Elbow Pain - Foundations 1

[Aaron Rich]

I'm close to purchasing a program to get started, but have a couple of questions. I've been a long time crossfitter and am thinking about making the switch to start to fill in gaps that I think GST will help with.  In addition to getting better at a bunch of stuff I've been really bad at my whole life (pulling strength + bodyweight exercises), I love the idea of being able to work out on my own timeframe.  I'm contemplating starting with Foundations 1, as I'm a little sensitive to cost right now and have heard fundamentals may not be 100% necessary.  I also am currently dealing with some golfers elbow in my right elbow, and am totally bought into the idea of not training through pain.  Can I make progress on Foundations 1 without making my golfers elbow worse, or will it be limiting?  Is there a possibility it actually may help.

Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks

[Pauline Taube]

Hi Aaron,

I would strongly suggest to seek advice for a physio or other medical professional before beginning any courses. 

Dependig on your level of flexibility the Fundamentals course might be a good start. This way you can assess your body and discover weaknesses and imbalances before starting the other beginning courses such as F1. You can also focus on your mobility while giving your elbow some rest  

[Matthias Schwartz]

Aaron, I am a long time crossfitter like you that's switched over to GST for various reasons. I would say that if you are smart about it, you can definitely train Foundations without irritating your elbow. Foundations starts off very light and easy, plus you can easily avoid the exercises that hit that part of your elbow. There are leg and core exercises that won't touch your elbow, and in my opinion, the core exercises are the most valuable part of the course in the early stages.

If cost is an issue, my opinion is that you can skip Fundamentals and you'll be ok, as long as you don't shortcut the mobility portion. If you were not very athletic or were super tight, I'd say, hit the Fundamentals first, as it's a great encyclopedia of mobility exercises to test yourself on, as well as improve on. However, if you are reasonably athletic and mobile from Crossfit you will be ok if you skip it IMHO. Foundation has a heavy mobility component and overlaps some of the mobility movements of Fundamentals. Fundamentals is a good intro to useful movements but you'll learn plenty of what you need as long as you start slowly in Foundations and really address your mobility right from the start.

Most importantly, as Pauline said, get an evaluation from a medical pro. There are lots of good ways to treat golfer's elbow. 

Hope this helps.

Matt