ELBOW TENDINITIS

[dandydon]

ON THE WATER AND ERG ROWER IN LATE 60's
erging 12000m 3-4 days/wk 14000m each week 21097 once a month
going on the water April have experienced elbow pain MEDIAL mosstly but lateral too any advice as to training do not want to do cortisone injections
Don

[danwho]

You can search on this topic elsewhere in the forum. It has come up several times. Common advice focuses on form improvements, like no flying elbows (because flying elbows land like condors) and don't grip too hard.
Additionally, I wear a neoprene support on my left elbow, because my left elbow has had a few tendinitis flare-ups.

[Byron Drachman]

ON THE WATER AND ERG ROWER IN LATE 60's

Hi Don,

Me too ( on the water and erg rower in late 60's.)

I've had trouble with tennis elbow and golfer's elbow, but not enough to stop rowing. First suggestion is to keep the arms straight and relaxed, with the fingers curled around the handle, during the first part of the drive, and postpone the arm pull until near the finish. During the first part of the drive, when the arms are straight, with your fingers curled around the handle, you can do this without much tension on the arms. When you do finally pull with the arms, try to get the feeling that you are pulling from the elbows so you're using the lats, not biceps. I find that helps with the elbows.

During the recovery, get the hands away quickly, then let the straight arms start pulling the body forward, then start lifting the legs. Some rowers dance their fingers on the handles while during the recovery to help keep the tension reduced. Try to stay very relaxed during the recovery.

I made my own handle for the C2 that lets me keep my hands a little more rotated toward vertical than the C2 handle allows, and I found that was a big help.

I hope this is helpful.

added later: You can see the handles here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8YmPUrRLo8

My handles allow me to feather, but I rowed square blades during this row.

I'm still working on some things. I should keep my wrists flat at the finish. I'm still doing a little "squirrel grip" at the finish.

Byron

[johnlvs2run]

My elbow was injured when I was using an ab wheel on a smooth floor 18 months ago. The wheel slipped and my elbow banged hard on the floor.

This was bothering me quite a bit a few weeks ago, so I worked up doing 2 to 10 minutes of high pulls with light weights, while soaking my elbow before, during and after in a large bowl of water with a large tray of ice cubes.

The results are these exercises along with the coldness have made a major difference and the injury is basically healed.

[Byron Drachman]

Hi Don,

I forgot to mention that John (Rupp) also made some handles that allow you to change the angle of your hands. His look easier to make. Maybe John would be willing to post pictures again.

added later: If you hold an arm out in front and feel around your elbow, and if you rotate your hand so it is horizontal, like when are when holding onto the C2 handle, you can feel the tendons tighten. If you now rotate your hand so it is more vertical, you can feel the tension release around the elbow. I think this is why having the hands rotated a little more toward the vertical position helps with sore elbows. Hey, I'm just making this stuff up--I'm not an expert.

Byron