10 ways to overcome Elbow Tendonosis - Golfer's Elbow

Vlog #19 Elbow Tendonosis, Golfer's Elbow, is a very common injury among climbers. In this episode, I go through ten ways you can both prevent and/or treat this very troublesome condition. I suffered with Golfer's and Tennis elbow for many years before finally resolving it completely three years ago.
The full details regarding the science and rehab exercises and protocols I discuss here are detailed in my book Make or Break:
www.davemacleod.com/shop/make...
I also make reference to a recent interview on Andrew MacFarlane's channel, dealing with injury prevention more generally:
• Dave MacLeod Interview...

[@joe1195]

Following a lot of the recommendations from this video in combination with your book has made my tendonosis be nearly non-existent. I climb plus play a lot of disc golf which also causes a lot of intense strain on the elbow. This has basically saved my athletic life, and I cannot thank you enough.

[@climbermacleod]

Brilliant, great to hear you've had good recovery!

[@upchucksduck]

@Onyx Forest I can assure you, no one gives a shit.

[@bentonclayton2385]

Instablaster...

[@rustyturner]

@@climbermacleod I watched the video and your theory to me is sound . I've heard so many other theories, about dialing back and resting. But sounds counter productive. If I use my muscles less , I will get weaker . If I can get stronger, and push on carefully , something that was hard yesterday should just get easier . I am a new climber at age of 43 . I'm in good health though. I climb 3 times a week . However the elbow pain has came . I am going to approach like you explained in your video. I will also address diet too . Beacuse resting just doesn't sound logical . I will just weaken my overall body and muscle mass . Then you have start again when you return. If I get my overall strength better than it was before , the levels should get easier.

[@jorgealexandremoreira1792]

Which book did you follow? Thanks.

[@crzy1gs]

Here is a quick TL;DR but please watch the video because Dave is a fkn boss :) 1) Take ownership of the injury (8:10) 2) Be strong. Strengthen (condition) body, esp upstream arm/shoulder. (10:36) 3) Develop awareness. Note & listen to how your body feels. Adjust volume/intensity or session type accordingly. (13:27) 4) Don't stop moving. Maintain steady level of fitness/activity without typical 'Western' prolonged sedentary tenancies (17:25) 4.5) Difficulty of identifying causal factor. Sometimes change of routine/scenery can help. Trial and error methodology. (21:32) 5) Rest professionally. Top quality sleep, nutrition, reduce life stresses (22:56) 6)Respect your circadian rhythm. Increase quality and duration of sleep. (23:16) 7) Keep training. Possibly do more! (25:36) 8) Do heavy resistance training all the time! Incl typical eccentric wrist curls with heavy load (some pain might be required) and high frequency (daily!) and possibly more modern evidence of isometrics. (28:21) 9) If its not working, keep searching and try again however its tricky to decide timescale for each protocol. Lots of the data is weak/uncertain, such a nuanced issue. (34:24) 10) Tendons are made from what goes into your mouth. Nutrition. Collagen synthesis from Glycine, Proline and Vit C (comments on the recent hype train for this) but he relies on mostly eats whole foods (39:05)

[@climbermacleod]

Thanks for that summary!

[@neo778]

Thank you so much! This helps a lot to get the key information and go back to specific points.

[@jaydee4988]

People majorly overlook the whole function of the thoraic spine, for example the lats connect to arm at the humerus and that muscle is connected to 11 vertebrae. Lower stability and the functioning of the quadratus loborum to free up tension in the shoulders flowing into the arms

[@TristanCleveland]

@@climbermacleod Enjoyed the video. It seems important to note that "keep training" shouldn't be "give yourself an overuse injury" or it won't heal. Also, it might be worth adding that it is especially important to do a long warm up when you have tendon injury. I say "might" because I'm not aware of any science on this, but it seems to have helped when my finger tendon was healing, and I find it greatly reduces the risk of a sudden, sharp pain - the sign of making further injury.

[@ann-mariebrennan1455]

People who break down videos like this are my heros! TYSM

[@Drinkyoghurt]

Dave has like the calmest demeanor ever and explains things so well. He deserves much more than just 14k subs.

[@mortenlund1590]

Could not agree more! I'm looking for real good answers to the common q's, and he provides tons!

