Bench Press Form: Anything causing elbow pain/soreness?

[Nick Klemetson]

Hi Coaches,

I might be on the brink of my first real injury, and I was wondering if you could help me shed light on what could be causing it. I'm trying to narrow down the causes, and I'm wondering if you see anything in my bench press form that may be contributing to severe pain/soreness in both of my elbows.

My third set from today is here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNaESpPXQOY

At its worst, the pain is throbbing and radiates into my upper arm, but if I had to estimate a source, it seems to originate from the radial collateral ligament.

Ice makes the pain go away, but it returns on all the primary lifts except the squat. It forced me to truncate my power cleans today. (Log is here... http://startingstrength.com/resource...ad.php?t=40290 )

I'm just trying to narrow down the cause of this. I first became aware of the pain on Sunday evening following a softball game. I didn't do much during the game... batted three times and threw the ball a total of 4 times. But after the game the pain in both my elbows was unbelievable.

I thought back to Friday, when I worked my bench press to a 1RM. I think that's the leading candidate right now (with softball being second), so I'm wondering if you see anything in my bench that would cause elbow issues.

[Michael Wolf]

I don't see anything in your BP video that would cause that kind of pain. Your forearms aren't vertical at the bottom - your hands appear to be behind/superior to your elbows at the bottom of the lift, but that is just a minor inefficiency in the lift that wouldn't normally account for the severe and persistent pain you describe.

If I understand what you're describing correctly (pain on the lateral side of the arm, originating around the elbow and radiating upwards into the upper arm on the lateral side), I've had something similar, and it has always occurred when I was not vigilant in keeping the bar exactly in place during heavy squats. Including a similarly horrible pain there after batting in softball. Although I noticed it right away, not just after the game. So I'm surprised squats don't seem to bother yours at all.

I can't really speculate further, but I don't see anything in your BP vid that would normally cause such pain.

[Nick Klemetson]

Hi Michael. It's interesting that you mention the squat. Though it doesn't cause any discomfort in the squat, I did recently change my squat grip to conform it more to the SS standard. In an effort to correct my wrist alignment (SS:BBT pg. 24, fig. 2-18), I've widened my grip by an inch or two. The bar rests on the lowest portion of my palm and my fingertips provide stability on the other side. I'm not "gripping" the bar with my fingers at all. Since the grip is wider, I have to really cue myself to raise my elbows to create the shelf.

If I filmed my squats tomorrow, would you possibly be able to diagnose if the bar is moving in such a way that would cause the problem? I could take a still picture of my wrist/hand/forearm/elbow as well. Is my body possibly still adapting to the new grip and will grow into it eventually? Every time I alter my squat form it causes temporary discomfort, but it's never this severe and it doesn't usually manifest itself in the other lifts.

Thanks again for your help.

[Nick Klemetson]

http://startingstrength.com/resource...t=39920&page=1 I also just noticed this thread down in the recovery section. I gave it a read, and it pretty much sounds like me. The only difference is that I don't feel it during or immediately after the squat. Perhaps my working weights are still light enough that they don't impact the squat itself, but they knock things out of line just enough to cause problems on the pushing and pulling movements.

[Michael Wolf]

I can't say for sure, but if it's an obvious bar position problem and you get some good footage, we might be able to see something. Worth a try.

As far as that thread, that seems to be discussing golfer's elbow, where you described lateral elbow pain (radial collateral ligament). Unless I've got my anatomy all mixed up.

[Nick Klemetson]

Thanks again Michael. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to film my squats today (person who films couldn't come), but I really tried to listen to my elbows during the work sets. I noticed the bar wanting to roll up my back during my warmup sets, so I chalked up for the work sets, and it stayed put. I felt a small twinge every time I unracked my work sets, but other than that, the squats were pain free.

I felt minor pain during my presses and deadlifts, but overall, it was about a 2/10 pain scale... MUCH more tolerable than Wednesday.

I'm skipping the softball game Sunday so I don't re-aggravate anything, and then I'll go from there. Thanks again.

[Michael Wolf]

Thanks again Michael. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to film my squats today (person who films couldn't come), but I really tried to listen to my elbows during the work sets. I noticed the bar wanting to roll up my back during my warmup sets, so I chalked up for the work sets, and it stayed put. I felt a small twinge every time I unracked my work sets, but other than that, the squats were pain free.

I felt minor pain during my presses and deadlifts, but overall, it was about a 2/10 pain scale... MUCH more tolerable than Wednesday.

Paying better attention to bar position may have been the trick. We'll see if it continues in this good direction.

I'm skipping the softball game Sunday so I don't re-aggravate anything, and then I'll go from there. Thanks again.

I hate to say it, but this might be a good idea for a few weeks. Don't know how attached you are to the weekend-warrior softball game, but the zing of the bat making contact with the ball can wreak havoc with aggravating the elbow area.

[jkw]

I seem to also deal with this same issue sometimes. It took me a while to realize it was caused by squats because it didn't ever hurt during squats, but it affects my bench and press. For me what helped was widening my grip an inch or so and really focusing on staying super tight in my upper back by trying to keep my shoulder blades pinched, arms up over the bar, and not letting my elbows drop. Also when benching a slow descent for the first rep helped too. It always hurt worst on the first rep of benching right near the bottom of the descent.

[Nick Klemetson]

Didn't play softball last night, but I went and watched my team lose 8-1. Ugh... the team we were playing was pretty good, plus our infield made some uncharacteristic mistakes. I felt like a giant pussy sitting out when our 1st baseman had a serious calf cramp and could barely walk, but still played.

Anyway... workout was... okay... today. I tested some hang cleans with the bar to see how my elbows reacted, and they felt pretty good.

I then started my squat warmup. On my first work set, I wasn't chalked and when I unracked the bar it started sliding down my back and rolling down my palm. Never done that before. I quickly re-racked, or I would have bailed. I immediately went to the car and got chalk. Never skipping it on squats again.

The elbow did not enjoy almost dropping the bar though. I knew then that cleans probably wouldn't work today.

Squats and benches were fine though. Thanks for the BP tips... I never realized how much power I was losing by not having my elbows directly below my wrists.

I tried to do some chins to replace the PC's... elbow didn't like those either. So I did some high volume low weight seated rows and lat pulldowns and called it a day.