“My elbows hurt when I do that exercise.”
It is rarely the exercise; it’s typically the shitty way you are performing it. I will add one caveat: If you have inflammation/tendonitis or a past injury, it is an obvious exception. Aside from that, you can pretty much count on the fact that you are doing something wrong if your elbows hurt while training them. Let’s take a closer look.
I see terrible training mistakes on an almost daily basis, and not just the ones veteran meatheads like to post on social media to poke fun at someone in the gym who doesn’t know any better. I’m also talking about subtle mistakes that can lead to huge issues down the road by veteran trainers that SHOULD know better. And saying that something “feels good” is not an excuse to continue doing an exercise the wrong way. When I was 20 I did a lot of things in the gym that weren’t a good idea, simply because I got a better pump and it “didn’t hurt.” One of those things was rolling up on the balls of my feet and toes in the bottom position of heavy, angled leg presses — terrible idea for your knees. If I tried that at my age now I would blow both quad tendons.
Elbow pain is typically due to poor angles while training triceps and sometimes making up dumb-shit exercises that you think hit the chest muscles but actually hit your triceps. I will get to dumb-shit stuff in a moment; right now I am going to focus on the bad angles.
Any idea what the number one most screwed up exercise is? That’s right, almost every damn one of them. I think the only triceps exercises I ever see performed correctly, or at least close, are dips (and not surprisingly, I bet most people surveyed who do dips are doing them to hit chest, anyway) and close-grip bench presses. However, even close-grip bench presses have only within the last 10 years or so become performed correctly by the masses. Prior to that, most people did them with their hands damn near touching. This is WAY too close, and yet another poor angle for the elbow.
So basically, every triceps extension style exercise is performed incorrectly. To give you numbers, I would say that 90% of regular trainers and about 30% of advanced trainers perform them incorrectly.
It is imperative that the upper arm is at least perpendicular to the ground if doing any type of barbell, EZ bar, or dumbbell extension. And I much prefer an angle that is open even further (the angle basically at the armpit compared to the floor) to take even more pressure off of the elbow and make the joint less vulnerable. Not only is the correct angle safer, but for those that don’t care about safety, the movement is more efficient at the proper angle as well. Opening this angle allows more of a range of motion for all three triceps heads, including a better stretch. And we all know the stretched position is where more fibers are firing, and essentially is where more of the work is done.
To make my point, doing any type of triceps extension with the upper arm angle “closed” or less than perpendicular to the ground would have the same effect on the joint as trying to do hack squats by putting your feet further under you and rolling up on the balls of your feet/toes in the bottom position of the squat. Almost everyone would agree that this is a terrible position for the knee, but for some reason, not as many people see the same position for the triceps as a similarly poor angle for extension at the elbow.
“What about the dumb-shit stuff, Skip?”
I didn’t forget and I won’t let you down. When you hold two dumbbells or two plates and pancake them together in the starting position of a dumbbell fly, and then while keeping them smashed together you bring them down to your chest and then back up to full extension, that is NOT a pec exercise worth a damn. This is simply an isometric movement that would be just as worthless as not holding any weights at all and just pushing your palms together as hard as you can and doing the same motion. Where do these people get this shit?
I don’t preach anymore; I try to inform. I won’t sit here and tell you that you are stupid or that you absolutely must do what I tell you to do. If you enjoy less than mediocre triceps development (or are born with your mom’s awesome triceps) then keep doing what you are doing now. If you enjoy elbow pain and don’t mind if it continues or gets worse, more power to you. I support you. Just please quit with the excuses that you can’t do some exercises when you are likely just doing them incorrectly. Just Sayin’.
As for the "umpteen" (I looked it up - it's not a real word) layers of clothing: The sexy model lives
in Colorado and it's the middle of February. Warmth is another variable that is important to help prevent
injury but next time I promise to wear a thong that says, "I heart Joe Clark" while doing adductor work.
