Tricep pain when low bar squatting, but not when pressing. Nerve or muscle?

[Bart Hakvoort]

Hi,

I was wondering if someone here has any experience with the problem I'm having.

I just started SS four weeks ago (skinny 30-year-old). I started fairly light, but somehow I have managed to develop a pain in my upper-arms when trying to get under the bar on my squats.

I think I might have overloaded my triceps and/or tendons. Probably because my grip was too narrow for my (lack of) flexibility. I've fixed that, but it's already too late, I can't even get into the wider grip. (I'm not supporting the weight with my hands, it hurts just as much with just the empty bar).

The thing is though, it only hurts when I try to get into the low bar squat position, I can still do bench and overhead presses without problems. And I also have a pain pressure point smack in the middle of my triceps (when I push on it with my fingers), so that would rule out a tendon.

This started to get me thinking: could this actually be a nerve? Could I have pinched it with the bar on my skinny shoulders?
I'm too new to all this to really feel the difference.

[Corrie]

Since no one is jumping to answer this question I'll give you this link and maybe it will help you out a bit.

http://startingstrength.com/resource...ad.php?t=14589

It's not identical to your issue, but it deals with the arm/shoulder/elbow issues while squatting, and in one of Sami's pics he actually has a bruise right on his tricep; sounds just like where your pain is.'

Either way there is a lot of good info in that topic.

[Bart Hakvoort]

Thanks, Corrie. I don't think it's the same thing (well, everybody is different) but it might help.

So today I went to the gym and tried a couple of things from that thread, closer/wider grip, hand position, grabbing the bar, etc.

I also tried high bar, but that sucks even more: I cannot find a spot where the bar is not pressing down hard on bone...

But I did find something else: I could get in the low bar position without too much pain, which was nice, although it really is on the edge of my flexibility (putting your hands on the bar and then going under it kinda forces you, I tried it the other way around just out of curiosity and this is much more painfull).
Keeping my elbows up is difficult and when I relax even a little the bar begins to slide down (I'm pretty sure I don't have the bar too low). This makes sense, there's a reason you have to push your scapulas together and your elbows up.
But this would mean that part of the weight is being held up by the rear deltoids, is this correct? And when they're not strong enough (which they aren't, they feel painfull after I put some weight on the bar), I'm guessing I'm pushing my palms against the bar to help with the triceps.

So my feeling is that my muscles around the shoulder area are just not strong enough (yet) to go heavier on the squats. Could this be the case?
Doing overhead presses did help with the shoulder pain (but not with the weird tricep pain, that's still there, but I don't feel it when doing presses).

Not sure what to do next, keep progressing with low bar squatting, only slower perhaps? Doing a bit more shoulder warm-ups and maybe even some assistance exercises (although I keep reading that those are not necesarry for the novice...).

[chrismcc]

check out this video by Mark. This help me with my squating position.

http://startingstrength.com/index.ph...t_bar_position

[Bart Hakvoort]

Hi,

thanks again for the suggestions. I've read a bit of the thread and re-watched the video. I think I've solved the problem, because I've changed some things and trained through it and am now almost completly pain-free (left side is lagging a bit behind).

The key for me was keeping the elbows up. Someone else in the thread suggested gripping the bar hard to activate the necessary muscles (like you do in the press), but this doesn't work for me. What does is keeping the hands as relaxed as possible. This way I can focus better on the position of the bar on my back and contracting the necessary muscles to support it. Also I can feel it better when the bar is beginning to wiggle down, giving me direct feedback to keep my ELBOWS UP.

I feel very relieved and feel like I'm finally beginning to do the program. It's starting to get pretty heavy, which is awesome and a little scary... Funny thing is that the bar is feeling more secure now that it's getting heavier, as long as I keep my elbows up.