When it comes to training for a sport, nothing can replace the effectiveness of dumbbell exercises. These simple tools allow you to build muscles in the arms, legs, shoulders, and back with compound exercises.
Elbow pain often results from overusing joints, repetitive movements, or tendon sprains. For example, if you lift weights that are too heavy, do the same exercises repeatedly, or only focus on particular muscle groups, you may develop elbow pain. Practices such as these create muscular imbalances, increasing the stress on your joints and leading to pain and potential injury. Thankfully, there are multiple strategies you can try to decrease your elbow pain while you are lifting weights.
When people feel pain in their elbow, it can signify several different problems. Elbow pain may not always have a clear cause. Before you start looking for a solution to the problem, it’s important to understand that there are many ways that your elbow can hurt. Understanding what is causing your elbow pain will help you figure out the best way to alleviate it.
How Does the Elbow Work?
The elbow is a sensitive area of the body, filled with complicated and important joints. A joint is where two bones meet. The elbow contains two hinges, one ball and socket, and two ligaments. The elbow is made up of three bones:
Humerus
The humerus is a long upper limb bone extending from the shoulder to the elbow.
Radius
The outer of the two bones of the forearm when viewed with the palm facing forward.
Ulna
One of the two bones makes the forearm larger than the forearm bones.
The hinge joint is located between the radius and ulna. This is where you bend your arm. The ball and socket joint are located.
Elbow Pain Causes
Elbow pain is one of the most common complaints among older adults, and it is a common source of pain in anyone involved in any sports or recreational activity. It can be a disabling condition that affects your life, making it difficult for you to perform everyday tasks. The elbow joint is one of the most complex joints in your body, and several different types of elbow problems can occur.
Many different things can cause elbow pain. Some of the most common causes include:
- Repetitive use
- Lack of stretch and flexibility
- Instability of elbow joint
- Puts too many strains on the elbow
- Continues making heavy loads
Elbow Pain Symptoms
Elbow pain symptoms can be caused by various reasons like strained tendons, overuse injuries, overstraining muscles, etc. The most common symptom of elbow injury is pain in the front of your elbow; this can range from mild to extreme discomfort, depending on your injury.
Common medical conditions that cause elbow pain:
- Bursitis: an inflammation of the bursa. Bursae are small sacs that contain fluid to lubricate moving parts such as joints, muscles, and tendons.
- Osteoarthritis: joint cartilage becomes brittle and splits
- Nerve entrapment: if the radial nerve cannot move freely, it causes pain
- Ligament sprain: tearing of the ligaments
- Bone fracture: may cause one of the bones to break or crack
- Osteochondritis dissecans: caused by repetitive stress in the knee and low Vitamin D
Swap Out the Dumbbells for a Barbell
Do your exercises utilizing the barbell to have help from both sides. Instead of isolating each arm with the dumbbells (and each arm having to work independently to do the exercise), using a barbell enables you to get assistance from both sides. If you have one side that is a little stronger, it will compensate for the other side. You can do these Dumbbell exercises and try to avoid elbow pain.
Use of Wrist Straps or Lifting Straps
Using a Wrist Strap or a Lifting Strap
Use either wrist straps or lifting straps when using the dumbbells. Put them on and wrap them around the dumbbells and tighten them up. Doing this puts a lot of the load onto the wrist, and there’s no need to work as hard in the grip to do the exercise. The elbow joint will be less stressed if you don’t grip the hand and fist as hard.
You can try those two suggestions if you have elbow pain when utilizing the dumbbells while exercising. You can swap out the dumbbells for the barbell, or you can get the wrist straps or lifting straps while doing the dumbbell exercises to decrease how much grip strength you need to decrease the stress on your elbows.
Elbows are one of the most important joints in the body, providing stability to many of your daily activities. Since they play such a vital role in everyday life, it’s important to take good care of them so that you can enjoy a long and healthy life.
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Check out Tennis Elbow Pain Solution for your guide to eliminating elbow pain!
