Feeling a sharp or aching pain near your elbow or your wrist when you bench-press? It’s a common complaint with weight lifters, but it happens for a few different reasons. The first thing you should do is take a break from lifting and any activities that make your pain worse. But don’t worry, you’ll likely be back to the gym after some rest and rehabilitation!

This article describes three common causes of elbow pain while bench-pressing and treatments that can help.

Can bench-pressing cause elbow pain?

There are a few different reasons that weight lifters start feeling elbow pain while they’re bench-pressing. The first, and one of the most common reasons, is poor form. Your grip and your arm position need to be aligned so you won’t put strain on your elbow joints and tendons. Doing too many reps or overloading your weight are also common issues that cause elbow strain. If you have any muscle imbalances or past injuries, these may have an effect as well. Other biomechanical factors that may contribute to elbow strain are your joint alignment and flexibility.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to stop lifting indefinitely. Most of these issues can be overcome with some rest and rehabilitation. A physical therapist can help you determine what’s happening and how to adjust so you can keep lifting pain-free.

Cause #1: Lifter’s elbow or golfer’s elbow

The most common cause of elbow pain while bench-pressing is medial epicondylitis, known as lifter’s elbow or golfer’s elbow. The medial epicondyle is a bony protrusion at the end of your humerus, the large bone in your upper arm. The ulnar nerve passes right next to it, which is what hurts when you hit your “funny bone.” When the muscle group and tendons attached here are overworked and damaged, you feel pain at the outside of your elbow. This usually happens because of improper grip and poor form.

Cause #2: Tennis elbow

If you’re feeling pain toward the inside of your elbow, you might have lateral epicondylitis or tennis elbow. This often happens when lifters overextend their wrists because they’re rotating their shoulders inward too far. The muscle group on the inside of your elbows gets overworked because it’s stabilizing the weight of the barbell.

Cause #3: Triceps tendinitis

Pain at the back of your elbow could indicate that you have triceps tendinitis. Your triceps tendon attaches to the humerus at the back of your elbow, and it gets overworked when your grip is too narrow. The primary muscles you should be working with the bench press are your chest, shoulders and triceps. If your grip is too narrow, you can’t fully engage your chest. Widening your grip will evenly distribute the weight across all three muscle groups.

What treatments help with elbow pain?

The treatments for each of these conditions are pretty similar. Of course, your individual course of treatment will depend on where your pain is, your anatomy and the strength of these different muscle groups. Muscle imbalances can contribute to these types of conditions, which is another reason why an in-depth assessment is key.

You can start by treating your pain at home with some rest and ice. You should also see a trainer or physical therapist to improve your form so the pain doesn’t come back. A physical therapist can do some manual therapy to break up stiffness and increase circulation in the affected area. This will help with the pain and speed up your healing process. Treatment should include some stretches and joint mobilization to increase your range of motion. After that, you can go back to strengthening in a balanced way. When you go back to lifting, you should talk with your physical therapist about your form and a workout plan that won’t overwork your muscles.

Get help for elbow pain while bench-pressing at Lattimore PT

Taking time away from the gym can be hard. Proper treatment will ensure that you can get back to lifting as soon as possible and that you can continue training with less risk of causing a serious injury. Overuse injuries can lead to chronic pain, and in some cases, straining at the gym can cause a traumatic injury.

The sports performance PTs at Lattimore Physical Therapy can help you recover and come back stronger than before. We help with all aspects of your performance, not just recovery and injury prevention. What other fitness goals are you working on? We can create a training program with you to keep your whole body balanced and toned while you focus on specific milestones. Ask us about anything from performance anxiety to sports nutrition.

Ready to get some help for your elbow pain while bench-pressing? Get in touch with us today to schedule your first appointment.