I do heavy barbell curls and a pain in my right lower Bicep has been getting worst over the last month. Tonight I couldn’t complete 1 work set of curls bc of the discomfort. Did 5 sets of light hammer curls instead and the pain was still there. Note I do undergrip pulldowns and barbell rows with only mild discomfort. Was that a smart move to move to hammer curls? My biggest fear is getting a major bicep injury and that hindering much more important compound movements. My age is 48 if that’s pertinent.
I think you should find exercises to work around your pain. You noted that undergrip pulldown and barbell rows aggravates your biceps. Maybe instead of pushing through the discomfort, you could try overhand. For pulldowns and machine cable exercises in general, there is a variety of handles you can try.
Hey,
Sorry to hear about the biceps issue.
Any recent trauma to the area? What symptoms are you experiencing?
What are your goals of training currently?
Typically, I recommend attempting to decrease external intensity (load being lifted) first and assess tolerance.
There has not been recent trauma in the area. And there is not any bruising or swelling of any kind. Pain is not shooting. Its like an extreme ache in the lower area and even upper forearm today (could be from doing hammer curls).
My training goals are to get stronger and bigger in the compound movements (squat, deadlift, press, bench, etc…). The heavy barbel curls were basically to build bigger biceps. As I mentioned its tolerable for pulldowns and barbel rows so that’s a big plus. It just really flared up big time from my last 2 barbel curl sessions. Should I forgo all curls till whatever the injury may be recedes and just keep the area active with the indirect work from pulldowns and rows? I’m not so in love with bigger biceps that I’m willing to risk a major injury that would stop me from training the compound back movements hard.