Gentlemen:
A little advice please… I’ve been doing the starting strength LP program for a year and have been very pleased with my results. I’m 43 and have always considered myself a althlete but I’ve never been strong till now. I’m getting there.
My problem is my elbows. My attempts to get my squat in the correct low bar position is continuing to irritate my elbows. I’ve checked hand alignment, etc and all is good. By my third set my tendons in my elbows are irritated enough to affect my bicep and grip strength. Is there a warm up routine or a series of exercises that can help with elbow mobility you would recommend? I can squat high bar just fine. If I take time off its gets better.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
John
Lots of previous discussion here on this topic: https://www.google.com/search?q=elbo…hrome&ie=UTF-8
You do not need “elbow mobility”.
An important quote from one of my previous replies:
I think you’ve started out by taking the right steps by adjusting / experimenting with squat grip (you can search this forum for previous threads on the topic, as we’ve talked about it a fair amount here before). Cutting out pull-ups, and potentially barbell rows if you’re doing them, might help as well.
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.
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