Hamstring and elbow problems – Training on hold

Injuries

As unfortunate as it is, injuries are part of physical training. Of course, their prevention is the primary goal, but injuries cannot always be avoided.

I had a surprisingly long streak of injury free training. Actually, the whole year has been very consistent and there has been no need to take training breaks due to body aches of any kind. Well, maybe some minor back problems now and then but nothing severe. The fact that I could go from workout to workout without any problems was almost self-evident. Results were steadily progressing and trainingtime was my happy hour. Like a lightning from a clear sky, everything changed a month ago. Self-evidence was just a memory…

Hamstring or adductor

I practiced side splits the same way I have been practicing it for the past year. The only difference was perhaps a slightly more moderate warm-up. However, the feeling was quite good and the exercise did not feel strange in any way. While doing the isometric hold, I felt a special, quick ”bump” in my hamstrings. The feeling wasn’t painful, but more like fabric of a jeans had been ripped. After this, the glute and hamsrting area started to get hot, but I didn’t feel any real pain at any point. I stopped the exercise at that point because I got bit scared. Praying in my mind nothing too severe had happened…

There was no bruising or soreness in the area in the following days. Everyday chores were done without any pain. I thought I got away with a little. However, even a small stretch to the side split still felt uncomfortable in the glute area. The same unpleasant feeling was also when stretching the hamstrings. Of course, I didn’t stretch it more than for the sake of testing… When massaging the hamstrings, tenderness is felt on the inner side of the hamstrings (semi-muscles), near the glutes and sitbone.

All an all, I still can’t say in which muscle the injury is, or if it’s even tissue damage at any level. Since there is no pain, bruising, or tenderness in the area, I believe tissue damage is unlikely, however. For example, it is possible that some (extremely stretched) muscle has rolled over a bone (or other tissue) and is now in a protective cramp. It could also be that a really small part of the muscle has been torn.

In any case, the situation now is that practicing the splits has been impossible for the last month.

Elbow injury

In order not to get too easy with my ailments, around the same time my left elbow started to give me a hard time. The pain was initially felt in the lower part of the triceps, but has slowly started to localize in the lateral epicondyle of the humerus. So all the symptoms are referring to tennis elbow. Push-ups, chin-ups and dips have also been difficult due to this.

I would understand this if the problem was in the right elbow – the one with significantly more stress. I’m pretty sure that the elbow problem stems from the intensive construction of the backyard sauna. That’s one reason my body has been pretty overloaded throughout the summer in every respect.

However, a week’s worth of painkiller regimen, rest and active rehabilitation have begun to give good results. There is still pain, but now it’s are going in a better direction and the training is already quite good if you just avoid certain movements.

Summation

I’m not saying that this is easy for my mental wellbeing. A harmless little sprain (or tear or whatever) makes a long break in training and I fear the worst, that when I finally get rid of the pain, the stretch reflex will be back in the same point where I started a year ago. However, I understand that a couple of months is not a big deal overall and life goes on. The mental pain is still the biggest at the moment. It’s mainly because the quality of the injury is vague and I don’t know exactly what’s causing the pain.

What would be the right way to deal with injuries? Can anyone really relate to them?

Peer support would now be helpful 🙂