Elbow Pain when Squatting

[lozzo]

Left elbows really been giving me trouble latelly, its weird cause its always after squats which makes it sore. If i bench and havn't squatted in the last day my elbow is fine.

I've been doing a lot of reading and some evidence seems to suggest it may come from me having too close a grip of the bar, and also sub-conciously pushing up/pulling down when my elbow is in a "weak" position.

People are suggesting things to help include;
- Strengthening the elbow (stuff like bicep curls)
- Stretching the forearm/ bicep
- Take a wide grip of the bar when squatting (im unsure if this is feasible since i squat high-bar?)
- Wear an elbow sleave
- Hold the bar with a thumbless grip and keep wrists straight (Rippetoes)

Anyone else had this sort of trouble before?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Dancelot]

I'll take a guess (been helping two others with this) and say that you're losing back tightness through the squat, so that the bar starts to slide down your back and forces your arms to support it a little bit, hence the elbow pain. Are you squeezing your shoulder blades together tightly and engaging your lats throughout the whole set?

 

[catastrophic]

I have a similar problem at the moment.

When I trained with Logan he made me grip the bar super close to my shoulders. This DESTROYED my Elbows, I could not Bench or Dead for a week.

I normally have my index fingers on the rings. However, in the last few months I have moved the bar lower down my Scap & come in one finger on the rings. This is whats killing my elbows.

I have found that Bicep curls help (to a point) but have a negative effect on my Bench. Also Over head pressing from a super tight elbow position is helping improve the mobility, but its been a slow process with that.

I will be VERY interested to see what other opinions have as at the moment my Elbows are giving me hell on Squat day.

 

[gongi_meter]

awww poor precious. yeah pl is such a painful sport. maybe try bare foot lawn bowls??

 

[lozzo]

awww poor precious. yeah pl is such a painful sport. maybe try bare foot lawn bowls??

mate are you serious? fuckwits like you are a dime a dozen at the gym, keep your dumbass comments to yourself.

 

[TTT]

I had similar problems in my left elbow..
went away after a few weeks as I got used to it.

- Hold the bar with a thumbless grip and keep wrists straight (Rippetoes)

he also says "elbows up" which is what caused my pains..
but I still squat that way and it's gotten better

 

[lozzo]

I'll take a guess (been helping two others with this) and say that you're losing back tightness through the squat, so that the bar starts to slide down your back and forces your arms to support it a little bit, hence the elbow pain. Are you squeezing your shoulder blades together tightly and engaging your lats throughout the whole set?

the bar definatly doesn't slip down my back, its sitting up high on my traps and i do stay tight throughout the rep.

 

[knoted]

I had exactly the same problem. Heavy massage from the physio and heat helped the symptoms greatly.

Like you've pointed out though, it was my squat grip. I ended moving my grip up so that the bar is pressed into my back by my lower palms. Fingers are barely even wrapped around the bar. I've got relatively long forarms so it was putting too much pressure on my elbows jamming it in there. I squat low bar with thumbs above the bar with straight wrists (like Rip suggests, not competitive PL style).

Do shoulder dislocations daily and play around with your grip, move it in out up and down and you'll eventually find a happy spot.

 

[gongi_meter]

 

[JDizzle]

in my 2 years of lifting ive had elbow pain, excessive knee pain, shoulder pain, upper back pain, calf pain

I just plowed on lifting heavier, and it eventually just went away. i dont stretch and only do the basic excercises with abit of assistance work, nothing fancy

 

[catastrophic]

in my 2 years of lifting ive had elbow pain, excessive knee pain, shoulder pain, upper back pain, calf pain

I just plowed on lifting heavier, and it eventually just went away. i dont stretch and only do the basic excercises with abit of assistance work, nothing fancy

There is not a lot of evidence to suggest stretching has any great positive effect. However, in the case of Elbow pain it may be caused from a limited ROM & stretching could be beneficial.

 

[KeLLyKiNeZ]

Left elbows really been giving me trouble latelly, its weird cause its always after squats which makes it sore. If i bench and havn't squatted in the last day my elbow is fine.

I've been doing a lot of reading and some evidence seems to suggest it may come from me having too close a grip of the bar, and also sub-conciously pushing up/pulling down when my elbow is in a "weak" position.

People are suggesting things to help include;
- Strengthening the elbow (stuff like bicep curls)
- Stretching the forearm/ bicep
- Take a wide grip of the bar when squatting (im unsure if this is feasible since i squat high-bar?)
- Wear an elbow sleave
- Hold the bar with a thumbless grip and keep wrists straight (Rippetoes)

Anyone else had this sort of trouble before?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

That helped with my elbow and wrist pains when i first started squatting. Also elbows should be down.

Next time try having your hands slightly further out and then slowly bring them in just a little bit each session.

 

[TGM]

I had a similar thing, I fixed my setup and kept my back tight and it went away.

If you're squatting with bent wrists and the weight of the bar is on them that can also cause elbow pain.

 

[lozzo]

thanks for the input guys, interesting to see many other people have experienced this aswell. ill try a wider grip and focus on keeping my wrist straight and see how that goes.

 

[NJA82]

I agree 100% with what Kelly said, had the same problem mate and went thumbless grip and its fine now, when you wrap your thumb around i think you automatically try to use your arms to help with supporting the bar more than you should and that overloads the elbows.