56-year old suddenly having wrist, elbow and shoulder problems

Injury/Nutrition Other

5 years ago 06/18/2018 10:32pm EDT

Help! I am a 56-year old former runner now given to swimming and strength training with free weights, body weight exercises and a session of medicine ball & jumping exercises. I am unsure how I developed these probably related problems, but I'm having:

1. slight to moderate problems in both shoulders (possibly related to switching crawl stroke from breathing every third stroke to sometimes breathing every 2nd-stroke);

2. a (carpal tunnel?) issue with my right wrist possibly due in part to playing Crossy Road too much - I've stopped playing for a few weeks now but I always seem to be typing;

3. tendonitis in both elbows though it is worse in the right.

I usually do sets of pull-ups and chin-ups three times per week, and I'm backing off those for a bit. Some grips seem harmless but others may be damaging.

Any suggestions? I've been thinking about getting something to strengthen my hand and forearm grip after, hopefully, I resume my normal routine.

5 years ago 06/19/2018 4:05am EDT

re: Popeye Arms

do a deadhang instead of pullups for a while. free weights and other strength training causes adaptive shortening of the tendons in the arms, so give them a rest and stretch a lot more, try yoga even because it stretches everything. if you dont watch to do yoga just stretch everything. for swimming get a kickboard, shoulder problem wont happen and when you go back to the front crawl youll kick harder, breastroke for now to get a workout. when you go back to lifting try pullups and chinups two times a week instead of three, and start way lighter and work on using full range of motion. stretching after every single time more than you think you need to. give it a rest and focus on rehab basically, the older you are the more recovery needed.

5 years ago 06/19/2018 7:46am EDT

re: Popeye Arms

Perhaps post this particular issue over at Slowtwitch for the tri-geeks.

5 years ago 06/19/2018 8:34am EDT

re: Popeye Arms

You may want to have Lyme disease test just for kicks.

5 years ago 06/19/2018 9:48am EDT

re: Popeye Arms

It all sounds like overuse type stuff, without knowing specific details of what exactly you had been doing leading up to this, you may just need to treat it like any overuse injury - back off for a bit and recover. Then progress back slowly once you are pain free.

5 years ago 06/19/2018 11:54am EDT

re: Overuse

Overuse wrote:
It all sounds like overuse type stuff, without knowing specific details of what exactly you had been doing leading up to this, you may just need to treat it like any overuse injury - back off for a bit and recover. Then progress back slowly once you are pain free.

^This. As a 68 year old who ran and swam masters for about a decade before going back to just surfing and running, your problems sound like a little worse than average "getting old" overuse issues. If you are using hand paddles in workouts definitely stop that for awhile, and, if you can, get someone good to look at your stroke mechanics to see if there are some improvements that would lessen stress on your problem joints. Finally, you have reached the age where serious consistent dry land stretching and strengthening exercises are necessary for injury prevention/minimization if you want to continue to train hard.

5 years ago 06/19/2018 6:29pm EDT

re: Popeye Arms

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

Anyone, perhaps rock climbers, with recommendations for improving hand- or gripping-strength once I've recovered?

5 years ago 06/19/2018 6:55pm EDT

re: Popeye Arms

As a former longtime rock climber, I would advise against seeking out specific grip-strength exercises in your case. Just focus on recovery and avoid overuse re-injury.

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