Elbow Pain Cure

I was really surprised to hear the feedback from an article I published recently called; Chronic Tendonitis in the Elbows. The point to the article was provide a few answers to some achey questions.

It’s a long ride

Many people contacted me asking for more information so in an effort to reply to most of them I wanted to elaborate on the original blog. Obligatory medical statement, I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, please consult your physician before doing anything stupid. Now, with that out of the way we can begin. The first thing to talk about is this is not something that will go away overnight. I spoke with another avid shooter at our last class and explained my process. It took me almost 18 months to fully heal (thanks to some quacks I saw originally), but once I was healthy enough to start training again the best piece of advise I got was to take it slow.

Don’t do stupid things

I still give that advice to folks experiencing the same problem. You have got to slow things down and I mean everything. Pay particular attention to what is causing you pain, if it is shooting then stop shooting. Remember my earlier statement about don’t do anything stupid, well that would apply to this comment. Why can I say that with such authority? Because I failed to follow my own advise, I tried to accelerate the process and only made things worse. I get it, believe me I get the urge or need to train, but you will have to tone it down if you are serious about recovering.

Cooperate to graduate

Once you do slow things down, really listen to your physicians and accompanying medical advise, but feel free to get a second opinion. I opted to get a second opinion and it was the best thing I did, I was so dissatisfied with the first round that I literally walked into this guy’s office with the expectation I would go under the knife right away. Luckily, he had some damn good folks on his staff and following their guidance paid off, patience is not something I have in high demand. I’m sure I am not the only one who fits that bill, but really take your time and do things right.

Out of the ashes

Once I got back into the weight room I focused on trying to get back to my previous self…wrong. That wasn’t going to happen, I was so out of shape that I kept aggravating my old injury and wasn’t really healing. I finally found some folks who understood my situation, John Welbourn is a good friend and runs the crew over at Power Athlete. He got it, he knew the demands placed on me and my injuries.  Once we got started with my new programming I started to see results at around the 10 week mark. That’s right, 10 full weeks of hard work before I really started to see results. Our primary goal was “injury prevention” and by focusing on that I was on my way to rebuilding the chassis.

The best lifts

So, when folks ask me about how often they should work on the movements I described in the previous blog, my answer is to take it slow. Don’t feel like you have to jump right into the deep end. Wade into the pool and gradually take on more challenges. Believe me, I know it sucks, but this approached allowed me to not only rebuild the chassis, but super-charge it. By concentrating on the best lifts that supported my mission, but by the same token didn’t aggravate my injury I was able to make big improvements. It wasn’t easy and I’m sure John scratched his head more than once. A big result that I was explaining to a shooter was how important it was to strengthen and condition the correct muscles while protecting the rest of the body for everyday life.

There are no free rides in this world, if you want something you have to earn it. Getting healthy and staying healthy is no exception.