Elbow preparation for martial arts elbow locks

[Aaron Griffin]

I figure there might be some carry over in gymnastics elbow prep here. In martial arts which have joint locks, elbow locks typically involve pressure on the elbow itself, forcing the joint to hyper extend.

I've noticed I've been particularly susceptible to this recently, so I wanted to see if anyone knows of good elbow work I could do more often to strengthen the whole structure

[FREDERIC DUPONT]

Hummmmm... IMHO, the best "preparation" is the education of your training & sparring partners on how fragile this joint is to properly applied direct & leveraged pressure during a joint lock or a well executed blocking technique. This education must come prior to teaching the details and finesse of the technique; there is some pretty nasty stuff with ample leverage that requires very little force to inflict major, very hard to heal damage.

I am sure that the specific elbow preparation of gymnastics will have some carry over, but that certainly won't make the joint idiot proof.

What MA are you practicing Phrak?

Fred

[John Sapinoso]

no amount of joint prep can save your elbow from a proper elbow lock once its fully extended.

[Nic Branson]

How to save the joint:

Don't get caught in the lock.

Seriously that is the only way to save it. Getting stronger will help with not getting put into a fully extended position, but once you're there unless they mess up it's over.

[Aaron Griffin]

You guys seem to have the wrong idea - I don't mean to say that I want strong elbows to prevent the lock. But a decent lock leaves me sore for 2-3 days sometimes. That's what I'm aiming to prevent

[Nic Branson]

You'll adjust in time, also you might need to tap faster if it's being held until you do. In training these holds should be stopped as soon as pressure is felt 99% of the time.

For the soreness, rest and mobility. If you don't already also work your extensors.

[RatioFitness]

You guys seem to have the wrong idea - I don't mean to say that I want strong elbows to prevent the lock. But a decent lock leaves me sore for 2-3 days sometimes. That's what I'm aiming to prevent

Only four possibilities here:

(1) You are ignorant of how soon you should tap. --> Educate yourself or talk to a knowledgeable teammate or your coach.

(2) You know better but have a huge ego and you are acting like a douchebag by not tapping sooner. --> Stop being a douchebag.

(3) Your training partners are too ignorant to know they should't try to apply the hold so forcefully. --> Educate them.

(4) Your training partners are douchebags. --> Get new training partners, or go to new school if you have to.

[Nic Branson]

hah, nice wording there.

I have rolled with a couple very high profile fighters, there are no ego's with regards to the lock and tap. Avoid those people if it is the cause, injuries in training should never be caused by that.

[Aaron Griffin]

Oh for @*#k's sake...

Ok then this: whenever I do an iron cross, my elbows are sore for days. What can I do to make this not happen?

[Nic Branson]

Not do as much volume or do not do them yet as you're not ready. That's not the same as rolling at all. Seriously, if your joints hurt after rolling and there was no fluke accident then there is a problem.

[Vincent Stoyas]

Tap sooner.

It doesn't need to hurt before you tap, you're just sparring.

Your body will adapt to it as you keep getting caught in one.

Before when I got caught in a triangle I had to tap immediately, but now when I do, I can stay and try to fight my way out for quite some time. Patience and humility.

[RatioFitness]

Ok then this: whenever I do an iron cross, my elbows are sore for days. What can I do to make this not happen?

There's one possibility that I forgot.

(5) You were practicing arm-bars and you guys make your partner tap every single time --> Don't make eachother tap every single repetition. If you're new to arm-bars then make your partner tap with a controlled extension of the elbow for the first few repetitions. After you get it down do the rest of the repetitions stopping short of making your partner tap.

[Joshua Naterman]

If your elbows are sore for days after a cross you already have elbow problems and need to back off for a while. Not completely, but direct cross training would be a no no. You would want to scale back to straight arm work that doesn't bother the elbow and use extremely high rep elbow flexion and extension to help pump blood through the joint and promote healing. You would also want to wear neoprene elbow sleeves to try and increase the temperature so that enzymes work faster and you heal more quickly. Infrared elbow sleeves are probably the way to go for that.

You do see where this is going though, right? If your elbows hurt from ANYTHING, you worked them way too hard. They experienced way too much stress. However you want to word it, you are going to have to give them a break.

Rolling should be about gaining skill, as soon as you make a stupid mistake start over. Learn to be perfect, don't focus so hard on freestyling and whatnot! As soon as your elbow is 80% extended go ahead and tap. You should never be in that position, so consider it a loss. That will let you avoid the position altogether instead of running a real risk of injuries that will force you to alter your training and slow down progress.