It’s not Alzheimer’s. It’s not diabetes. It’s not even erectile dysfunction. The scourge of old age is…
Tendinitis.
I discovered this first in my forties. My elbows were killing me. Apparently you can’t do pull ups after 46. Who knew? Most recently, though, I was feeling pain in at the tips of my brachioradialis to the point where it hurt to pour coffee in the morning. It’s one thing if I can’t remember why I walked into a room or forgot someone’s name. It would be bad if I couldn’t perform sexually for my wife. But stand between me and my coffee? Tragic.
In addition to my arm pain, I had to quit running a couple of months ago because of some persistent hip flexor tendonitis. It came outta no where; I went for my usual easy Tuesday jog and had to come back after about three blocks. Both jogging and sprints have been off the menu for at least two months.
Time to take some action!
My One Month De-load
As of today (May 30, 2022) I’m bringing to an end a solid month (started May 2) of de-load. The program didn’t call for a complete cessation of activity, but definitely scaled back. Here are the basics:
- Monday lift – 6×10 bench press, 20 min. stationary bike
- Tuesday – Long walk or elliptical for 30 mins
- Wednesday lift – 6×10 deadlifts
- Thursday – Long walk or elliptical
- Friday lift – 6×10 squats
The lift routine was my best approximation of Duncan French‘s workout described on the Huberman Lab podcast episode 45. Large compound lifts, relatively short rest intervals (2 mins.), work to fatigue, but maintain 10 rep limit. I didn’t want any accessory work, since that seemed to aggravate my arm pain. No real explosive lower-body work, either, since that aggravated my hip. And rest. I needed to pull back on volume to let my body heal.
In addition, I’ve worn a tennis elbow brace (similar to this) which I’ve found in the past relieved my elbow pain tremendously. And I’ve done stretching work for my gluteus medius which has released the tension on my hip flexor(s). (For the record, directly rolling the hip flexor did nothing to relieve pain, only increased it!)
Finally, I added collagen powder to my morning yogurt bowl since there is some evidence it may help with tendinopathy.
Moving Forward
Today I starting moving back toward my traditional workout routine:
- 3×10 bench press
- 3×12 dumbbell overhead press
- 3×12 dumbbell pullovers
No back work. No bicep work. I may add some back in next week. I can confidently say that my love of back/bicep work is what started this in the first place. Although it’s summer, so “sun’s out, guns out”, I will probably pull back on bicep work in favor of a more important lift, power cleans. I don’t get enough true “power” lifts to stress those fast twitch muscle fibers, and power cleans hit the spot. But the pull from hip to shoulder stresses the brachioradialis tendon, so I have to prioritize this lift over the vanity lifts.
I’ll start running tomorrow with a glut med stretch, then a short jog to see how my hip feels. Depending on how that goes, I may attempt some half-speed hill sprints on Thursday.
Of course I want to be pain-free, but since it’s summer, I also want to play touch rugby! That is my priority, so I’ve got to do what it takes before summer is over!
Got any tips on tendonitis? Send them to me. Hopefully these will help you.