That usually means either doing fewer biceps curls or stopping them completely until the discomfort improves. Sometimes you’ll use protection before being evaluated by a medical professional to protect the elbow from further injury. The symptoms of elbow arthritis, at first, may come and go. During the process of bending the elbow, the biceps contracts while at the same time the triceps relaxes. Not keeping your wrists in a neutral position while curling. Referred Pain – As I said before, sometimes pain in the outer elbow can be caused by issues in the neck or shoulder. Work on strengthening your forearms too! The triceps’ contracts when the arm straightens. Copyright ©2020 Fitbod, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you feel the pain more along the outer aspect of your elbow, it’s likely lateral epicondylitis, also known as tennis elbow. Not keeping your wrists in a neutral position while curling. Take the guesswork out of your workouts. The elbow joint is formed by the connection of the arm bone (humerus) with the forearm bones (radius and ulna). By varying your technique to, let’s say, concentration curls (bicep curls with your elbows braced against the insides of your knees) or preacher curls (bicep curls with your elbows resting on a sloped bench), you can change up the forces in the arm and elbow to limit the chances of an overuse injury. The elbow is then flexed with the weight in hand until it reaches the front of the shoulder, then brought back down into the original position. Note: This is NOT the same as tennis elbow, which causes pain in the outer elbow. There are certain special physical exam tests your medical provider can do to consider this diagnosis in the office. The biceps can still get plenty of stimulation if you curl with a “wrist grip” rather than a hand grip. If an exercise hurts, don’t do it or modify the exercise so that it doesn’t cause discomfort. Stay Fit With Cathe Live & OnDemand! When the elbow straightens, the biceps relaxes and the triceps contracts. Trust me because isolating the elbow joint is one of the fastest ways to make the pain worse. It is an overuse injury. The Inflammation should be controlled before pushing through any exercises or rehab as you don’t want to further irritate a painful elbow. If It Doesn't Challenge You It Doesn't Change You. Why Do My Elbows Hurt When I Lift Weights? Here’s how to do one: If you have chronic elbow pain when you curl, it could be arthritis of the elbows. If your forearms are weak, you may have problems holding your wrists in a neutral position. The discomfort can sometimes radiate into your back and make it difficult to bend your elbow or flex those sweet muscles you've been working on. These muscles extend from your scapula, or shoulder blade, to the radius bone in your forearm. Your hands should extend just beyond your knees and your palms pointing toward the ceiling. This is important as more injuries occur to tissues under tension while bringing the weight down to the starting position of the bicep curl. Then I do 5 sets of 7 on the preacher with an ez-bar. It’s also common to hear a crackling or cracking sound with joint flexion as the surface of the joint erodes and becomes rough in texture. Treatment What can the athlete do? You don’t need to suffer from elbow pain and it can actually be prevented – in many cases – with a highly frowned-upon movement in many CrossFit gyms. It’s this muscle that, together with the biceps brachii, make flexing your forearms so seamless. Medial Epicondylitis – This can occur with repetitive use of your wrist flexors (muscles that help bend your wrist forward) if you’re not using a neutral position while doing bicep curls. Osteoarthritis is the most common type of joint disease that affects the elbow, but rheumatoid arthritis can cause arthritic elbows too. Patients can commonly have pain when feeling the back of their elbow. Don’t be that person that self-diagnoses themselves off an article on the internet. This will only cause more inflammation (the reason you get the pain) and makes things way worse. Aim for lighter weights and higher reps for less stress on the tendons. However few individuals know what PRICE is. The easiest way to avoid the problems this exercise commonly causes is to … In addition, he has completed a Certificate in The Principles of Aviation & Space Medicine through NASA / The University of Texas Medical Branch where his final project was on the topic of “Muscle Loss in Spaceflight." “When Elbow Pain May Mean Arthritis”. strength training, diet, skinny fat, cutting, bulking, University of North Texas Health Science Center. With over 600 movements and exercises videos, you can be sure to perform the movements correctly for optimal results. Also, lighten up on the weight. Good luck getting back into the gym. If your wrists deviate to one side of the other, it increases the load on the elbows, leading to tendon irritation and pain. I find I get golfer’s elbow if I use a straight barbell but I’m OK with my EZ Curl barbell that lets me angle my hands. I love recommending it to patients, and generally tell them to keep ice on the elbow for five minutes and take it off for ten minutes to avoid injuring the skin. Now, you know some of the reasons you may have elbow pain when you do biceps curls. If you’re having trouble with continuous pain despite rest (and you haven’t been diagnosed with any other conditions by a medical provider) you should consider lower weights with higher repetition during your bicep curls. Since repetitive stress on the elbows causes most cases of elbow pain, vary the approach you take to curling. I believe that my condition was caused by overuse. That can help you reduce the stress on your elbow joints. Think of them as the triceps equivalent of the straight barbell biceps curl. Unless you’ve had an acute injury, the most likely cause is either medial or lateral epicondylitis. What is Weightlifter’s Shoulder & How Can You Avoid It? In other words, you need to some single joint exercises from your workout routine such as tricep kickbacks, bicep curls, and shoulder flies. If your elbow pain, for example, increases by two levels (on a scale from one to ten on the pain scale) for more than two hours, you’re doing “too” much and need to either back down or be evaluated by a medical professional in person. My form sucked outright. Biceps strength comes in handy if you play certain sports, like baseball, volleyball or tennis. Sometimes lifting something too heavy forces the arms to straighten under the weight of the object and this puts excess force on the biceps tendons. If you notice pain in your elbows after a workout, apply ice for 15 minutes afterward and several times per day. Get 3 free workouts on Fitbod right now. This protection can involve a compression wrap or brace to control swelling and add support. In fact, some people experience enough pain that they hesitate to do curls at all. Pain, when you curl, makes it harder to build strong biceps, but why does it happen? The palm faces forward and your wrist is in a neutral position (not bent forward or bent back). Whether you love them or hate them, biceps curls are the best isolation exercise for targeting the biceps, the muscles that flex your arms at the elbow and rotate your forearms. Before we go into treatment options for your elbow pain, be sure you haven’t lost feeling (sensation) in your forearm, elbow, wrist, hand, or fingers. But the bicep curl needn’t be something you’re ashamed of doing in public. He completed his family medicine residency training through Cleveland Clinic Akron General where he served as the Chief Resident and House Staff President. Learn how your comment data is processed. Triceps Tendinopathy – This can cause elbow pain during bicep curls with repetitive straightening of the elbow with a weight in hand.