Weight-training exercises challenge your body's muscles, ligaments and tendons to increase your strength and improve muscle tone. However, if you place excess demands on your arms while weight training, you may experience injury or pain. Arm exercises, like a shoulder press or lat pull-down, can place excess strain on your elbow joint in particular. To prevent this, engage in healthy weightlifting techniques that build muscle without harming the body.
Elbow Anatomy
The source of elbow pain can be difficult to determine, because the elbow joint is complex. Four muscle groups, three large nerves, two ligament groups and three joint articulations where the radius, ulna and humerus touch comprise the joint, meaning pain could result from a number of causes. If you experience elbow pain with weightlifting, it's important to take a careful survey of your symptoms. Think back to when your pain began during your weightlifting session. Typically the muscles or ligaments worked during this exercise are the cause behind your pain. However, if your elbow joint aches throughout your entire weightlifting session, this could indicate a cause like osteoarthritis.
Common Causes
The American Academy of Family Physicians identifies six main causes of elbow injury that result in pain related to weightlifting. Injury to your biceps or triceps can cause elbow pain. If your pain occurs when you perform exercises like bicep curls, tricep presses or reverse curls, this could indicate inflammation of these muscles. Elbow pain that radiates down your entire forearm could indicate an inflammation of the ulnar nerve that runs down the inside of your forearm. Pain that extends to the outside of your forearm could indicate radial tunnel syndrome. Finally, pain in the front of your elbow could indicate inflammation in the anterior capsule, the front ligaments and cartilage that connect and cushion your elbow.
Treatment
If you experience elbow pain due to weightlifting, the first thing to do is practice the PRICE method: protect, rest, ice, compress and elevate the affected joint. Take a break from weightlifting for one to two weeks. During this time, perform gentle arm stretches such as pulling your wrist back toward your chest and clasping your hands behind your back to stretch the areas around the elbow joint. This will maintain range of motion in your elbow and arm without placing excess strain on inflamed areas. If you continue to experience pain, see your physician.
Prevention
Elbow pain due to weightlifting most commonly arises from either lifting weights that are too heavy or lifting weights too often, which does not give your muscles sufficient time to heal. Rest at least one day between your weightlifting sessions. If you do like to lift weights every day, do not work the same muscles back-to-back. For example, train your biceps and triceps one day, your shoulders and back the next. Thorough stretching before and after weightlifting also can help to loosen your muscles and relieve tension that can lead to pain. Also, if you cannot perform eight or more repetitions, the weight is too heavy. Slowly increase the amount of weight you lift to prevent injury.
