Stop to bench press with a tennis elbow and use this program
One of the most likely injuries you will get when you bench press a lot is a tennis elbow. This happens when the tendons tear at the point which is shown at the picture (not rip, then you have a real problem on your hands). The symptoms are:
- Pain increasing around the outside of the elbow over time
- The pain is more noticeable when shaking or squeezing objects (like a protein shaker)
- Pain increases even further when moving the wrist with force like opening a jar
While tennis elbow gets its name from tennis players actually less than 5% of people who are diagnosed are tennis players. However, 50% of tennis players might report that they had to deal with tennis elbow at some stage of their career. If diagnosed it is very likely that you can recover without surgery. Only 5% of those who get treatment have to go through surgery when conventional means do not show improvement.Tennis elbow affects men more than women. It most often affects people between the ages of 30 and 50, although people of any age can be affected.
In my case, I got a tennis elbow from bench pressing. I started doing Stronglifts 5x5 in 2014 and continued with it in January 2015 even when the first symptoms showed. With this I am not setting a good example for you. In the end I had a full tennis ball growing out of my elbow and it was not pretty. I, therefore, stopped training altogether in February 2015 which put me back and was also frustrating to heal up. Others might train through, I personally would recommend giving the area time to heal.
As you recover you will most likely have to alter your training regimen to have less strain on the elbows. A good option can be a Smolov Jr cycle for the squat if you train at all. With this program, you will still increase your squat, while the tennis elbow can heal up. For me, the tennis elbow took a month to recover.
Further reading
- How to bench press like a bodybuilder
- Smolov for bodybuilding
- How to bench press like a powerlifter
- 14 easy steps on how to get a bigger bench
- 10 month Stronglift review