[@lobomalsano]

this is the nicest stannis baratheon has ever been

[@tunaficiency]

Now 45 k

[@mihaitzabaws3619]

now 55k

[@joeyr4869]

Ever since I saw this video a month ago, I have dramatically increased the volume of eccentric rehab work I do on my elbows. It has helped me make more progress with my tendonosis in one month than I have in over a year and a half of resting and avoiding aggravating exercises. Thanks a million Dave!

[@climbermacleod]

Thats brilliant Joey. Good job and hope it continues.

[@AndrewMacFarlane]

This was perfect Dave! Thank you for our interview and for diving deeper into the topic!

[@smuir6104]

Thank you to Andrew for the interview and introduction to Dave. I love this community!

[@smuir6104]

I have never heard any of this before, I have gone to all kinds of medical professionals, and they all say rest. That said, I took 10 years off of both climbing because of my elbows, shoulder, and running (patella tendon), and it never got better. I finally decided I didn't care, I was going to wear them out and get all I could out of them before I was completely crippled. I decided to train for a marathon, running 30 or more miles a week, lifting weights, and then started climbing, a lot, 4-5 times a week. It hurt really bad at first, one day I even dropped to my knees out of pain, and prayed for strength to continue, somehow stood up and kept going, now 6 months later, I feel great. my "Bad Knees" aren't bad they needed weightlifting and running. My super bad elbows, weight lifting and climbing. Shoulder, weightlifting and climbing; now No pain at all. Now hearing this said makes so much sense, almost mad at the doctors. Thank you

[@climbermacleod]

That's brilliant. Loading needs to be done carefully, but ultimately tendons cannot increase in strength and functional capacity without loading.

[@BryceU]

This is the first encouraging message I have heard in regards to my elbow tendonosis. I've enjoyed your other videos previously but this one has truly given me hope as I have been struggling with this issue for the past 3-4 months. Thank you for your opinions, time, research, and willingness to share your story.

[@nbka8rs]

The more I follow your work the more I love and respect everything about you. Looking at the books on your shelves is a real demonstration of your commitment to being stronger, faster, smarter.

[@stephensweeney5331]

I've just come across this video, and could not be more grateful. The way you manage to bring clarity to such a minefield of information is mega. Thanks loads - putting this into action immediately!

[@samps6510]

Just finished reading Make or Brake. Thanks so much for adding more information on this topic. It's a huge contribution! Learning how to "take over the rehab proccess" has become crucial for me.

[@mtommy84]

Mr. MacLeod, I've always admired you for your climbing achievement and, from now on, you've also gave me hope, which I had lost after years of pain.

[@geordieflip]

Dave, thank you so much. I have suffered with elbow problems for a number of years now. This has really helped. Stay strong

[@pastaeatinrasta1]

This is an absolutely perfect video. Mine has gotten so bad finally I can get an actual solid climbers perspective and advice, thank you!

[@willadams6217]

I'm 42 and thought I would have to give up climbing due to golfers elbow. I was recommended a book called the trigger point therapy workbook and after finding the trigger point in my lower tricep and after just a few minutes of massage of the trigger points (very painful) got almost complete relief. I rarely need to revisit the massage these days and have zero elbow pain at all. I've passed on this info to other climbers in my local gym who have had similar results. Life changing.

[@dutazoltan1784]

Just when I started doing physiotherapy for my elbows this pops up, awesome timing :)). Great video as always Dave, really enjoy all the content that you put up. I bought your books and they are well worth at least 1 read through. Keep crushing it on the rock, and keep releasing this awesome content. Cheers !

[@iBoardRepair]

This is the best climbing channel on youtube right now. This is the only thing I have found that covers so many recovery techniques so fully and by someone who you can tell did his research thoroughly and is intelligent enough to filter the bullshit.

[@joromo666]

Fantastic overview. I've been suffering from golfer's elbow and this has given me a lot of guidance and encouragement. Thank you Dave! 👌🏼

[@graemehdev]

Just diagnosed myself with tennis elbow today after getting pain in my last couple of climbing sessions. Wasn't too happy looking at recovery times etc, but actually feel glad to have such good information now. Lucky timing!

[@IsaacSMILE]

2nd time watching this as I am trying to recover from this very issue. I keep picking up new takeaway points each time. Thanks for such detail.

