Weird pain while doing power cleans.

[CommanderFun]

So I've been noticing that doing power cleans has been contributing to a strange pain building up in my left arm. The pain isn't in any muscle belly, it actually feels like it hurts at the two endpoints of the bicep. It gets worse and worse as I keep doing sets. I had to cut the workout short at 3 sets today because I did not like where it was going. Any thoughts what this might be and what's to be done about it? My left arm does have what I always assumed was some kind of a joint laxity issue. There's a degree of "pop" accompanied by some motions, usually shoulder movements. It's gotten a lot better though and scarcely happens at all on overhead presses.

[Will Morris]

So I've been noticing that doing power cleans has been contributing to a strange pain building up in my left arm. The pain isn't in any muscle belly, it actually feels like it hurts at the two endpoints of the bicep. It gets worse and worse as I keep doing sets. I had to cut the workout short at 3 sets today because I did not like where it was going. Any thoughts what this might be and what's to be done about it? My left arm does have what I always assumed was some kind of a joint laxity issue. There's a degree of "pop" accompanied by some motions, usually shoulder movements. It's gotten a lot better though and scarcely happens at all on overhead presses.

Without any video evidence, I would be willing to bet you have some proximal and distal biceps tendon pain. Some of the most likely causes are barbell curls, preacher curls, poor bench press technique, and arm pulls on the clean. Just because you have pain with the clean doesn't mean that it is the provocateur of the pain. I wouldn't mind checking out a video of your clean and / or your bench press.

[CommanderFun]

Doesn't happen at all on the bench press. The catch itself and dropping it down to the hang position afterward seem to be what brings it on, and only on the left side. The right doesn't get even a glimmer of it.

[Will Morris]

Doesn't happen at all on the bench press. The catch itself and dropping it down to the hang position afterward seem to be what brings it on, and only on the left side. The right doesn't get even a glimmer of it.

What happens if you catch but then just let it drop to the platform?

[CommanderFun]

I have not tried that. My gym kinda doesn't have a good platform setup. There's no bumper plates, just a set of those "training" plates for when people start deadlifting under 135. I use those, but I'm not sure if they'd help absorb the impact like true bumper plates do. And I'm kinda anxious to let 125 pounds just freefall to the floor from over 5 feet up. Some people don't pay much attention to the "don't drop the weights" policy, but they also don't drop them from that high.

[Will Morris]

I have not tried that. My gym kinda doesn't have a good platform setup. There's no bumper plates, just a set of those "training" plates for when people start deadlifting under 135. I use those, but I'm not sure if they'd help absorb the impact like true bumper plates do. And I'm kinda anxious to let 125 pounds just freefall to the floor from over 5 feet up. Some people don't pay much attention to the "don't drop the weights" policy, but they also don't drop them from that high.

Yeah, if you drop those training plates, they will snap in half. Do you have a video of your clean?

[CommanderFun]

Nah, no video. Not really any potential to setup to record it. I am thinking I might just have to axe cleans from the program until I end up in a gym with the proper equipment for it.

[Will Morris]

Nah, no video. Not really any potential to setup to record it. I am thinking I might just have to axe cleans from the program until I end up in a gym with the proper equipment for it.

Before you do that, could you humor me by attempting power snatches and see if they are more tolerable?

[CommanderFun]

I had thought about that too. I'll give it a go.

[CommanderFun]

As an update, I was scheduled to try the power snatch as my last lift today, but had to cancel on it. My workout already kinda got cut short by out of gym considerations, but the tendon (I'm assuming it's tendons) issue flared up again first a bit during my squats, then REALLY started to get increasingly aggravated by overhead presses once I got to the work sets. My second work set got ruined, and I made a judgment call to cut off the workout both due to outside the gym matters and because I did not want whatever is going on to get made worse. Is there anything in particular I should do for this, in regard to workout changes?