The pain in the inner elbow is quite unpleasant. Do not listen to the famous motto of "no pain, no progress", since recurring pain in a specific area of your body can alert you to an injury. If you feel pain in your elbow, it is a sign that something is wrong. Overuse injuries are the most common in this joint, so you could end up modifying your exercises to improve the condition.
Why does your elbow hurt on the bench press?
There are many reasons for inner elbow pain after bench pressing, but if the pain occurs only after doing this exercise, the most likely cause is an overuse injury.
Overuse injuries are caused by repetitive movements that repeatedly put stress on tendons and muscles. Weight lifting is a good example.
Going to the gym day after day and week after week, loading the bar and pressing puts a lot of pressure on your muscles and joints. Unless you are careful to do it the correct technique, you will end up with an overuse injury.
Stages of overuse injuries
Overuse injuries usually occur in stages. During the first, you may feel some discomfort that disappears after warming up. In the second, pain may start to appear after your workout. In later stages, the pain worsens with activity, and you may end up feeling pain or discomfort most of the time.
If you've only felt pain after lifting, the good news is that your injury is not yet advanced. By taking the proper steps now, you may be able to nip it in the bud before it develops into a more serious injury.
Symptoms of inner elbow pain
Besides pain, you may notice other symptoms. In the early stages of an injury, pain may be the only noticeable indicator, but it does not mean that these other symptoms are not present:
- Swelling
- Redness
- Warm to the touch
- Reduced elbow function
- Stiffness, especially in the morning.
Causes of elbow overuse injuries
These types of weightlifting injuries are mainly caused by catching too much, too soon . If you've recently started to bench press and have been putting on the weight, you may not have given your body enough time to adjust and strengthen. This causes undue wear and tear on the elbow joints and the surrounding tendons and muscles, leading to inflammation and pain.
Improper posture is also one of the leading causes of inner elbow pain when bench pressing. Keeping the elbows in rather than wide places the joints at an awkward angle, which puts more stress on the tendons around the elbow joint. Combine that with a lot of load too early, and you've got the perfect recipe for elbow injury.
Other causes of pain
There are several other conditions that could cause elbow pain when lifting weights, including:
- Bursitis
- Joint dislocation
- Sprain
- Stress fracture
- Osteoarthritis
If you are not sure if what you have is an overuse injury or if you have other symptoms that are not associated with an overuse injury, it is a good idea to make an appointment with your doctor.
How to avoid your internal elbow pain?
Fixing your injury means that you will have to change your training routine for a while. You can't keep doing the same thing and expect different results. And the longer you keep doing the same thing, the worse your injury will be.
If you are still in an early stage of the overuse injury, you can continue exercising. You just need to change your routine and reduce workouts.
Although if your elbow pain persists even after making small changes, you may need to make more important modifications, such as taking a break.
Decrease the load
Since most overuse injuries to the elbow are the result of increasing the load too quickly, the first step is to reduce it. Take off a little weight to decrease the amount of pressure on your elbow. Assess your pain after each workout. If the pain continues, try to lower the weight a bit more.
Adjusting the frequency of your training can also help. If you currently bench press three times a week, cut back to twice a week. Distribute your workouts evenly, giving your elbow more time to recover between sessions.
Check your technique and posture
The bench press is perfectly safe if you do it correctly. Some people bend their elbows because they feel it protects their shoulders, but the reason for this is often poor range of motion in the shoulders.
In proper bench press technique , the elbows should be widened so that they are directly under the bar. Spread your hands on the bar so that your elbows form perfect right angles. This provides the proper structure and support that will alleviate some of the stress bench pressure places in the elbows.
Change your exercises
Just because the bench press hurts your inner elbow doesn't mean that doing it with dumbbells does too. This makes your arms move more freely through a natural dumbbell range of motion, making it easier on your elbow and will ease your pain.
You can also cable press or try a chest press machine. It doesn't mean you can't bench press again, but temporarily replacing exercise can help heal your injury without having to completely release the pressure on your chest.
Do physical therapy
If the changes you make to your Workout Routine don't help, you can benefit from some sessions with a physical therapist. This professional will be able to identify the problem and give you ways to solve the pain, as well as exercises to strengthen or stretch muscles that may be underworked or overused. It can also guide you to properly increase your load once you return to your normal bench press program.
