Does arthritic elbow mean I can't lift weights?

[Melody68]

Hi, I'm 69 and started lifting some weights when I started T a year ago, but stopped soon after. I thought I had started too fast and given myself a case of tennis elbow. I gave it 7 months of rest; it got a bit better so I started lifting again. I've been lifting about 5 months and have made some amazing gains, but the elbow is hurting more and more . . . at this point I thinks it's old fashioned arthritis. When exercising I put on elbow wraps and sometimes top those off with a tension band on top. Afterwards it's ice . . . and plenty of hope. I've started on fish oil since I hear that might help.

I love the combined impact of exogenous Testosterone and exercise on my body. But am I fooling myself? Will I have to stop exercising because of the elbow? Any suggestions?

 

[excelnelg]

Look into trying a therapeutic dose of nandrolone.

 

[Guided_by_Voices]

I've had tons of joint issues, they come with lifting and living, but thankfully they've all pretty much resolved and I'm lifting as much as ever for the most part. Look through the tread "Fixes for Joint Issues."

A few highlights and things I need to go back and add to the other thread:
- DMSO is essential, but can take a week or two to show results. I use the 100% solution but I would start with 70%. Put the cream on your elbow several times per day.
- Make sure your form is impeccable. Lower the weight very slowly. Try to figure out what aggravates your problem and avoid that thing.
- Proper warm-up is essential
- I am not a fan of ice, and I think it can make the problem worse. I prefer heat.
- Boron, Curcumin, Glucosamine and chondrioten, and collogen and glycine
- Consider adding some Nandrolone to your TRT
- Try red light therapy. One of the $90 Face masks sold on amazon will work well.
- BPC 157 is worth trying as a topical or patch. I have had great results.
- Consistent Ibuprofen use can promote CVD and is not a good idea, but using it pre-workout once or twice a week may help as long as you are super-careful about your form. Or occassional aceteminophen.
- If you can find movements that don't hurt but work the same thing you're trying to work when you have pain, consider those. What movements give you pain?
- Avoid max-effort reps. Add sets, not intensity.
- Watch for other things that can affect the joint. When I had elbow pain (which I think was cubital tunnel syndrome) I had to keep my elbow padded if I put it on desk or armchair or pushed my car door open with it because it would re-aggravate the problem.
-Unkers Therapeutic rub seems to help, although I don't know if it's just masking the pain or helping to heal it.
- Exosomes may be a good option fairly soon, but try the above.

 

[Melody68]

Hey Guided, this is fantastic information, more than I could have hoped for. I'll start with the non-invasive suggestions and then work my way up from there.

I lifted weights at various times in my life, never seriously, just Joe Weider garage stuff. But one thing I always seemed to believe is that you need to go heavy or go home. So I think my form gets sloppy when I'm getting near the max. And I never paid much attention to eccentric movements, and upon reading today about it, I see that it could help with something like sore joints. So I'll reduce my max weights by 20%, and focus on slow eccentric movements with maybe a set or two extra, worth a try . . .

I also like the idea of trying the ibuprofen a couple of hours before the workout. And I'll pick up some curcumin at Costco. If those things don't work then I'll try the DMSO or BPC 157 next. So I've got a plan, thanks again!

 

[Guided_by_Voices]

First of all, kudos to you for being open-minded enough to try new things. Most people use an issue as an excuse to stop lifting. Several comments…

Something I’ve noticed is that when you injure a joint, the body seems to try to protect itself by immobilizing the joint by locking up the muscles and nerves near the joint. Reactivating the muscles is often necessary even after the joint is healed, so that is where slow reps can be helpful. I’m not a fan of super-slow lifting, but a controlled descent is essential as opposed to the barely-controlled drop that you usually see people doing.

Recognize that joint injuries can take a long time to heal but you can still train everything else including your good arm. My shoulders got to a point where I couldn’t even bench the empty bar, and it took almost a year for them to heal, but I kept everything else strong so when they were fully back, I had fairly little to rebuild.

