[Cory from Wisconsin]

Hi Pete,

I really enjoyed your podcast discussion with Scott regarding the challenges of tendon injuries due to overuse, exacerbated by OES. I suspect you guys recorded the episode several months ago, but the timing of its release was perfect for me. I’m currently dealing with left arm bicep tendonitis resulting from an increase in rock climbing volume as I came off ice season. In addition to the volume increase I suspect some of it stems from the change in hand position from tools to face holds on rock/gym as well as sub-optimal form. It was giving me intermittent pain for a few weeks, but my OES kept me from taking full rest. Then I noticed while flexing my bicep that I could fully fire the right (unaffected) bicep, but the left bicep does not get fully firm when flexing. So this past week I went to see a local sports med physician, who confirmed the tendons are still attached (I never heard a pop or had “Popeye arm”), and recommended I take a couple weeks of rest before resuming moderate activity.

In your podcast you described the need to weight lift to recover the tendon and that mild pain was normal with that process. My question is two fold: 1) Do you generally have your patients undergo a period of rest before beginning the weight lifting process? 2) Do you have a recommended protocol for biceps similar to what you were describing for the achilles tendon injury you were discussing with Scott?

Thanks,
Cory

Topic

[Pete Dickinson MS,PT]

Pete Dickinson MS,PT on June 2, 2022 at 11:57 pm #67946

Cory,
I would maybe only recommend a brief rest to bring the pain down, after all, you’re just getting weaker and having bigger mountain to climb if you get weaker. The key is to get a starting point for tendon loading, and progress from there. Isometrics are a great starting point, 5x45sec. holds. Once this gets better, you start adding Shoulder presses to the program,,,yes,,,shoulder presses. This will get the biceps working, but allow the rest of your structure to get into the conversation. Isolation of function is a slippery slope so I don’t just go right to bicep curls. I do KB swings double, then single. You get the idea!!!
Cheers,
Pete

[Cory from Wisconsin]

Cory from Wisconsin on August 16, 2022 at 8:19 am #69945

Just following up on this to say the rest significantly helped and I used the weight lifting described in the podcast as part of my recovery. I have since added in Pete’s additional recommendations above to hopefully ward off future injuries.

Thanks to UA for all the great content and advice.

Cory

[mike]

mike on September 19, 2022 at 4:11 pm #70884

Pete,

On the same subject of tendonitis, I believe I may have tricep tendonitis. Came about all of the sudden after a weekend of ww kayaking about 2 months ago. I changed my workouts and eliminated all kb presses/push-ups, which really seemed to aggravate the elbow. Went to a windmill, kb snatch, and Carrie’s program, which felt good overall and did not seem to bother my elbow. Listening to the podcast (great podcast)today during my workout, it seems I should have continued presses and push-ups, starting with a lighter weight/negatives and then working up in weight. Am I on the right track? For reference, I am 61 years old.

[hafjell]

hafjell on May 20, 2023 at 3:46 pm #78371

Bumping this. Worried that I have a torn biceps. What exercises would people recommend?