Elbow Pain During Triceps Workout? 14 Tips To Fix
Are you starting to feel that all-too-familiar pain in your elbow every time you work out your triceps? If so, you’re not alone. Many people experience elbow discomfort when exercising their triceps due to a number of factors.
It can leave you wondering “how do I stop my elbow from hurting when I work my triceps”.
Don’t let this setback stop you from reaping the rewards of an effective workout – there are ways to avoid pain and keep up with achieving your fitness goals!
In this post, we’ll explore some practical steps and remedies to decrease or even eliminate any existing pain in your elbow when working on those triceps.
Why Do I Get Elbow Pain During Triceps Workout?
Before starting any exercise, it is important to warm up your muscles and joints. Start with light stretching of the arms, shoulders, and chest and gradually increase the intensity until you feel loose enough for the workout session. Once you’re warmed up, make sure that your form is correct and that you’re not straining your elbow joint. If the form isn’t up to par, it can cause unnecessary stress on the tendons and ligaments around the elbow joint which can lead to discomfort or even injury. It’s also a good idea to increase mobility with low weight and higher reps. This will help to improve the connective tissue around the elbow joint and reduce any tension that could be causing pain. If you are gripping the handle/rope too tight or have experienced previous elbow injuries or tricep tendonitis, then it could be causing the pain. In this case, you should take a break from lifting too much weight and try some light exercises that will help improve your grip strength while strengthening the muscles around your joint. Finally, if none of these strategies work for you, it’s best to get checked out by a medical professional. It’s always better to be safe than sorry – they will be able to diagnose the root cause of your pain and recommend the most appropriate treatment plan.
Battling elbow pain during triceps exercises can be disheartening, but with the guidance of the tips below you will soon be able to exercise your triceps without any discomfort…
Warm-Up
This is a really basic, but important step that many overlook when training. Warming up before any exercise is crucial in helping to prevent injury. This is because warming up increases blood flow and reduces the risk of straining your muscles so they will be ready for the workout ahead. Start with light stretches of the arms, shoulders, and chest and gradually increase the intensity until you feel loose and ready.
If you aren’t taking the time to warm up before your workout, your muscles and ligaments will be cold, which means they won’t be ready for the exercise and the massive demand you are putting them under. Taking the time to warm up will also give you an opportunity to check your form and ensure that you are doing the exercises correctly, which is key in avoiding any unnecessary discomfort or injury.
Check form
Making sure you have the correct form when doing any triceps exercise is important when trying to avoid elbow pain. This means being aware of your posture, your grip, and not locking your elbows or over-extending the range of motion.
Training your triceps in principle is a very basic movement, in that you are simply using your elbow joint as the lever to pull or press the weight. However, over time poor form can lead to simple bad habits that can cause the elbow joint to flare up and become painful.
Therefore, it is very important you are mindful of your form when doing triceps exercises. Make sure you keep a slight bend in your elbows at all times during the exercise, and that you are not over-extending the range of motion. This will reduce any unnecessary stress on the tendons and ligaments around the elbow joint, preventing it from becoming painful or injured.
Check your posture
If your posture isn’t correct when doing triceps exercises, you could find that this might be the reason you are experiencing elbow pain (as strange as it sounds). For example, if you are doing a triceps pull-down exercise and you are standing with a rounded back, your shoulders will be pulled forward and the strain on the elbow joint will be increased. This can cause discomfort to the elbow joint and lead to pain when doing triceps exercises.
Make sure you are standing up straight with your back against the chair or bench, keep your elbows tucked in and your shoulder blades pulled back throughout the exercise. This will ensure that you are keeping the correct posture and reducing any unnecessary strain on the elbow joint, preventing it from becoming sore or painful.
You may not have realised that you don’t have to have an issue in your actual elbow for it to hurt, as it could be a result of poor posture. Our bodies are connected in many ways with nerves and muscles, and if one area isn’t functioning correctly, it will affect another which can cause pain in areas that are not even directly related.
Therefore, always checking your posture when doing triceps exercises is essential as you want to make sure you are tension-free and balanced throughout the movement.
Is it your grip?
Your grip may be the cause of your elbow pain while doing triceps exercises. A tight grip is often necessary when lifting weights to provide stability and control, however gripping too tightly can cause the muscles in your forearm to become tense and put a strain on the elbow joint. This will cause discomfort in the elbow and make it difficult to move through a full range of motion during the exercise.
Therefore, try to find a balance between gripping firmly enough to provide stability and control, but not so tight that your muscles become tense and start to put a strain on the elbow joint. If you do find yourself gripping too tightly, take time out from the exercise, loosen your grip and then start again.
For some triceps exercises using a thumbless grip could help reduce elbow pain. This technique involves putting your thumb over the bar (on exercises like pull-downs and press-downs) instead of wrapping it around the bar. By doing this you reduce tension in the forearm muscles, which will take the strain off the elbow joint preventing it from becoming painful or injured.
Don’t lock elbows
Don’t lock your elbows when doing triceps exercises, as this can cause over-extension of the joint and lead to pain. When you lock your elbows it causes tension in the joints that pick up the load, which increases stress on the elbow joint making it uncomfortable or painful.
When we say lock elbows, we mean having your arm completely straight, from shoulder to hand. This might sound basic to many but you would be surprised how many people do this while they are lifting weights.
Rigidly locking your elbows is essentially no different than rigidly locking your knees, a behaviour that presents many potential long-term issues that can even require surgical treatment.
