Well, after whining that Arnold was beating me to a pulp in my last post, that I could not keep up with the girl wonder, I decided to do a little research. Basically, I have two issues, a little shoulder thing that comes and goes and an elbow thing that mainly comes. I think the shoulder thing's rotator. At least, if I am religious about my rotator exercises, I keep it under control. Nancy and Mary, my personal trainer who got Nancy and me started as training partners, have helped with this.
The two women have been less quick to figure out a fix for the elbow, which is odd because Liberty Athletic Club where they have many clients was originally founded as a tennis club, and I've concluded I have tennis elbow (maybe this is a bad sign). Another guy there who I very occasionally talk to just mentioned out of the blue that he was doing some exercises for a pain in his elbow that was in the exact same spot as mine. He had tennis elbow.
Well, after reading this wikipedia article on tennis elbow, I'm convinced that that is what I have. The pain is on the outside of the elbow and seems to occur when I really push it with pulling exercises. Apparently, it is (thank god) just a nagging injury. The best advice seems to be to remain active in ways that don't cause it to hurt. Inactivity causes muscle atrophy (Noooooo!). As with most of these injuries, part of the issue may be that some muscles are not toned up enough and getting hurt by ones that are disproportionately stronger (seems to be the case every time I get a rotator issue). I'm going to try some of the stretching and strengthening exercises recommended here. We'll see if it works.
I'm still taking my week off. I think I need some rest and a chance to recharge. This blog is part of that process.
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