[@MechanixPL]

The best climbing content on YT, bar none. PS I'm in the process of rehabilitating my elbow and have been following the advice included in the book; this video adds another dimension to the discussion. Thank you so much.

[@driklol]

I cant tell you how happy I am that I found the channel, It's been a long time since I've felt a need to watch every video someone has. You're like climbing yoda, I love it. Thank you for all of the effort and knowledge.

[@danobable]

Hi Dave, I always love your vlogs, thanks for this one. I just wanted to add that I think that the way I was sleeping contributed to my golfers not clearing completely despite doing all the correct exercises. I slept on my side all night with my hand under my head, so elbow on full lock which puts apparently 40 times more strain on the tendon than when it's straight. I used to wake up with my golfers elbow aching ever day. I've trained myself to sleep with my arm straight, I now wake up with no pain and the last signs of golfers have completely gone. Just wanted to share in case it helps anyone else. Cheers

[@johns3106]

@danobable Oddly enough, I had the same thing. Had tendinitis in my elbow from various sources, but the way I was sleeping on it (arm bent with hand under my ear) prolonged the problem. Once I was aware of this and started sleeping differently,the problem gradually disappeared!

[@woobinz3061]

Yoooo this is huge thank you! Sometimes I have got golfer's elbow through exercise, but more often I wake up with it- even after a rest day. You've very likely identified my problem

[@BrunoFSBeber]

This is really interesting insight! I also sleep with my arm bend under the pillow/head and since I injured my left shoulder, I've been sleeping mostly on my right arm, where I now have tendonosis. I'll change that and see how it goes.

[@nuevozealand2]

Well done sir! I've recently started getting some medial epicondyle pain (and I'd rather call it climbers elbow) for the past month and have been working on rehab, exercises, therapies, etc. but Dave's discussion was the most coherent, broadly-ranged and thorough discussion on the topic. I have a good grasp on anatomy, physiology, mechanics, proprioception and understand my body very well, so any good advice is appreciated. I agree with Dave's comments on how much in sports medicine is speculative at best, many docs really don't know much about such topics and each patient must find what works best for them by listening closely to their own bodies. Excellent work and thank you very much!

[@FreshWaterWindsurfer]

You read my mind on many topics and opened my mind to many others. Climbing and physical activity is such an important part of my life. You have given me so much hope for the future and information to fix my golfer's elbow. Thank you so much.

[@Headrum]

this is some of the most comprehensive and reassuring tendon info out there. thank you so much.

[@ImagezAndWords]

I recommend your channel to climbers and non-climbers... awesome content. Keep up the great work!

[@marfanity]

Excellent video. Thanks for sharing your extensive research! All the advice you've given here is exactly what I wanted to hear.

[@ricothemanatee1882]

I reaaaaaally really appreciate the honesty when it comes to uncertainty in the research. I'm all for following the science, but people often don't realize just how inconclusive published research can be. Thanks for the wonderful explanation on the trial and error approach, and never reaaally knowing what fixed the problem when you are late in the game of guess and checking. Looking forward to less elbow pain in the future :):):)

[@jdomsmith]

So underrated. This is THE most helpful elbow recovery video. I'll let you know when my right golfer's is cleared up.

[@Mistic00727]

How is your golfers elbow?

[@viktoriakireeva5860]

I’m a masseuse and have been suffering from it for years. Stopped working for long periods, got better, but once resumed massaging - it all came back again soon. Now I understand - training and loading every single day, not just special physio exercises but general resistance training. I love the voice and accent of this presenter. So soothing and pleasant to listen to.

[@pedalinpete]

Thanks for this. I've suffered on and off for 30 years with this, and what you said made so much sense that I wondered why I hadn't figured it out for myself! I've made a finger board and used it daily with great results. I'm now less afraid of tackling fingery problems down at the wall, and am looking forward to this year's climbing with eager anticipation.

[@hangoutclimb]

Epic! Given such clear direction of how I need to rehab this injury! Thank you

[@JanePalmerWriter]

That's again for your well thought out insights. I haven't had finger injuries these last few years since reading Make or Break. Now I have developed elbow pain after an intense three month bouldering stint (and I haven't done much bouldering before). I'm excited NOT to rest and to try out the exercises. And I can totally have faith in this approach as I have recently cured achilles tendonitis by doing lots and lots of calf raises that did hurt a little at first. After a couple of weeks this long term pain subsided. So I have faith in this approach for my elbows. Thank you!

