Bicep Tendinitis

Hi guys, Im new in the forum. I have been searching for a solution to my problem without results. I am a general physician and have worked in the fitness industry for many years and never had this type of pain before. I have been doing the SS novice program since January this year. I was off the excercise world for two or more yaers due to lumbar hernias and medical board exams. The problem began like a month ago, when I started developing pain on both of my biceps, but more on the left side. It has been a sore type of pain with an average intensity of 4/10. Lately it has gotten worse. About two workouts ago it interfered with my benches and couldn’t continue with my workout. It always stars with squats and increases with power cleans and bench presses. Today I warmed up to my working weight on the squats and the pain got worse with each set, by the time I got to the working set I couldn’t even get under the bar, the pain was around 8/10. I rested for about 15 minutes and this allowed me to press and deadlift with just minor pain. I have tried to vary grip with, thumb placement, shrugging my shoulders, nothing works. The pain seems to be in both the proximal and distal insertion of the biceps brachii and also feel tenderness on the brachioradialis muscle. I tried ibuprofen with little relief and now Im on a 4 day course of dexomethasone plus b complex. I hate meds but cant find another way out.

Please give me some insigth on this if you can. I started from empty bar on all lifts and these are my lifts now:

Squat: 265# for 5 reps
Deadlift: 305 for 5 reps
Bench press: 170# for 5 reps
Press: 125# for 5 reps
Power cleans: 115 for 3 reps
Bodyweight 230#

Hey there,

Welcome to the forums. We’re glad to see another physician training.

This is very common, and has been discussed here quite a bit before. I’ll provide you with some links to prior threads on the topic:

https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/forums/medical-q-a-with-dr-jordan-feigenbaum-and-dr-austin-baraki/5876-general-recommendation-for-elbow-pain
https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/forums/medical-q-a-with-dr-jordan-feigenbaum-and-dr-austin-baraki/3305-can-excessive-elbows-up-cause-pain-in-the-shoulder-during-squats
https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/forums/medical-q-a-with-dr-jordan-feigenbaum-and-dr-austin-baraki/3474-i-think-the-shoulder-pain-is-from-press-not-high-elbows-on-squat

Of these, the most important advice I’d give is from the first link there:

Ultimately, the thing that I find “works” the most reliably is getting the person to pay attention to where the weight is being held. If I can get them to ensure that the weight is being held “on the back”, with minimal weight being held “in the arms”, the pain tends to resolve. It’s when you have the tendons around the elbow in persistent tension or compression while actively holding a significant proportion of the bar weight that they tend to get irritated.

If things are severely irritated and sensitized, you may need to adjust things a bit more dramatically (say, high-bar or SSB squat only for a couple weeks). But, upon returning to the low bar squat, follow the above instructions. Set up and unrack, say, 135, and pay attention to how it feels – are “all 135 lbs” on your back? Or is 75 lbs “on your back” and 60 lbs “in your arms”? Shift how you’re carrying the bar to hold less on the arms and more on the back, and things should improve.

Thanks Austin, for the warm welcome and the prompt reply. I will start reading as of now. I have been reading your articles and watching your videos for a while, congratulations man, your doing a great job! We have the same problem you have with physician qualified enough to counsel people on weight training. Most of my colleagues even drive patients in the opposite direction. It is kind of frustrating, but here we are, trying to contribute our grain if sand.