Sore Elbows

blahblah06

Hi guys, i started my weight training yesterday with my personal trainer and my arms are in bits. I havent done weights in ages. it feels like my elbows are going to lock any minute. any help would be appreciated on how to ease the awkwarness

RPGGAMER

its too early to tell. you are gonna be sore starting out. don't worry. stick with it and well done on getting started.

i wouldnt mind getting started on yoga. very healthy in the long run

blahblah06

Well I know its been ages since I have done excersice but have gotten myself a trainer and was wrecked. I am meeting up again tonight to work on my back I hope it doesnt hinder tonight with my elbows I have no power what so ever there.

Suppose it is true no pain no gain.

Rogueish

I don't usually reccomend it but two neurofen liquitabs will help take the edge off the stiffness especially if you are training again tonight. As you gain strength you won't have the same level of stiffness

Do say it to your trainer as he/she will be able to adjust your programme accordingly to ensure that you aren't totally incapacitated after your next training session.

Best of luck

blahblah06

Grand I will head to the chemist now. Anything would be gr8. I will defo mention it to the trainer. thanks for ur help lads really appreciated just hope I start seen some results.

Oh btw any other tips just in general ?

Rogueish

How did you get on last night? Did the Neurofen work?

I'm afraid that there is not much you can do if you are getting into weights seriously. For the first few weeks you are gonna be sore. Talk to your trainer and they can reduce the weight for a week or two and then build it up gradually so as to minimise (not eradicate) the muscle soreness and stiffness.

Muscle soreness called Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness (DOMS for short) is thought to be caused by microscopic tears in the muscle fibres. As you lift heavy weight or put your body through exertion that it has not been previously used to it causes microscopic tears in the muscle. The muscle then repairs itself in by making more fibres (more fibres = more strength) or by making the existing muscle fibres bigger (bigger fibres = more strength).

In essence, a small amount of 'damage/DOMS' is necessary and expected, but a large amount which can incapacitate you is not.

blahblah06

Hi mate. Yesterday wasnt to bad. I dont think the nurofen had enough time to work.

I have been feeling a lot better in general everyday I excersise but still very sore just at the back of my arm above my elbow.

Rogueish

Careful that you don't develop a triceps tendon problem. Ice it down after the gym and keep a close eye on it to make sure that ir doesn't get any worse.

blahblah06

What should I be looking for exactly if I do have a problem ?

TerrorFirmer

I am the exact same. Did my first 60 minute weights session in about 2 years on Monday night and the next morning I couldn't do a single pushup.

Seems to have eased off now at least...

g'em

HavoK wrote:

I am the exact same. Did my first 60 minute weights session in about 2 years on Monday night and the next morning I couldn't do a single pushup.

trust me, in time you'll leran to love that pain!!! probably so much so that when you do a heavy session and you're not sore the next day you actually get a little disappointed

TerrorFirmer

g'em wrote:

trust me, in time you'll leran to love that pain!!! probably so much so that when you do a heavy session and you're not sore the next day you actually get a little disappointed

Hmmm...I dunno about that! Its a means to an end...and thats how I'll always feel about it be it at the gym or doing weights at home! How long does it take to build up your strength for benching? I did mostly other exercises with dumbells etc, but when it came to benching I could barely manage 15 reps with only 20kg....quite embarassing.

blahblah06

exact same as me havok so not so embarassing. We can get threw the pain together HaHaHa

g'em

meh, when I started out I was barely able to bench the bar. You'll start to see good gains realtively quickly, within a couple of months- as long as you eat right (lots of protein of course) and train intelligently. For strength keep reps low, weight high.

blahblah06

Ye I am trying my best with the protein and just having carbs in the morning ie a bowl of cereal. I have a personal trainer but he doesnt give me a break I do be wrecked everytime I go. Ha. I hope the results show sooner rather then later

g'em

blahblah06 wrote:

Ye I am trying my best with the protein and just having carbs in the morning ie a bowl of cereal.

get some protein in first thing in the morning too- this is where protein shakes come in handy!!

Rogueish

Have a feel of the area. Is it sore on the muscle belly (as in half way up your upper arm at the back) more likely yo be DOMS? Or is it sore right down beside the elbow where the muscle becomes a tendon and inserts into the bone (tendonitis or tendon irritation?

As you exercise over the next few weeks does the 'pain' get better or gradually get worse (maybe a tendonitis). Again talk to your trainer they are experienced enough to tailor your programme to suit you and to ease off if it is getting a bit too intense too soon.