[@doubleunderfire7964]

Thanks for the video. I suffer from golfers elbow and after seeing this video I decided to follow the rehab protocol. It’s helping! I also read “Make or Break” and am halfway through “9 out of 10..”. Love your content!!

[@uploadsnstuff8902]

Bought your book based on this video, I love how it uses all the techniques I found over the internet, from Lattice training, c4hp, Hooper's beta, ... with detailed pictures and even more tips. Thanks a lot.

[@heoTheo]

You are my hero. I'm getting your book right now! I've been dealing with this exact injury the past 3 months and have been looking for answers. The story you told at the start is exactly what I'm dealing with and thirty something climber jadada. As a climber just didn't find it. I went to the gym about 2 months ago and started doing some simple body splits. I found having a dedicated arm day lowers my pain. I notice after my arm day I don't have any pain for 2/3 days. So, I think i will increase my workouts. I also do a leg and chest/back day. My arm day Form and weight, do proper form, choose the weight such that you can complete the first set of 15 reps. STANDING BARBELL CURL sets 4, number 15,12,8,4, then drop the weight and keep going on half the weight until you lose form. Skullcrushers , same protocol cable rope skullcrusher, same Rope Tricep Pushdown, same INCLINE DUMBBELL CURL,same I hope this helps other people. I definitely think, going heavy on the weights is the way to go. I have not gone back to climbing yet. However, I will pursue some climbing in september again after begin off for 4 months. I will try to maintain awareness on the wall to prevent injury, but definitely not all pain is bad.

[@bboyjoey]

This guy knows what he's talking about. My triceps tendinitis and golfer's elbow finally began to get better after taking a holistic approach and changing my lifestyle.

[@matthiasbauer808]

Thanks very much for this great video Dave !

[@coachgarryclimbing]

I love how the advice is based on current evidence and acknowledges the limitations of the available research.

[@dannygrout92]

Really really excellent video, so detailed and thought out. Feel like I've just sat a uni lecture!

[@dubmasterz3261]

Like a boss! Keep up the good content Dave!

[@CTWhite-dy1cq]

I really appreciate this information, 1 year in the hole with this injury. I feel optimistic now!

[@mortenlund1590]

thank you so much, Dave! This is gold

[@pierceferris]

Brilliant as always!

[@thomaspinches9518]

Thanks for this resource Dave. The 'get stronger' advice is something that really hit home reading Ross Edgley's Art of Resillience. High level swimmers who had attempted to swim around Britain had failed early on due to injury - Then Edgley, effectively a body builder, managed it completely injury-free. He attributed this to having huge amounts of tissue capacity from weight training.

[@glenng725]

What a fantastic video!! This aligns with all of my biases! Lol! I have rehabed myself from both golfers and tennis elbow using these ideas with great results. I am now about to extrapolate some of the concepts to deal with some ECU tendon issues. Thanks! I just bought the book

[@thomasball1139]

Amazing vlog Dave! Really interesting about the surgeon who discovered that heavy loads helped to recover his Achilles’ tendon! I got golfers elbow badly in both elbows at the same time and it was very painful when I climbed, but I never stopped climbing, trained my extensor muscles, repeatedly held a 20kg kettle bell in my hand at my side and held it with as relaxed grip as I could and did open handed fingerboarding, 10 second hangs, 6 hangs, max effort with as much weight added as possible, training from 15kgs up to 23kgs by the time it was healed. Completely recovered after 8 months!!!!!

[@davidkoecher7658]

Great video Dave. Thank you.

[@edwinbarker7763]

I'd absolutely would love to hear/watch your thoughts on wrist injuries as I'm sure there's a lot of us who suffer from this! Really enjoyed this video, thanks so much!!

[@daviddobedoe]

Thanks Dave, like others I have a tendon injury and this has helped me think about my approach to it

[@user-dg9ti5gq4e]

Thanks so much dave, Literally discovered I have golfers elbow last night after doing a particuarlly crimpy e1 yesterday. Booked myself a phsyio and going to watch this whole thing

[@simplycatsvets]

Very informative balanced video and super interesting well done Dave. Look forward to seeing some specific exercise videos and getting your book ;-). I suspect you will get many more views as we all try to train hard during COVID Lockdown!!