Besides being horrifically imprecise and relative, the phrase “go hard or go home” is right up there with “no pain, no gain” for the damage it has done. I used to take lifting to failure to an extreme, but I am stronger across a wider range of movements and much healthier since I focused on increasing near-maximal workload while never grinding out a rep or letting my form deteriorate. Gymnasts, construction workers, and farmers (pre-mechanization) are all very strong but never do max-effort lifts, and their overall work-capacity dwarfs most modern gym-bros.

Of the various chemicals available, DMSO is the one I would prioritize as a preventative measure. AMidwesternDoctor on Substack has written a great series about it and I have seen it fix what nothing else could. The only issue is that it can make some people smell like garlic for a little while.

You want to get as much blood flow to the problem area as possible and that is where heat and frequent light activity/stretching are important, and why ice can be a problem. The key to dealing with inflammation IME is to not re-inflame the area, but to get a consistent flow of blood through it.



Ok, good luck with it.

 

[Melody68]

First of all, kudos to you for being open-minded enough to try new things. Most people use an issue as an excuse to stop lifting. Several comments…

Something I’ve noticed is that when you injure a joint, the body seems to try to protect itself by immobilizing the joint by locking up the muscles and nerves near the joint. Reactivating the muscles is often necessary even after the joint is healed, so that is where slow reps can be helpful. I’m not a fan of super-slow lifting, but a controlled descent is essential as opposed to the barely-controlled drop that you usually see people doing.

Recognize that joint injuries can take a long time to heal but you can still train everything else including your good arm. My shoulders got to a point where I couldn’t even bench the empty bar, and it took almost a year for them to heal, but I kept everything else strong so when they were fully back, I had fairly little to rebuild.

Besides being horrifically imprecise and relative, the phrase “go hard or go home” is right up there with “no pain, no gain” for the damage it has done. I used to take lifting to failure to an extreme, but I am stronger across a wider range of movements and much healthier since I focused on increasing near-maximal workload while never grinding out a rep or letting my form deteriorate. Gymnasts, construction workers, and farmers (pre-mechanization) are all very strong but never do max-effort lifts, and their overall work-capacity dwarfs most modern gym-bros.

Of the various chemicals available, DMSO is the one I would prioritize as a preventative measure. AMidwesternDoctor on Substack has written a great series about it and I have seen it fix what nothing else could. The only issue is that it can make some people smell like garlic for a little while.

You want to get as much blood flow to the problem area as possible and that is where heat and frequent light activity/stretching are important, and why ice can be a problem. The key to dealing with inflammation IME is to not re-inflame the area, but to get a consistent flow of blood through it.



Ok, good luck with it.

I'll stay away from the ice.

For so many years I inhaled on the quick negative movement, and inhaled with exertion. Now if I lower the weight to a count of 4, I discovered my breathing got all screwed up, ha! I'm still deciding whether I go one long exhale, or fit an inhale breath in there. Regardless, it does seem easier on the joints, and the tension build-up probably works the muscle extra hard too . . .

I'll stay in touch as to how things are going . . . many thanks!

 

[Mountain Man]

Guided by Voices nailed it. I would add that using loop style bands for painful movements and some minor adjustments can make a huge difference in maintaining muscle and even building some after injury.

 

[Vince]

This is what worked for me. Of course it may not work for you. I had tennis elbow about 3 years ago, it was very painful. I had to resort to pull-ups and chin-ups really stretch out my elbow. It did work for me. Now I'm completely pain-free.

 

[Guided_by_Voices]

I'll stay away from the ice.

For so many years I inhaled on the quick negative movement, and inhaled with exertion. Now if I lower the weight to a count of 4, I discovered my breathing got all screwed up, ha! I'm still deciding whether I go one long exhale, or fit an inhale breath in there. Regardless, it does seem easier on the joints, and the tension build-up probably works the muscle extra hard too . . .

I'll stay in touch as to how things are going . . . many thanks!

For me, the key to the descent is to envision the muscles tensioning like a spring or rubber band, so my cue on the descent is to think “coil, coil,coil…”. This is what powerlifters mean when they say “stay tight”. I only inhale and then hold my breath if necessary until the lift, at which point I focus totally on contracting the muscles. An exhale on the descent for me would make it harder to stay tight. Even if you’re doing some sort of pause movement to remove rebound, you still want to maintain strict control of the weight.