Forearm Pain

Hey,

Over the last month I have been unable to do gymnastics as I have a pain in my right forearm, I left it to heal and after two weeks it seemed fine, however, after a hour of handstands and other work (relatively light workout) it then went back to how it was originally i.e. painful. So I ended up taking three weeks off however recovery appears to be slow. I find that I can easily do a handstand (freestanding) however when I release the pressure on my hands I get a quick jab of pain then its fine. When it was bad it went right up my arm (pinkie side) in other words the side where the Ulna is. I checked out Elbow/Wrist Prehab Routine and will be trying it over the next week. If anyone has any other suggestions as to aid recovery then I would be most grateful - obviously staying off the arm is a must.

Note: I done this when I was on the Parallel bars holding handstands - I think the combination of a handstand and grasping the bars may have caused it, or perhaps a straining injury. I have never had an injury like this and until this point found holding 30s+ freestanding handstands fine. Maybe I should do some wrist strengthening exercises?

Doctors don't appear to be able to do much so that seems to be a dead end.

Cheers.

however, after a hour of handstands and other work (relatively light workout) it then went back to how it was originally i.e. painful.

4 words: Too much too fast

Your injury is exactly the same as mine from a year ago and I wasted 8 months in stopping, starting, stopping, starting. I think you need to stop and focus on just leg work for a month. Then start at 10% of your normal volume and intensity and add another 10% every 2-4 weeks until you get to 50% of the volume/intensity that you're at right now. Then I would stay at that level for 8-12 weeks and let your ligament strength catch up before adding another 10% intensity for 8 weeks before increasing.

As for prehab, what I've found is that less is more. I do a prehab routine 3x/week...elbows, wrists, shoulders. Intensity should be so low that you can do 25 reps without even the mildest strain. Stay at that level of intensity for 8-12 weeks before increasing.

I know it sounds ludicrously slow, but after injury twice from overuse, I've found that slow and steady is really the only way to go. I'm at my longest stretch of consecutive, injury-free workouts right now...4 months. I'm only working out twice per week, finally up to 3 rounds of the WOD, scaled to a level where I could probably do another round or 2 without getting to failure. And even at this level, I'm still be hyper-aware of my tricep tendons, my supinator tendons, wrists, shoulder, subscapularis, etc.

Right now there is still a little bit of twinging in my left elbow from Tuesday's workout where I was gradually working on increasing my chest-to-bar pull-up ROM with some FSPs at the top of the range. If that twinge is still there by Friday's workout, I'll probably only work that FSP once per week until the ligaments get stronger.

The only person who can find the right volume/intensity is you, and you really need to listen to your body. Keep adjusting to find a place where you can work pain free for 8 weeks. Then make little jumps in intensity every 8 weeks from there. It might literally be 6 months before you're back at your current pace, but at least then it will be a sustainable paice free from injury!

I'm still new at this, but that's been my experience. Someone more veteran have more to add/change.

STAY OUT OF THE TENDINITIS CLUB!

JM

Cheers Guys, I'll take all your advice on board and cut down on the upper body exercise until it starts to heal. I also read about trigger points a few days ago in a magazine, this MMA dude was having back problems and tried trigger points in order to help his back and it supposedly worked out quite well. I'll also take it real slow when I do start again, as said, only 10% increases.

Thanks from the help