[@theDomCorporation]

Great content Dave, it really is amazing how much knowledge you've amassed through your years of experience

[@jbbolts]

thanks for sharing... at the ripe age of 54 i started doing tree work this year and even started climbing(arborist).. Ive had a sore elbow for a few months and after resting completely for a week with no difference Ive been treating it like I treat most injuries... work through the pain and almost always it eventually builds back...Ive been building on what I can despite injuries be it back or whatever and its been very effective

[@noahlanger2429]

Could you please do a video demonstrating some of the rehab exercises described here, and pictured in the book (which I own)? I'd love some more detail, since I've decided to commit to your recommendations on what could be a long ride! Thanks for the video, and for the book!

[@yellowbear6]

Thank you for this in depth talk Dave! As a new climber (4 months) I am already suffering from golfers elbow which at times really saps my new found joy in the sport. I am certainly taking your idea of "educated trial and error" forward to try to rehabilitate my elbow!

[@TheHarmonicaBarge]

Finally, a video that addresses the complexity of this Injury. I’ve had GE for 12 months now and been trying various strategies- more recently stepping up the strength training. I’m already getting better results from this. Many thanks!!

[@MaxMustermann-on2gd]

How did it work out for you? I am also 12 months in and no idea what to do.

[@TheHarmonicaBarge]

@@MaxMustermann-on2gd Hi Max, I'm diligent with my exercises and still do ecentric wrist curls every other day. I started with just the bar on a dumbell and have built up to 10 kg ( this took around 8 months or so) These exercises have worked, I still a little elbow pain if I have bad habits ( too much computer work is the worst with mouse and bad posture) and have a few days of exercises. The pain always starts if i don';t do the exercises! If the pain comes back I add isometric exercises to my routine with up to 20 kg heavy weights- these are great. You need to work out your load tolerances and increase slowly ( look for feeling some pain after exercising around 3-4 out of 10, if you're feeling more pain after exercise, decrease the weight) Massage of the shoulders and back also helps, I have a self massage tool and do this every day- stay mobile- stretch! this helps too. It's a long road to beat this injury but I did it. ( I also bought Dave's book)

[@marcooosization]

thank you for this incredible information!!!

[@mcdick]

First of all, big thanks for your books and videos and such. Makes a huge contribution to us sunday climbers that struggle with ability to train and improve. Personally I'm a bit bigger climber (bred to shovel shit, so...) at about 80kg, 39 years olf and last ten years broken down pretty much every year. I'm relativel fit and doing lots of sports apart of clibing. My level has been hovering at near 8a:ish in sport and boulder for most of that time, but injuries have been a serious problem. Currently strugling with golfers elbow. I'm really not that concerned with that as seems to be responding well to negatives on finger board. My main struggle for 5 years or so was my wrists. I admit that I was a bit of an idiot and substituted rest days with ibuprofein when younger. So over the years it escalated to point that I couldn't use any underclings or siders or my fingers would just uncurl. Actually it got to point that I couldn't trust myself with shopping bag. My hands were CAT:d, but apart from some arthiritis there was no clear problem. The surgeon (top of his field) said the best option was just operate and see what happens. Others said that perhaps I should change sports. And that's just not good enough. I focused more into mixed climbing, and calistenics. About year a go I run into wrist excercises or flexes for gymnastics and decided to test them. And it was a revelation. I mean in 2-3 weeks like 50% of the pain was away. And I've kept them in my arsenal for last year and my wrists are just fine. Except that now that suddenly I started training with finger climbing again after few years of brake really seriously ( jump from few 30 minute warm ups x 3 times a week to 2hrs of full on training 4 times a week), i got some serious golfers elbow action going on. I think the stress levels also have been contributing factor as I've got quite stressful job and old house that I've been renovating quite lot during last 6 years. I think there's quite lot of stuff in the other sports medicines (like with the calistenics) that have much more history and knowledge gathered unlike climbing that's still quite young sport in serious manner. I mean I've been climbing best part of 20 years, and I haven't heard anything about taking care of one's wrist before I stumbled into that stuff year a go in another sports training videos. And there it was mentioned as something obvious.

[@deribrown]

Thank you so much Dave. This is really good information. I suffer from tendinitis in my elbow and also now in my shoulder due to my work as a builder plasterer but when I have a flare up it hinders my climbing. I also noticed that resting as the doctor suggests makes little difference.

