How to train with elbow busirtis or tennis elbow for crossfit & marathons

If you train a lot you will inevitably get injured or sick at some point. Here is one tip on how to keep going when you suffer from tennis arm in your marathon or crossfit training program.

Why i had to train my way around busirtis ? Overuse

In February 2015 I was diagnosed with a abd version of busirtis in both of my elbows. This is also known as tennis arm or tennis elbow. I had a swelling for about a month and thought I could sit it out. After my girlfriend and stepson realized the size of the swelling they got alarmed and asked me to go to the doctors.

As you should not argue with family, I therefore went and got diagnosed. The doctor said I am not allowed to lift, rope skip (which surprised me) or do pull ups for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately she was not too specific on how many weeks i actually had to take off. I got a prescription for 28days of antibiotics and I stuck with that + another week.

What is busirtis anyway ? Swelling of a fluid filled sack near your joints 

Bursitis is an inflammation of the bursae in the

• Shoulder
• Elbow
• Ankle
• Knee
• Buttocks
• Hip
• Thigh

and usually caused by overuse (in my case) or bacterial infection. You can either treat it yourself or go to doctor. If you tread it yourself, handle it like a normal sports injury / swelling. However mine kept lurkng about and did not go away so I went for the doctors.

How to keep training with busirtis ? Avoid the area

In February I did not want to stop training completely and running was allowed. So I focused and running and on my core to work my way around the injury and still keep going. With good results for my overall performance, as I used to neglect my core. I feel stronger than ever. Maybe busirtis was an out come of doing Stronglifts 5x5 too long, as it works with high weights and not a lot of variety inb the program itself. Running is always allowed so work on your endureance, if you have a weakness in that area and work with wods that do not put too much tension on the affected area. It is a good opportunity to shake up your routine and rethink your programming. Always consult a doctor before deciding to keep training with a swelling!