Therefore, always keep a slight bend in your elbows throughout the exercise and don’t allow them to go into a fully locked position. This will reduce any unnecessary strain on the elbow joint and make sure it is comfortable during the movement.
Related: Can I train biceps before back workout?
You lack control
If you are finding that your elbow is hurting while doing triceps exercises, it might be because you lack control. This can happen if you are trying to lift too much weight or if you are not fully engaging your core and stabilising muscles throughout the movement.
If you aren’t moving the weight in a controlled and smooth manner, it will cause strain on the elbow joint and make it uncomfortable or painful. Therefore, always focus on controlling the weight as you move through each rep and concentrate on engaging your core and stabilising muscles in order to take any unnecessary strain off your arms.
If you are in effect “yanking” the weight it can pull on the tendon and cause pain in the elbow joint. So, keep your movement controlled and smooth to ensure that you are not putting any extra strain on the elbow joint.
Increase mobility to improve connective tissue
If you are suffering from elbow pain while doing triceps exercises, it might be due to a lack of mobility or flexibility in the connective tissue around the joint. This can be caused by stiffness and tightness in the muscles surrounding the elbow joint that restrict movement and cause discomfort.
In order to improve the mobility and flexibility of these muscles, try doing some low weight exercises with high reps. This will increase blood flow to the area and loosen any tightness in the muscles while improving your range of motion.
Remember that you should always start off at a lower weight until you have gained full control over the movement and are able to move through the range of motion without any pain or discomfort.
These exercises should then be progressed gradually as your mobility and control improve, allowing you to safely increase the weight when appropriate and perform the exercises without any pain or discomfort.
Connective Tissue Weakness
If you are finding that your elbow is hurting while doing triceps exercises, it could be due to a weakness of the connective tissue around the joint. This can lead to instability in the joint and cause pain when performing certain movements.
To help strengthen the connective tissue surrounding the elbow joint, try incorporating some specific exercises into your routine that focus on strengthening the muscles and tendons in this area.
To provide improved support for joint movement, incorporate exercises such as triceps pushdowns, pull-ups, chin-ups and cable rows into your routine. These movements will actively strengthen the muscles surrounding the elbow to guarantee maximum stability.
In addition to these exercises, you should also ensure that you are stretching regularly and getting adequate rest between workouts. This will help to promote better recovery and allow your body time to repair any damage caused by the workout.
Previous elbow Injuries and Tricep tendonitis
If you have had any previous elbow injuries or have suffered from triceps tendonitis, it is important to be aware of the risk that these conditions can cause when performing triceps exercises.
Triceps tendonitis is a condition that causes inflammation of the triceps tendon, which can be caused by overuse of the muscles. Therefore, if you have previously suffered from it, it is important to take extra care when performing triceps exercises and ensure that you are not putting any unnecessary strain on the tendon.
For those who have had previous elbow injuries, it is also important to take caution when performing triceps exercises and ensure that you are not overworking the joint or putting any extra strain on it.
For instance, if you have experienced any form of elbow dislocation/instability in the past or if your elbows are prone to hyper-extension, you should be careful when doing triceps exercises.
This is because these conditions can often cause excessive range of motion, which can put a strain on the joint and make it difficult to move the weight in a controlled manner. Therefore, it is important to check your form throughout each movement and focus on keeping your elbows in a stable position.
Golfers’ elbow or tennis elbow are other common causes of elbow pain that can be caused by overuse and improper form. Golfers’ elbow is caused by tightness or weakness in the muscles around the joint, while tennis elbow is caused by damage to the tendon, so it is important to be aware of these conditions and take care when performing triceps exercises.
Related: Why can’t I feel my biceps while doing bicep curls?
Lifting too much Weight
If your elbow is still hurting while doing triceps exercises, it might be due to the amount of weight you are using. Sometimes lifting too much weight can put a strain on the joint which can cause pain and discomfort.
On many occasions, this will be the reason your elbows hurt when doing triceps exercises, so reduce the load and make sure your form is spot on. The triceps are a relatively small muscle group that can fatigue easily, so start with a lighter weight and gradually increase it as your strength increases.
If you attempt to lift too much weight, it will compromise your form and force other muscles to help with the load. This can cause an imbalance in muscle strength which may lead to instability in the joints, resulting in further injury.
Change exercises
If you are still experiencing pain and discomfort when performing triceps exercises, then it might be beneficial to change the exercises that you are performing.
For instance, some people may find certain exercises more difficult than others due to their anatomy or mobility issues, so it is important to experiment and find exercises that work for you.
Also, it is important to mix up your triceps workouts and try different variations of the same exercise in order to work all of the muscles in this area and maintain a good range of motion.
Get checked out
Finally, if the pain persists after trying these measures then it might be beneficial to seek professional medical advice.
You should visit a doctor or physiotherapist who can assess your injury and provide tailored advice on how to manage the pain. They may also be able to recommend more specific exercises that would benefit you, depending on your individual needs.
Final thoughts…
If your elbow hurts when doing triceps exercises, it is important to take note of any underlying causes such as previous injuries or overuse.
Checking your form during each exercise and reducing the weight can be beneficial in managing pain and discomfort when doing triceps exercises. It may also be beneficial to change the exercises that you are performing, and if the pain persists then you should seek medical advice.
Have your elbows hurt while doing triceps exercises and have these tips helped? Let me know in the comments below!