[@andreluizvarzea4764]

Thanks a lot, Dave! Really!

[@pablinquis]

Thank you dave for so much

[@fluttergrrl]

This is the best video about tennis elbow on KZbin. Finally, the simple explanations makes sense. These are my questions: how can you manage your nutrition when you’re in too much pain to cook consistently? How can you get good sleep when the pain wakes you up? How can you consistently exercise when the pain is excruciating, rather than mild, so exacerbations feels like you’re in the bowels of hell? And I have tried multiple conservative treatments. Thank you for this.

[@morna57]

This is great! Love it! Been batteling golfers elbow for 2 months know and this is perfect! I have to become better with nutrition.

[@VinceW187]

Thank you for this video been having pain in my elbow for a few months now, and did nothing about it. Now that I might know what it is I can try and fix it. Thank you

[@brianmckee4673]

Very interesting and thought provoking. I'm not a climber. I'm a 68 year old guy who likes to row and kayak, also a furniture designer maker, so one way or another my elbows have come under a good deal of stress. As a result golfers elbow has been with me a good deal for the last twenty years or so, not in fact on my dominant side. I've had no treatmwent other than the usual 2 or 3 stretching exercises, and from what what you say probably far too much rest, in so far as my day job allows. I'm now looking forward to trying a much more proactive approach thanks to your video clip. By the way I'm largely vegetarian - perhaps a little contrary to the last part of your discussion, but there are other reasons for that! Many thanks for what to me is a different way of looking at the problem.

[@Zylinderz]

You're a hero! Thank you so much

[@chrisdugmore2462]

I've currently got a wrist tendonosis (ECU) from campus boarding too soon and will definitely be applying the principles here!

[@simongreenthumb6376]

Another quality post Dave!!! I know its not climbing related but i would love to hear your thoughts on healing hamstring tendonitis. I have a stubborn cycling related case of it and i cannot shift it. It's chronic so icing seems pointless and stretching makes it angry. Mines is behind the knee on outside. I know this affects so many! Thanks for all the tips and posts😉

[@atrivix]

Real and usefull tips here! Ty Legend!

[@YvesStuessi]

Thank you Dave!

[@albertfoha1]

wow! Dave, with your knowledge and given that you know and went through the sources of the available scientific data regarding the subject you could publish a scientific review in a specialized sports medicine journal on the current state of the matter. Thanks for the video! What an enjoyment to follow your updates and projects! Definitelly a referent for myself.

[@gilalc]

Just listened to this video , I believe it will help me with my tendinitis from hand stands . just because it changed my mental state about the “injury”. I’ll just keep on working instead of worrying.

[@marceloaguires]

Really interesting video and very helpful

[@Nuttyirishman85]

When I saw your training video you did with tennis elbow, I hope you had another specific video!!!

[@kettlebells-ez9xi]

The part about the shoulder deffs rings a bell with me too

[@gedrooney9305]

Great video Dave, im 41 now and have had the dreaded tendonosis in my weaker right arm after lockdown that I've managed to back off by simply doing more........push ups. Ridiculous but that's the body eh. Many thanks ;)

[@eoin6853]

Love the video Dave. Any further insights based on your current injury?

[@pereforteza4895]

It's been two years for me now with this problem on my right elbow and i had have some months of total desesperation and avoid climbing at all. At the begining of my injury I take some rest and then start the reab with very very soft exercicis, it didn't work for me at all. Now i'm trying to go back to climbing, the first thing that I did it's been global exerceses like push ups, pull ups, biceps pulls, shoulders... to try to get in better shape and now i'm starting to put some more specific work and go back to climbing once a week or two. The pain is still there and i haven't seen a real progression in the last two months and some days like today are thought and very hard for the motivation but i'm gonna try very very hard the entire 2022 because I really need to be able to climb again and enjoy that sport again. Thanks for all the recomendations Dave, thanks a lot. Sorry for my bad english, i'm from spain and it's not been easy at all to whatch the full video and understand everything but I tryed my best.

[@thegreatbritishadventure2849]

Thank you. I have suffered with my elbows for years and thought my training days were over despite medical advice and physio. I saw this a year ago and a lightbulb moment happened. I applied the principles Dave talks about and, a year on, have no pain. I have recommended this VLOG to many people. At 57 I am able to climb and train with enjoyment again. Thank you once again.

