Golfer's Elbow - Pin firing

[ArmandoFerrari]

Hi All,

I have had medial epicondylitis for close to 3 months now. I have tried resting, icing, diclofenac, TENS, PT, and most recently a PRP shot about 2 weeks ago. It has improved a bit but the pain still persists.

I am starting to load the tendon now. I started Mark's pin firing protocol today with 20 sets of 3 chin ups. I must be further along in my recovery than I thought because the pain was minimal.

Question - Mark prescribed sets of 3 chins *if* you can do around 10 chins. I haven't tried in 3 months since the pain started but I'm pretty confident I can still do 15-20. In the moment, after a little pump, I felt very little pain and I keep hearing that I should be feeling more pain. Should I up the reps to 5 @ 20 sets, or is that over-doing it and I just need to be patient?

Also - any issues with rolling the tendon on a lacrosse ball daily while doing this pin firing protocol? Would that interfere?

Thanks,
Armando

[Mark Rippetoe]

Up the reps to 5 and see what happens.

[Maybach]

The "ceiling" here is going to be how much, if at all, it interferes with your productive training. It's not a training stimulus, is the thing. Go as high as you want before that happens.

[ArmandoFerrari]

The "ceiling" here is going to be how much, if at all, it interferes with your productive training. It's not a training stimulus, is the thing. Go as high as you want before that happens.

Thanks. I'm going to hold off on all other upper-body heavy push/pull movements to maximize recovery, for at least 4 weeks. It shouldn't interfere with anything. My focus is getting rid of this thing.

[Mark Rippetoe]

The rehab protocol does not require that you detrain the other lifts.

[Maybach]

If you are avoiding heavy weights because they might irritate your elbows, then what exactly is your rationale for employing a rehab method *specifically designed to irritate the piss out of your elbows?*