elbow problem

[mick in mpls]

Hey Mark, well, like a dumbass, I haven't been keeping my elbows high enough when I squat and now after a couple months I've got raging tendinitis happening. I thought I had good form, but now that the weights are heavy I've realized that I was holding up a lot of it instead of just keeping it against my back. I've obviously fixed my form now.

So my question is, what's the quickest way to heal them in your experience? Totally lay off the weights? I've taken a couple workouts off while also heating and icing when I can and went back to the gym today, and it was still pretty bad, benching's the worst. I just want to heal and get back to making progress. Thanks for your time.

Mick

[Mark Rippetoe]

The sad, awful news is that once they get inflamed, after you remove the stress it takes about 4 weeks. Ice and ibuprofen may help, so do that, but it will be a few weeks. This should serve to help you make up your mind to keep the elbows unloaded when you squat.