Front squats and biceps tendonitis (AM and JS could you read this one)

[Primo Max]

When I do front squats (with an olympic grip) I think I might be holding the bar in a way that hurts my tendons in my arms and shoulders. Basically, my upper arms face straight forward, but my forearms go out to the side. So, my forearms are not on top of my biceps when I hold the bar. My fingers are more towards the outer ring on the bar, which doesn't really feel bad at all when I'm doing the movement. In fact, the movement feels comfortable, which is why i worked up to a lot of weight in it, it just hurts a little afterwards and makes me feel like i'm causing an injury. I think that it has messed up my biceps tendon on my left arm. I just started doing these this way about 2.5 months ago, so I can't really think of any other reason why my biceps tendon is so messed up on the left side. Actually the whole left side of my body is messed up, the muscles don't contract as well and i think i have a winging scapula on that side. My left shoulder is a little lower than the right, not by much though. I really need to find some type of good chiro or something, but none of the people I ever see are any good at diagnosing anything, they're idiots most of the time. My left shoulder feels like something bad is about to happen, it doesn't hurt it just necessarily it just doesn't produce a lot of force. My left biceps tendon really is preventing me from producing much power in my left arm on a lot of things. I was doing rows the other day and it felt like my right arm was doing all the pulling and the left side was just coming along for the ride. The feeling is all the way from the shoulder joint to the elbow joint, but is most intense at the elbow. I've had this before and it usually goes away with a little time but I'm just sick of it this time, because it seems more serious.

I know some of you guys, maybe JS, have a lot of experience with front squats, and that bench pressers like AM probably get biceps tendon problems quite a bit. I know there are some articles on shoudler rehab on Dave Tate's site i just can't find them. He has a shoulder routine that i used to do that uses light weights and a lot of movements done one after the other. I dont' know where it is on the site, maybe you would know.

It's making me mad because I feel that I can take my physique to a really advanced level with the knowledge i have gotten off of this board, i just can't seem to get the left side of my body (shoulder area in particular) to get better and allow me to get really strong. Plus it takes a lot of the fun out of training, which is ultimately why i do it.

Another thing that really makes it hard is that i travel so much for work that i can't really get to a chiro or someone similar that much because I don't really know where I will ever be. I live in LA, and I might be there for a while coming shortly, so maybe I can find someone good over there that can help me out.

 

[AnimalMass]

I don't know bud. It seems to me that you are racking the bar correctly. I do think you should look into PNF stretching and whatnot and find a good chiro. I swear by them.

Other than that, rest, ice after workouts, etc. Be smart about active recovery.

Matt

 

[Primo Max]

Yeah, i keep coming back to the conclusion that i need help from a trained professional. The difficulty is finding a good one and being in town enough to actually go regularly.

I'll take a look at pnf stretching. Do you have any good sites that give some examples of what types of stretches are to be done for certain areas. I've never done anything in the way of active recovery, ever, so that might be a good idea.

 

[Freddy]

Are you gripping the bar?

It helps a lot of athletes to not grip the bar while its resting on your shoulders. Your fingers are open and you only really touch the bar with your fingertips, to keep it balanced on your shoulders.

If its racked correctly on your shoulders, with your upper arms parallel to the floor, then you don't need to hold the bar. Gravity will keep it in place. Just touch it with your finger tips to keep it there.

 

[Primo Max]

Freddy,
I don't grip the bar at all really. Like you said, it just rests in my fingertips. My arms are parallel to the ground.

The more I think about it, I think that the pain is more towards my elbow and even the forearm, and it feels deep. It's not wrist splints or anything like that. It's right in the crook of my arm, not on the other side where the elbow is.

 

[AnimalMass]

That's definitely bicep tendonitis. You need to lay off them for awhile and let it heal.

Matt

 

[Primo Max]

I already dropped the front squats. Do you think I should drop all bicep work (rowing and chinning) for a while as well. I think I'm also going to throw close grip presses out for a while as these also make it flare up a bit. Is there anything that you do as far as exercises(excluding chiro, massage, recovery methods) that will help make this better. I was thinking that maybe I need to do more reverse curls once I start up with bicep work again because this exercise seems to work the area that is hurting.