceps tendons are still very sensitive though (as they have always been because I have small joints, bones etc.) as for instance just 2 or 3 weeks ago I was play wrestling with my gf and wrong moves put some strain on them once again. The more we wrestled around the more I could feel the pain creeping up and afterwards I could feel them hurting. Too bad that I had press Intensity Day the next day though. It was probably the first time ever I felt the pain even when doing the press and I was weaker than I should have been (although 1 year ago my press was much weaker and therefore probably not much of a concern to my elbows anyway). Then I had to bench and as I expected it was even worse. I actually had to abort the workout because the pain got worse and worse with each warmup set, making me almost miss my last warm up single.

The day after, I had my squat/dl Intensity Day and it was hurting like hell during the squat but since the arms are not what's moving the bar it was no problem pushing through the pain.

The following week the bench press was the primary and the press the secondary lift. So I approached the Monday with fear of not being able to even finish the workout. But surprisingly enough the Volume bench went just fine. It did hurt a bit but not enough to interfere with my strength and I could do a PR. The same was with the squat on Tuesday.

A week later the pain was pretty much gone (although it was primarily a press week anyway) but this week today I also had a painless bench session. So while my elbows are still fragile/sensitive to the wrong type of strain it only affects my workout IF they are already inflamed but luckily enough the workout doesn't contribute to or cause the inflammation anymore.



So good luck with it, I know it's a real pain in the ass. The good news is that you're not at the beginning of your novice stage anymore, so maybe it's worth to try an intermediate program prematurely and accept a slower progress but having the benefit of possibly not suffering from elbow pain. Of course the pain in your case could also be caused primarily by the squat alone and not by the combination of squatting and benching on the same day. So if it doesn't help after a few weeks you can also try a slightly wider grip with the squat. I know you're supposed to grab the bar as close as you can but widening by 1 finger width at a time might also help a lot without really affecting your ability to tighten your upper back.

[broetof]

Thank you both for your answers.

I understand what you mean with the bench. I feel it there too, but especially if it already feels inflamed. I'll consider splitting it up as you say! It also seems, as you say, that I just have to learn to train with this thing - at least for the moment.

I'll also keep experimenting with the grip to see what hurts the least.

[DaveHH]

I used to suffer from something similar. Not sure about your case, but I'd wager the issue isn't your elbows.

In my case, having tightness/issues in my shoulder was radiating all the way down, even to the wrist, and worse in the bicep/tricep. I of course did all the first things first, form, pain killers, sleeves, etc
They would help to a degree, but it was only a Band-Aid, and didn't address the root.

Once I got everything mashed up by a physiotherapist - a competent one who didn't say "don't squat" - it seriously went away almost overnight. In my case, those couple sessions teaching me where to mash all the good bits changed everything. My left shoulder was more 'rolled forward' than it should be, which aggravated certain tendons near the joint, that when ratcheted back in the way it is when holding the bar in the squat, was putting it under even more distress. And once that serious inflammation kicks in, it just kills the training session.

After getting this all sorted out in a few sessions, I had all the knowledge I needed to mash it up myself. Hasn't returned since.

[broetof]

I used to suffer from something similar. Not sure about your case, but I'd wager the issue isn't your elbows.

In my case, having tightness/issues in my shoulder was radiating all the way down, even to the wrist, and worse in the bicep/tricep. I of course did all the first things first, form, pain killers, sleeves, etc
They would help to a degree, but it was only a Band-Aid, and didn't address the root.

Once I got everything mashed up by a physiotherapist - a competent one who didn't say "don't squat" - it seriously went away almost overnight. In my case, those couple sessions teaching me where to mash all the good bits changed everything. My left shoulder was more 'rolled forward' than it should be, which aggravated certain tendons near the joint, that when ratcheted back in the way it is when holding the bar in the squat, was putting it under even more distress. And once that serious inflammation kicks in, it just kills the training session.

After getting this all sorted out in a few sessions, I had all the knowledge I needed to mash it up myself. Hasn't returned since.

What you describe sounds familiar. I have been suspecting that it is something with my shoulder as the pain appears when I rotate my shoulder back to grip the bar. The pain is often independent of how much is on the bar. I think I'll try visiting a, hopefully competent, physiotherapist.

[Greg Esres]

I had all the knowledge I needed to mash it up myself. Hasn't returned since.

What I think you're describing is trigger point release. That seems likely in the OP's case because where he's pointing doesn't look like a tendon to me, but anatomy isn't my strong point. He needs a lacrosse ball.