TerrorFirmer

g'em wrote:

get some protein in first thing in the morning too- this is where protein shakes come in handy!!

I've been wondering about this. Say you eat very little protein, what kind of results from weight training will you see? I'm looking to tone up and firm - yeah yeah sounds like a loreal ad - rather then gain muscle mass, so I'm really not sure if, doing 3 nights a week, I should be taking protein shakes?

Or whats good to eat in place of taking protein shakes?

g'em

HavoK wrote:

I've been wondering about this. Say you eat very little protein, what kind of results from weight training will you see?

Or whats good to eat in place of taking protein shakes?

not very good results tbh. when you weight train, what you're atually doing is stressing the muscle to make teeny tiny microtears in it. When you rest the muscle repairs itself making them bigger and stronger. But to repair it needs protain (what muscles are made of). so without it your muscles won't repair very well, and they won't grow any stronger. protein shakes are a way to increase your protein intake- without it I'd need to eat 3-4 chicken breasts a day, but with the shakes I have one with brekkie (in porridge), one post workout mid-morning, tuna or fish at lunch, nuts in teh afternoon, chicken or fish for dinner, and a shake before bed. That all gives me about 180-200g of protein a day. chicken (or any lean white meat), eggs, milk and fish are the best sources of protein. You need to be getting around 1.2-1.8g of protein per kg of body weight every day when you're weight training.

TerrorFirmer

Hmmm, thanks g'em. I'll get some of that then...I'm assuming any protein shake mixture will do? If a tub of the stuff says "30 days supply", does that allow for 2 shakes a day or what? Anyway, thanks for the help.

What happens if you take in too much protein? I don't want it turning to fat one me...:D

ps - I assume I can put the protein shake into my cereal?

g'em

HavoK wrote:

Hmmm, thanks g'em. I'll get some of that then...I'm assuming any protein shake mixture will do?

EAS, ProX and Nutrisport are generally considered the best.

HavoK wrote:

What happens if you take in too much protein? I don't want it turning to fat one me...:D

it gets excreted. teh body finds it very hard to do anything with excess protein other than send it out of your body. but it requires more energy to get broken down so you use mroe calories purely by eating it.

HavoK wrote:

ps - I assume I can put the protein shake into my cereal?

yup, I have mine in porridge.

blahblah06

Wow so if we drink milk that helps also he never mentioned that one I have been drinking water

blahblah06

Rogueish wrote:

Have a feel of the area. Is it sore on the muscle belly (as in half way up your upper arm at the back) more likely yo be DOMS? Or is it sore right down beside the elbow where the muscle becomes a tendon and inserts into the bone (tendonitis or tendon irritation?

As you exercise over the next few weeks does the 'pain' get better or gradually get worse (maybe a tendonitis). Again talk to your trainer they are experienced enough to tailor your programme to suit you and to ease off if it is getting a bit too intense too soon.

Hi mate. it actually seems to be moreso down towards the elbow. The pain wasnt to bad yesterday while working out but its in bits today

blahblah06

sorry about all the posts. Gem how do you manage to eat so many meals during the day I find it extremly hard. normally have brekkie, lunch and dinner

g'em

simple- 8am, 11am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm, 10pm. just takes a bit of organising. milk is great- if you're losing weight just drink skimmed- none of the fat, most of the protein.

blahblah06

how do you mean? I wanna lose weight so if i drink skimmed milk it would help. how much a day are we talking

blaugranabhoy

Hi guys...first post on this forum.

Couldn't believe it when I saw the thread title here. I've been working out 5 times a week for the last two months and recently, when I'm working out my triceps, my elbows hurt like hell just above the joint at the back of the arms like mentioned previously.

I'm praying now that it's not tendonitis 'cause I don't want to have to slow down. It's not so bad afterwards at all so that's probably a bit ominous....dammit.

I know I've deviated from your discussion somewhat so.......I'm using Maximuscle Promax..take three scoops every day I'm in the gym. Was warned about flatulence problems but this prophecy hasn't come to fruition yet!

Great forum btw..wish I'd known it existed before.

Patto

I have the same thing in both my elbows. It developed when I started doing heavy deadlifts and Lat pull downs. Dips also aggrivate it. I reckon I just have weak elbows compared to my back and leg strength. A result of years of playing football and never developing strong arms. It has eased somewhat in the past few weeks but I cut the lat pull downs, dips and the deadlifts to once a week each. That is probably advisable anyway, maybe you are hitting you triceps too often.

