Mike Singletary
Member
- Sep 8, 2010
- 92
- 29
I have a nagging pain in my right elbow... if my palms were turned up, the pain would be mostly on the top and to the outside of my elbow.
The pain seems to flair up mostly when I do bench presses. I read long long ago in somewhere I cant remember that when you bench, you should draw the elbows inward, towards your sides, with your ring finger on the smooth "rings" in the middle of the rough of the bar (wide grip).
I've been thinking that, by doing this, I might be pulling my elbows out from under my wrists... giving a kind of torque motion on my arms (imagine a wide grip triceps down press) ... but then I'm not really sure. Its the best idea I could come up with. I notice when I do push ups that if I flair my elbows out so that they're directly over my wrists I tend not to have so many pain issues...
So anyway I tried this on benching. Instead of pulling my elbows in, I let them flair out, and brought the bar down to my lower chest / upper abs area. 2 things happened.
1. It was hard as hell to bench this way
2. LOT less elbow irritation.
Ok so now I'm a bit confused...
1. Am I not supposed to be drawing my elbows in? Thats the way I learned it 10 million years ago when I first started benching...
2. I guess everything else is contingent upon that first question, but if I am supposed to keep my elbows out, why is it so much harder to bench that way? Is it just because its unfamiliar to me and I have to learn how to bench all over again? Or is this method just plain wrong and THATS why its so hard?
I've tried looking in a mirror while doing both forms... really my elbows dont change that much... just a few inches, and both drawn-in and flaired-out LOOK like they're pretty much under my wrist! Ok so help me out.
Oh and also, when I go home I put ice on my elbow and the pain goes away pretty quick. Dont know if that helps you understand it... same spot hurts when I do pull ups. Strain? Inflamed nerve? Its been getting better lately but it seems I keep re-injuring it on this bench thing.
The pain seems to flair up mostly when I do bench presses. I read long long ago in somewhere I cant remember that when you bench, you should draw the elbows inward, towards your sides, with your ring finger on the smooth "rings" in the middle of the rough of the bar (wide grip).
I've been thinking that, by doing this, I might be pulling my elbows out from under my wrists... giving a kind of torque motion on my arms (imagine a wide grip triceps down press) ... but then I'm not really sure. Its the best idea I could come up with. I notice when I do push ups that if I flair my elbows out so that they're directly over my wrists I tend not to have so many pain issues...
So anyway I tried this on benching. Instead of pulling my elbows in, I let them flair out, and brought the bar down to my lower chest / upper abs area. 2 things happened.
1. It was hard as hell to bench this way
2. LOT less elbow irritation.
Ok so now I'm a bit confused...
1. Am I not supposed to be drawing my elbows in? Thats the way I learned it 10 million years ago when I first started benching...
2. I guess everything else is contingent upon that first question, but if I am supposed to keep my elbows out, why is it so much harder to bench that way? Is it just because its unfamiliar to me and I have to learn how to bench all over again? Or is this method just plain wrong and THATS why its so hard?
I've tried looking in a mirror while doing both forms... really my elbows dont change that much... just a few inches, and both drawn-in and flaired-out LOOK like they're pretty much under my wrist! Ok so help me out.
Oh and also, when I go home I put ice on my elbow and the pain goes away pretty quick. Dont know if that helps you understand it... same spot hurts when I do pull ups. Strain? Inflamed nerve? Its been getting better lately but it seems I keep re-injuring it on this bench thing.