Concept2 Forum

I've been trying to stave off premature decrepitude by using my indoor
rower. After a few days of rowing moderately for 20 minutes with the
resistance set at 3, I experience what I believe is "tennis elbow"
especially in my left elbow. It's mildly painful when I lift just about
any weight with my arm extended, such as when I lift a frying pan. I
don't experience discomfort when rowing though.

The discomfort is annoying, not so much because of the pain which is not
severe but the notion that by using this machine, which I enjoy, I could
be wrecking my elbows. It's frustrating because I've been laying off the
rower instead of taking advantage of motivation which isn't always
there. It's also frustrating because it makes me feel limited in what
else I do while giving my elbow a chance to rest.

Is this a common problem? I do pay attention to technique. I avoid
gripping the handle tightly by just hooking my fingers over it, and I
concentrate on using my legs & back & not just my arms.

Are there any braces that actually do any good?

Do I need to give up the rower and try something else? I bought the
rower for "most bang for the buck" in terms of an overall workout, and I
like what it does for me otherwise. But I do not want to destroy my
elbows.

Will reducing resistance for awhile help? Will increasing the strength
of associated muscles help? FYI, I'm quite out of shape and lack
strength & tone.

My first thought is to make sure that you aren't "flapping your wings." Your arms should hang down from the shoulder, not stick out to the side.

Schenley

You could try rowing with straight arms, i.e. keeping your arms straight all through the stroke.

This way you won't be bending your elbows at all, and it gets you used to driving hard with your legs.

For example, row 2 minutes at a good pace keeping your arms straight the whole time, then 2 minutes easy, keeping the same form but relaxing your arms at the end of the drive, and then keep alternating these for awhile.

Thanks for the replies. I'll give the straight-arm method a try. In response to Schenly, I do pull the handle into my gut rather than my chest - I try to stay low.

I also get tendinitis in my elbow, not so much from rowing but from other projects that I am working on. I found a brace at WalMart that works great--it's called Air Cast, it straps around just below your elbow and has a small pillow insert. $12.95. Without it, when the tendinitis is flaring up, it hurts just to pick up a cup of coffee. With it on, I can do nearly anything pain-free. After using it for a couple of days, along with ibuprofen and just massaging the muscles, the tendinitis seems to resolve. When I am having trouble, erging does not seem to make it worse, but I use the aircast while I am rowing.
Hope that helps!
Rhody

PaulS gave me advice which I have found to be very useful. Aside from the usual advice of keeping your arms straight, elbows close to the body etc etc, he mentioned concentrating in pulling your elbows back behind your body when you pull the handle to your body rather than focusing on contracting your arm muscles.

I tried this and the effect (in combination of keeping my arms relaxed and straight for as long as possible) has been that I found the upper body load shifting from my arms to the more powerful back muscles (i.e. lats and traps). After the first few workouts, my upper back was a little more sore than normal but I had much less elbow pain.