Going for transforms challenge of 12 Pull ups in 12 weeks, still a good bit to do! How long has it been since he posted?

g'em

It's been about 5 weeks- I'm working on the 'any woman can do 12 chins in 12 weeks' challenge

Patto

By the end of June it is so... If I lost 5Kg of body fat I'd be half way there. How long should it take a man btw?

TerrorFirmer

I opted for Maximuscle Cyclone for my protein intake....30g protein per shake. Someone please tell me this is fine for working out four times a week....it sounds simple, "go get a protein shake", but god the choice available....I was frightened!!

Also, if I'm doing 4 40 minute sessions a week, should I still be taking 2 shakes per day regardless 7 days a week?

Thanks.

TerrorFirmer

Can someone advise me on the above please? I don't want to be drinking this stuff if its the opposite of what I should be taking...:o

g'em

ok.. but the info is all there already. have you worked out how much protein you need to take a day? well do that then figure out how much you get from your diet. make up the rest with shakes. 2 shakes a day is probably excessive for what you're doing right now. A shake post-workout will prolly suffice for now.

Oh and although I've never taken Maximuscle myself, I haven't heard good things about it- amino acid profile is ok but tends to becarb and fat heavy, although I could be wrong. As I said, EAS, Pro X, Nutrisport, and Optimum Nutrition are considered the better ones (in no particular order).

I'm not being facetious, but when you understand why you take protein you won't need to ask tehse questions again. plenty of info in teh stickies.

Oh and I love the taste of my chocolate whey!!

Patto

I was in the same boat. Used cyclone for a few months. I got 8 of them in a special deal. It is nearly tougher drinking the stuff than doing the training. It is manky! The stuff is very popular I reckon because its marketed as a no brainer solution to suplementing. My guess is that a huge number of people who play field sprorts use it and find is of some use. If you work out your your diet needs and what what suplements you need you will find that cyclone if 1. very expensive and 2. Not a complete solution (i.e. you will need to buy other suplements anyway). 3. You probably only want the whey 4. Choclate flavoured whey tastes a hell of a lot better that any flavour cyclone.

TerrorFirmer

Okay, so one shake post workout... That works out at 4 shakes a week. I'm not doing high intensity weights or anything so will this still be adequate to put on very limited muscle and tone up if I'm doing four 40 minute sessions?

I take in a decent amount of protein on a daily basis anyway, but not quite what I need.

As far as taste goes, I think it's fine - it probably tastes better with milk but I just use water, not great tasting, but it could be worse

Also, I did look for the brands you mentioned g'em, but couldn't find any of them....fairly limited selection here. Maximuscle is everywhere though, in all the shops, and a weights buff recommened it to me....so I said since I don't have a clue how good or bad the other brands available are I'll take his word

ps - thanks, as always, for the great help - and sorry for all these dumb questions, but after loosing alot of weight recently I get paranoid that

1) I'll take too many shakes and get heavier
or
2) I won't take enough, do weights, and gain 0% muscle

Sounds stupid to you maybe but to me....argh. Worrying.

mloc

HavoK wrote:

As far as taste goes, I think it's fine - it probably tastes better with milk but I just use water, not great tasting, but it could be worse

Yeah i didn't find it too bad, and after all, nothing tastes as bad as being small and weak.

Whilst Cyclone did produce decent results for me, I've had so many problems (some pretty serious including contaminated products) with Maximuscle I've just stopped ordering from them.

DubNside

Have'nt had any probs with Maximusle products, been using Cyclone and Promax Extreme for months.
For those of you with joint problems after doing weights, its more than likely down to too much weight and bad technique.

Too many lads end up in the gym,

1.dont warm up properly, no cardio warm up for all least 5mins at max hr
2.Use weights that are too heavy, just to show off to there mates.
3. bad technique, incorrect use of free weights.(see point 2)

Ease up on the heavy free weights, use the fixed machines, build up a solid base so you wont end up having to use painkiller that mask the pain just so you can go to the gym again the next day.

mloc

DubNside wrote:

Ease up on the heavy free weights, use the fixed machines, build up a solid base so you wont end up having to use painkiller that mask the pain just so you can go to the gym again the next day.

I wouldn't agree there... using free weights is preferable 90% of the time, once you do the movement correctly.

RPGGAMER

don't mind the nuerofen.

maxi-twist

So people are saying cyclone is the best "all in one supplement"?Would i be better off getting something else though if its just increased lean muscle i want?