WENT TOO HARD

WENT TOO HARD

Tendinitis

Tag a friend who always has an ache or pain.

Ahh yes, the crux of athletes and gym goers everywhere, tendinitis.

Tendinitis is a painful inflammation or partial tear of a tendon.  The tendon's are called upon by our muscles to move our bones around.  They have an attachment to the bone at both ends and can withstand tremendous force. 

However, they can flare up when they are over worked or worked repeatedly in suboptimal positions. 

If you've never had tendinitis, it basically feels like a sharp pain or ache in a very specific spot that is aggravated by a particular task.   

For active people, some of the most common locations of tendinitis are the knees, elbows and shoulders.  Common places pain can present on the outside of the elbow, the inside of the elbow, just above or below the knee cap and in the front of the shoulder.  

Unfortunately, tendons don't have great blood flow that could help them heal more quickly.  Some research suggests that tendinitis is best relieved by focusing on eccentric training.  For example, if you were having patellar tendinitis in the front of your knee you would focus on the lowering portion of the squat to rehab the tendon.

I've had my fair share of tendinitis over the last 10 years.  In my experience, the best relief comes from avoiding the movements that are causing the most pain, but continuing to train similar movements that  you can do relatively pain free.  

Unfortunately, not training at all doesn't seem to make it heal any faster.  

As far as preventing tendinitis, I recommend having a coach look at your training program to make sure you're not overdoing any particular body part or movement.  Also find a knowledgeable coach to look at your form to make sure your movement technique is not at the root of your problem.  

Good luck!