Tennis Elbow: Can I Lift Weights?

What Is Tennis Elbow?

The Injury:

I've had minor issues with my right elbow off and on for the past several years. I always assumed it was a minor hyper-extension, because it usually only gave me trouble when I was playing basketball. If I warmed up well, I rarely felt pain. Shooting hoops is probably the origin of the injury, as I spent several hours each day playing basketball years ago. It was really all I did.

In recent months, I'd have small amounts of swelling and pain in my elbows, especially my right elbow, while doing triceps lifts. It came on feeling like tightness or tension in my lower triceps, where it reaches the elbow. After lifting, it would be sore for a day or two and I'd be good for the next week. It was never bad enough that I thought something was wrong, just irksome. 

About 10 days ago, however, I did a pretty beast triceps workout where I maxed out the pushdown machine for reps and then did 110lbs on skull-crushers. My elbow felt pretty tight afterwards and, as usual, I thought nothing of it.

A few days later, on Chest & Biceps day, I tried to do my first lift, decline bench press, and couldn't perform my working set safely. The tightness was still there and it was severe enough to feel like I should stop after my first rep. So I listened to my body and stopped, telling myself I'd take a couple days to heal up.

It's now been over a week and I still have soreness while at rest. I can't very well give up lifting, because I'd sacrifice all the progress I've made these past several months. Yet, I need to give my elbows time to heal and figure out how to prevent future problems.

Research Findings:

Since I'm a little nerdy about these types of things, I did a significant amount of research this past week to figure out what's going on with my elbows and how I should treat them moving forward. Currently, I don't have health insurance, so it's important that I treat my body well and problem-solve on my own as best I can.

I started with a symptom-check. I had soreness in my elbow, where the triceps meets the elbow. The hard spot on my elbow was sore when it rested on objects. The pain was exacerbated by elbow flexion and extension.  I couldn't feel any swelling where I felt tight, which was a little surprise. Continued activity made it feel worse and rest made it feel better.

My knee-jerk instinct told me that I had tendonitis in my elbow, which makes sense since it's an overuse injury that is exacerbated by the types of activity I've been engaging in. So I looked it up to confirm. Tendonitis in the elbow is called "Tennis Elbow," because it's common amongst tennis players. The giveaway was that I didn't have any swelling, which typically indicates tennis elbow, rather than something else like a tear or arthritis.

As I researched it, I find a couple of interesting things that convinced me my guess was accurate. For example, the triceps exercises that brought on the pain were all lifts that require wrist stabilization; in this case, triceps push-downs and skull-crushers. Both require a really strong grip and stabilization of the wrist to be performed properly, which is why they are the lifts that have been giving me the most trouble over these past several months. Other lifts like bench presses didn't typically cause any trouble, because I didn't have to flex my wrist. Typically, pain is more severe in lifts where my palm is flexed downward, a classic tennis elbow symptom.

Also, the lack of swelling and location of the pain is atypical for bursitis, so I ruled that out. Bursitis is one of the conditions that's most often mistaken for tennis elbow. 

Finally, tennis elbow is more common amongst people with rotator cuff issues, which I've had problems with for years now. It all made sense.

What Is Tennis Elbow?

Tennis Elbow is tendonitis in the elbow. In short, it's an inflammation of the elbow tendons caused by micro-tears on the tendon that connects the muscle to the bone. There is little consensus about the initial cause, since a majority of cases are overuse, but some cases are brought on suddenly through excessive exertion.

When To Visit The Doctor

It's advised that you seek medical attention if pain becomes severe enough to limit daily activities, persists with rest, or causes numbness or weakness in the hand. Since I have none of these issues and am confident in my self-diagnosis, I'll move forward by examining the treatment strategies. 

Treating Tennis Elbow

How Is Tennis Elbow Treated?

Tennis Elbow is typically treated with rest, ice, anti-inflammatory drugs, and progressive strengthening exercises (once the acute symptoms subside).

Elbow straps and topical anti-inflammatory medications can also help with the symptoms.

Can I Lift Weights With Tennis Elbow?

It seems to be ubiquitously agreed that you should rest until the acute pain subsides, but that does not mean sustained rest will improve your symptoms. On the contrary, excessive immobilization makes the condition worse for most people.

My research indicated that once you start to feel like you can lift again, to start with light weights and make sure your form is perfect. Progressively add weight without sacrificing your form. If you ever feel like you're aggravating the injury, stop what you're doing immediately.

These are all pretty commonsensical notions, so I don't think they require further explanation.

My Lifting Strategy

While I'm dealing with this, I'm going to back off my high-intensity training program and fall into a maintenance/general health phase. I need to stay healthy more than I need to get stronger or bigger. The one thing that will destroy my size and strength gains is an extended break because of injury.

I'm going to avoid lifts that require too much forearm or elbow extension. So my triceps work is going to be mixed up somewhat, in addition to my chest workouts. I figure I'll focus on flies and perhaps dumbbell presses if they aren't painful. Since decline bench gave me some trouble, I am going to avoid barbell presses for the time being.

I'm also going to drop biceps and triceps lifts from my workout for now. They'll get plenty of work during back, chest, and shoulder exercises. Typical arm workouts are highlighted as some of the most aggravating for tennis elbow, so I'll avoid them until I'm healthy.

In their stead, I'll add some forearm exercises (when the acute symptoms) are gone, to try and prevent further injuries. I'll also increase my focus on my scapular muscles and rotator cuffs.

I'm going to take a couple more days off to let my body heal, then I'll get back to it. Wish me luck!