In all seriousness, it is your typical, whiny and bitchy response that makes me wonder why I bother responding to any comments, at all. If you didn't like the video concept and didn't appreciate the information, you could have just read the article. xoxo
what is your opinion on exercises like jm press or tate press? might be impossible to perform them within your rules.
I can say that from a bodybuilding perspective only, the Tate Press if done one arm at a time would allow the angle to remain open but this certainly can't be done while doing 2 arms at a time. That is NOT to say that the Tate Press is a bad movement but one that does close the angle at the elbow.
The JM Press is not a movement I would recommend for bodybuilding - just MY opinion.
I hurt my right elbow a year ago doing tricep extensions with less than optimal form. My elbow has been pain-free since mid 2016, and while I can do tricep pushdowns pain-free, I've considered adding extensions back into my routine. How would you advise someone who is trying to incorporate tricep extensions back into his routine in terms of frequency/load/volume? I have a pair of adjustable dumbbells at home that can weigh as little as 2.5lb if the dumbbell handles are naked; should I start with that kind of load?
1. If your triceps training doesn't follow chest and or chest and shoulders, it should if you want to try to work back into extensions as it would allow for maximum warm up for the triceps and help to minimize the risk of injury.
2. Definitely start small with your weights and it would still be a good idea to use the extensions as your last exercise for triceps - almost as a finisher - so that you can use smaller weights and not have to rely on that movement for hypertrophy until you can evaluate whether you can build strength over time and be able to comfortably train them with the increased intensity needed.
3. I will add a third recommendation: Pay attention to how your triceps feel with different grips, too. Some people can use a neutral grip and have no issues while others can use a traditional grip with no issues. Try a lot of different variations because different angles and different hand positions can work well in some situations and not in others.
Good luck!
Much appreciated!
Much appreciated!
Thanks for the incredibly helpful video. I suffer from a slight cubits varus deformity on my left elbow and have always struggled with tricep imbalances on my left arm due to the biomechanics of the arm being altered. How can I modify my training so I can more effectively target the tricep given the varus deformity? Looking forward to your answer. Thank you.
I ask because I actually had to look this condition up; I had never heard of it before your post.
The first comment on this article is a valid criticism, although worked angrily.
If you are trying to show proper form for exercises when people are concerned they are doing it incorrectly, having the model/person's body show the particular area more clearly is obviously a good idea. Doesn't matter if it's the middle of January in Siberia - you're inside a building a doing a short demonstration video. It's not that hard to take of a sweatshirt for like 5 minutes in order to better and more clearly demonstrate the movement and body position. It's also not that difficult to include a few screengrabs from the video that show the start and end positions clearly for those who would like to have a quick visual reference.
Also, umpteen is a real word lol: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/umpteen
When I did the video, I thought it was pretty clear as I demonstrated the movement. I concede that it would be a quicker reference to see a start and finish position but that would not show the motion of the movement, so I went with the video over photos to show more detail. The focus on this "Body Mechanics" segment that I did once a month was to include video at that time. If I were to do this type of segment again, I would definitely include screenshots of the start and finished position.
Your response to the first comment on this article makes you sound like the whiny bitch. Just take the criticism and think on it - yes, it may be February in Colorado when you did that video, but is it really that important that a video showing correct positioning to have the guy using bigger weights and pretending like he's going to get injured? You're making a short video to quickly show the correct form, not doing a full workout at load where you're going to injure yourself somehow.
It's also not that hard to include a couple of quick pictures in an article for accessibility reasons and for quick reference. The video could still be useful for showing how the range of motion should work and for showing multiple angles while explaining.
The guy's comment did come across as a bit disrespectful, but it's not that hard to respond in a more civil manner than you did, address his criticism, and maybe even say "Hey, you're right, maybe a few pictures wouldn't be a bad idea".
"xoxo" is the most whiny passive-aggressive way you could have ended your comment.
xoxoxoxoxo
His criticism would have been heard if he hadn't been negative about it, as your criticism would have been heard had you not referred to me as a whiny bitch. I lose interest in listening to people when they are shitty. So, watch the video or don't. That's all I have for you.