Tricep Tondonitis or Olecranon pain

[Brandin138]

Hello Mark,
I've had a nagging pain in the tip of my right elbow for a while. It gets worse with any direct tricep work, to the point where I can't do dips or any sort of lying tricep extension or pushdown without pretty bad pain. It flared up lastnight during my volume bench session, after which I took 4x200mg Ibuprofen and iced it.

I've had tennis elbow in the past, this is not the same. I can grip and rotate and do any other forearm/wrist manipulation without pain, however any flexing of my tricep causes immediate pain in the tip of my elbow where the tricep inserts. At rest there's a very minor ache, which gets worse at the extremes of my elbow extension/flexion. Squats don't cause any elbow pain.

Any tips/experience on rehabbing this injury? I have lacrosse balls, spiked massage balls which I can freeze, those Voodoo Floss bands K. Starrett loves. I am planning on picking up an elbow sleeve to keep some compression & warmth on the joint during lifting.

Current plan - NSAIDs, lacrosse ball the tricep insertion a few times daily, voodoo band prior to gym, avoid heavy pressing/bench for a few weeks. Is this a good candidate for very light, hi rep isolation work?

Thanks for any help!
Brandin

[Mark Rippetoe]

It is probably triceps tendinitis, and is probably caused by something your elbows do not like, such as volume day on the bench with a bunch of tricep work. Post the whole program.

[Brandin138]

I'm running a fairly standard TM setup. 32 years old, ~240lbs, 6'2", no prior medical diagnoses
Mon: Volume day
Squat 5x5, 295 lbs
Bench 5x5, 225 lbs or OHP 5x5, 140
Chins or RDL if my lower back is up for it

Tues: Misc
Power Cleans, 7x2 205 lbs
I was doing curls & LTE but I left them out about a month ago
Chins if I didn't do them Monday, Farmers Walks

Wed: Light
Squats 2x5
OHP or Bench @ 90% prior VD weight, 3x5, opposite of Mondays exercise
Farmers walks or chins if I didn't do them Tues

Fri: Intensity
Squat 2x3, but switching to 5 singles, 355 this week
Bench 1x5, 245 this week (OHP 2x3 165 last week)
DL 1x3, 425 this week. Going to start alternating speed DL or Defecits weekly so I'll DL heavy every 2 weeks
Deficit DL back off set, 1x5 @ 335 standing on a plate

That's about it. I've cut out most direct accessory work over the last 1-2 months aside from back. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

[Mark Rippetoe]

High rep isolation work will NOT help a triceps tendon. I'd just plan on training through it with a sleeve and the advil. As as side observation, your numbers are a little light for TM programming. Seems like you should have gotten more out of your novice progression.

[SivariKing]

High rep isolation work will NOT help a triceps tendon. I'd just plan on training through it with a sleeve and the advil. As as side observation, your numbers are a little light for TM programming. Seems like you should have gotten more out of your novice progression.

I don't want to sound arrogant, but I started TM with weights way lighter than what the op is currently using (110kg for 5x5 squats, 80kg for 5x5 bench). I was making progress too, most noticiably on the upper body lifts, which always got left in the dust during SS. Granted, squats and deads weren't moving as fast as they did on SS, but I didn't really care, since I was finally gaining some strength in my upper body ( I was intensity benching 97,5kgx5 and chinning 30kgx5 at a bodyweight of 98kg). Not impressive, but progree is progress.

Then I blew out something in my right shoulder, and now low-bar squats, benches and chins are out of the picture. Bad luck. But at least I can learn how to clean now. For reference as to what I got out of SS compared to TM:

29 yo, 190 cm, 98 kg "training" experience 6 years. I did the novice progression three times, every time I was able to last on it for about 2 months. Every time my squat and deadlift went up a little more than during the previous run, but my upper body lifts always stalled at the same weights (bench failed at 95kg and press at 65kg). The highest I got to for Squats was 155kgx5x3 and deads 210kgx5 (though I wasn't on SS anymore when I did the pr'ed the deadlift, but the progress came from SS none the less). Probably wounldn't be able to hit those numbers now, though.

Now I just want to get my shoulder back into shape, so I can start pressing and chinning again. Cleans are fun too. Sorry for the off topic post, I just wanted to share my experiences regarding SS, and what it's limitations were (at least for me).

Thank you for the great books and this free site btw.

[Brandin138]

Thanks for the advice. Regarding my weights - I lifted for about 6 years before finding SS, doing various "bodybuilding" type split routines without a ton of squatting/DL. I started SS last year, but mountain biked a few times a week during my SS run. So not being fully novice, battling a few MTB related injuries during SS, and fixing my squat form caused me to stall earlier than I would have liked on SS. I know it's not "doing the program," but I enjoy both hobbies and try to get the most out of both.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I don't want to sound arrogant, but I started TM with weights way lighter than what the op is currently using (110kg for 5x5 squats, 80kg for 5x5 bench). I was making progress too, most noticiably on the upper body lifts, which always got left in the dust during SS. Granted, squats and deads weren't moving as fast as they did on SS, but I didn't really care, since I was finally gaining some strength in my upper body ( I was intensity benching 97,5kgx5 and chinning 30kgx5 at a bodyweight of 98kg). Not impressive, but progree is progress.

He is 6'2" 240 NDTP. You were most likely doing the novice progression incorrectly, i.e. without the necessary small plates/not enough rest between sets/not enough calories. Standard shit.

[dienster]

As as side observation, your numbers are a little light for TM programming. Seems like you should have gotten more out of your novice progression.

What numbers would you consider right for TM programming for the OP?

[Will Morris]

Sounds like you have a case of posterior elbow impingement. This is caused by bony abutment and rats it's ugly head at terminal flexion and extension. My condolences as this is a terrible orthopedic condition.

Were you a thrower (pitcher, quarterback, etc)?

[Mark Rippetoe]

What numbers would you consider right for TM programming for the OP?

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