[@living4adrenaline]

The Bulgarian weight lifters worked up to max lifts daily and they were incredibly successful and weren't getting injured. I like that quote about tendons not requiring rest. Thank you for the insight!

[@danfletch7351]

Awesome vlogs they feel so personal and very thoroughly explained... I'd love to know what dietary changes you made, I've just watched the plant based diet vlog which was also very good..

[@NicoleKrawczyk]

I only just found this video and realized I used pretty much all those techniques to get over my elbow(and shoulder/wrist) tendinitis. Resting made things worse and working out or doing things I wasn't supposed to do according to common knowledge worked extremely well. I'd also like to add hanging (from a pull-up bar- just letting gravity do it's work) to the list of things that seemed like a no-no, but were a game-changer.

[@stefanp2883]

Thank you for this very informational video! As there are factors where we don't know every detail (based on science) there will always be room for an educated guess. I injured my wrists (TFCC) a few months before and feel a bit golfers elbow since a few weeks now, ironically the typically rehab excercies for the TFCC are mostly equal to the ones for golfers elbow, so I try to keep on bouldering, climbing and training as long as it does not get much worse. For the TFCC Injury I saw a doctor but only was told to rest for 4 weeks. I did and it didnt' get much better, so I continued doing the things I usually do but tried not to overdo it when there was pain. It's getting better over time, but slowly. The golfers elbow luckily isn't too bad, I stopped doing pullups but I think I will move on. I think strenghtening instead of just resting is a good advice, just do it carefully and listen to your body.

[@sirwuds]

Subscribed. Would love to see an exercise video containing the eccentric movements discussed Thanks ! Amazing content

[@Will-kt5jk]

I had tennis elbow in one arm & I’m glad I found the info on eccentric exercise - my initial just load it up (concentric focussed) made it far worse. I also did take a break from climbing for a few weeks, then gradually increased it back, but the eccentric stuff allowed me to have better control over how much load I put on it (even if I pushed it too hard a few times, causing a step back). I also increased overall protein intake & knew the vitC requirement for protein to increased leafy greens & a vitC protein, just in case. Only just got back to full load in all directions with barely any pain left manning I started climbing much harder again… …at which point the other elbow decided it wanted a turn. Now have tennis elbow on the other side (triggered more on thumb grips/pinches whereas last time it was more the last 3 fingers that triggered it. I would say the recovered elbow tendon now has far more thickness than either before injury, or than the tendon on the other arm. I’m hoping with that experience, I can get a faster recovery on the newly injured arm, but not confident I won’t end up with golfer’s elbow once I’ve resolved the tennis elbow.

[@leoingson]

Right on time, perfect ;-))

[@cmpngmmth]

As a medical professional, I love the work you've done to tease through the lit on climbing injuries and give some objective advice with nuance. Too much out there these days lacks nuance. I bought your book years ago, and really appreciate your approach. I started dealing with a bit of medial epicondylitis pain recently and like you had been quite afraid of developing it. Looking forward to following through on your advice.

[@matthewkenney8670]

Any update?

[@cmpngmmth]

@@matthewkenney8670 yeah all healed and climbing harder than ever

[@alexrixey975]

Thank you Dave, I really appreciate such an informative video. I’ve been trying to recover myself from medial tendonosis for the past couple months. I believe I identified it as a potential problem early enough to avoid making it worse, but found like yourself, that resting accomplished nothing. I’ve been primarily doing eccentric wrist curls (3-5 second eccentric, no concentric) a couple times a day at a low weight, as well as slow pronation and supination. After watching this video, I’m just really struggling to identify how much to push the pain? I identified the injury early enough where the pain has never been substantial, it was really dynamic throws / lock offs where I initially noticed it climbing, which then progressed to dull pain on and off throughout the day. As I get back into climbing - how do I know if I’ve pushed to hard? If the pain stays more or less consistent a day after climbing or a harder rehab.. I assume I’m good?

