Cross Training Gym: Dealing with Elbow Pain in Cross Training


If you have not already realized, you may do so in due course that any part of your body irrespective of its location can come under severe strain while working out in the CrossFit gym. This usually happens when your form is bad and your flexibility poor. The elbows are among these vulnerable parts. Elbow tendonitis is one of the commonest ailments affecting a good number of CrossFitters.

CrossFit gym

In other sports and fitness literature, you may find elbow tendonitis referred to as tennis elbow. Some in the fitness industry consider this term rather ironic because fewer than 5% of elbow tendonitis sufferers play tennis.

Understanding Elbow Tendonitis

Tendonitis is the inflammation of the tendons as they connect to the related bone. Tendons are nothing but elastic rope-like structures that connect the bone to muscle. They also absorb a huge amount of stress.

Inflammation, on the other hand, is a normal process our bodies go through resulting in pain, redness, swelling, and the warmth. Cases of acute inflammation can immobilize you in one way or the other. Whatever the case, inflammation response is often fast, direct, and not extended.

CrossFit gym

The unfortunate thing with tendons is that they have poor blood flow and this often delays healing and causes the inflammation response to become systematic or chronic.

Causes of Elbow Tendonitis

This problem is categorized as a repetitive strain injury caused by wrist overuse despite there being pain experienced in the elbow. Since the muscles controlling the wrist flexion and extension line along the forearm and connect at the elbow joint, any instances of repeated strain on the wrist can easily lead to elbow tendonitis.

People new to particular sports such as CrossFit tend to suffer this injury because of their eagerness and gusto in attacking the CrossFit workouts. Unfortunate enough, the body system including the tendons and joints is not prepared to accommodate new and sudden movements, and this irritates the supporting tendons.

CrossFit gym

Also, previous injuries may lead to tendonitis, and often joints that have suffered injuries in the past are more vulnerable to this condition.

Reducing Chances of Elbow Tendonitis and How to Treat It

The general stand in the CrossFit gym or industry is that elbow tendonitis can be avoided or addressed within the first few days. However, if symptoms do persist for more than 4 weeks, then the intervention of physical therapists is advised. Among the things to do include:

Checking Your Technique –If the elbow tendonitis is caused by a certain activity in the gym, you should improve your ergonomic setup or technique. Consulting your coach at Crossfit gym can help on this.

Stretching –Performing a gentle stretch of the forearm musculature can help pull along the muscles and minimize elbow pain. Stretches such as wrist flexor stretch, wrist extensor stretch, and voodoo floss can go a long way into helping you in this.

CrossFit gym

Cleaning Up Your Diet –Your CrossFit diet plays a key role in managing inflation. Try as much as you can in order to keep track of the essential nutrients while avoiding inflammatory foods such as grains, sugars, transfats, and omega 6 fatty acids.

Adding to the above, it is advisable not to play through the pain. If something doesn’t feel right such as your muscles and joints aching, don’t force yourself to complete a workout. Have adequate rest and opt for other exercises that don’t aggravate the situation.


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