[@jokka1632]

This is great, Dave! Thank you a lot! I have been dealing with golfers elbow for 8-9 months now. You have given me new hope. What are your thoughts on hangboarding before complete recovery? Usually my elbows do fine while bouldering, but half crimping the deepest hold on the Beastmaker for a short hangboard session makes them ache for a week after. Do you think one should just press on or drop the hangboard until the elbows are in better shape? Could using open grips be a work around? I have just started trying the hangboard, tired of being held back by fingerstrength. I've done all the wrist exercises except for the one attacking the pronator teres. I'm hoping it will be the game changer. For reference I've been bouldering for 1,5 years and climb 6b+/6c. Cheers!

[@anvildo]

Mark Rippetoe a strength coach has a protocol of Dailey pull-ups done for one to 3 weeks . That he states has always worked for his clients with these elbow issues. I cleared much the same way 30 years ago .

[@richardray1075]

This is what I waanted to hear. Ive just started climbing again over the summer after a 10 year break. Ive been trying to build up slowly but got a little obsessive. 4 months in I've got a few niggles and now elbow pain. I guess my bidy isnt up to the demands i'm putting one it and get stronger overall is the answer. I'm not young any more, i havae goals in climbing and really dont want enforced rest.

[@WyandWombat]

So I had pretty nasty elbow problems on my left arm last year. I bought your book, make or break, read through it and tried a lot of things for quite a while. However, I couldn't get rid of it. After visiting a doctor that specializes on climbing injuries, we found out that it was in fact my triceps tendon attaching to the elbow that caused the pain. It would prevent me from doing push ups, mantles and anything remotely resembling gaston moves. Unfortunately that type of injury was not covered in your book. HOWEVER, your principles revolving around excentric exercises with light weights eventually helped me resolve the issue. I had to tinker a bit to try and find an exercise that would load that specific tendon in such a way, but watching out for the cues regarding the mild pain you mentioned I managed to work something out that would quickly improve the issue and after a longer period of time resolve it completely.

[@climbermacleod]

Well done! Yes adapting the rehab from general principles to suit the individual is the way forward. I once had a little triceps tendon pain for a short period myself. I still find that dips (but not pushups) can aggravate it.

[@neilreading990]

Hi Dave, as always this is great video with excellent information. I have been struggling with golfers elbow in my left arm for some time now. it started about 6 years ago and and progressive got worse over a 2 year period and similar to yourself no matter what I did I couldn't seem to fix it, even taking long periods of rest only made it worse. finally after seeing this video about 3 years ago i was able to start tacking the issue. and the problem almost completely went away. but now it is returning and progressively getting worse. my question is do you do the ecentric exercises on both arm, I ask because last time i had it in both arms to different degrees but this time it really only effects the left arm. Thank you

[@jackoward1]

Hi Dave, thanks so much for putting out information of this quality, extremely helpful and kind of you.Would you happen to know anything about triceps tendinopathy? or where i could find a decent resource to help over come it?

[@kazhatfield1346]

Hi Dave. I’d buy your book if it wasn’t $44 on Amazon :) I also usually only watch the shortest videos on any given subject but as you can guess this one strikes at the very home of my heart. I moved back to Colorado about three years ago and acquired this a few months after. I climbed on and off with it for a little over a year before I decided to quit climbing. I haven’t touched rock in nearly a year. After some advice I have started doing eccentric exercises. There is no more pain but I am am still reluctant to do anything besides eccentric exercises. I wonder, what exercises if any do you still do for your elbows and were you doing pull ups all the way up to when it healed? Thank you so much for your time if you’ve happened to make it through this whole read. You rock! Thank you for inspiring! Cheers, Kaz Hatfield

[@LetalisLatrodectus]

Ever since I started climbing I had elbow issues, not being able to climb more than once every 5 days or I would be in pain, this went on for 4 months. After resting for the lockdown for 5 months nothing changed. Came across this video and decided, instead of resting a lot, I would just go climbing more and do rehab exercises. Specifically, I did 400 seconds of hanging from a bar every day. in sets of 40 (active)/60(inactive) seconds. My issues evaporated in less than 2 weeks. Not saying bar hanging is a good rehab exercise or anything but it was just the first thing I tried.

[@MrAfricaturtle]

Dave, would you have any suggestions for an isometric protocol to supplement eccentrics ? Many thanks for the useful video.

[@brotherpine7867]

Dave! Thank you for the incredible video. Do you think this would work for tendonosis of the triceps?

[@gv4130]

I also suffered for a couple of years and found the exact same thing. No exercise or light exercise never helped. I had to work it harder and it finally started going away.