Tingling Sensations

[DrMull04]

Alright guys, this may or may not have been discussed..frankly I'm not in the mood to search around all day for a thread but anyways, when I'm training arms, specifically triceps I get a shooting/tingling up my arm when I'm doing dips, and close grip tricep presses...any ideas on what this could be? I know it's not overtraining but I don't want to fuck up nerves/tendons...any input would be great... :hmmm:

[fog_hat1981]

Originally Posted by DrMull04

Alright guys, this may or may not have been discussed..frankly I'm not in the mood to search around all day for a thread but anyways, when I'm training arms, specifically triceps I get a shooting/tingling up my arm when I'm doing dips, and close grip tricep presses...any ideas on what this could be? I know it's not overtraining but I don't want to fuck up nerves/tendons...any input would be great... :hmmm:

Have you ever heard of a "carrying angle" before?

[DrMull04]

No, I have not...

[fog_hat1981]

Originally Posted by DrMull04

No, I have not...

Well, I'm not in a situation where I can explain it right now but I'll try later when I get a chance. In the mean time look up Kinesiology papers in Google Scholar and you should find something mentioning it. If not I'll be back later tonight to explain.

[DrMull04]

Alright man, thank you

[fog_hat1981]

Originally Posted by DrMull04

Alright man, thank you

So - what did you find out???????

[NYCmitch25]

Originally Posted by fog_hat1981

So - what did you find out???????

Originally Posted by DrMull04

..frankly I'm not in the mood to search around all day for a thread

:thumbsdow

[DrMull04]

If you had to cut your workout short due to sharp pains in the tricep you wouldn't want to search either..

[Shibby]

Yea, I would hate to try and fix my problem. Someone else should do it for me.

[DrMull04]

Maybe if you guys would quit being dicks and actually post something worth reading It'd motivate me to actually do something about my problem...

[Shibby]

You shot yourself in the foot by saying you didn't feel like searching in the first post. We don't like that attitude as it is, and on top of that we have had ALOT of new members not searching.

[DrMull04]

But I'm not a new member number one, and two I thought I was descriptive enough in the very start of the thread that I was playfully frustrated and wanted any kind of insight, I've done my research and in a sense paid my dues around here to beable to talk to someone about a problem and not have to hear about the search button. I've been around for about a year and appreciate everyone's help and advice, and can respect people wanting to use the search button but for this instance I was hoping someone could see I was frustrated and wanted some quick advice..

[Shibby]

Well a bit of advice. You are lucky if someone has the answer for you right away, with something like this espeacially. Alot of times it's actually faster to find it than wait for someone to respond. As you notice it was almost 30 minutes before Foghat responded. He did give you some key words to search or google. New member or not laziness is not promoted. Hell even if I didn't do a search, I may not get the "use the search button" response, but I would get the "don't be such a lazy ass" response.

[fog_hat1981]

Originally Posted by DrMull04

Alright guys, this may or may not have been discussed..frankly I'm not in the mood to search around all day for a thread but anyways, when I'm training arms, specifically triceps I get a shooting/tingling up my arm when I'm doing dips, and close grip tricep presses...any ideas on what this could be? I know it's not overtraining but I don't want to fuck up nerves/tendons...any input would be great... :hmmm:

First of all, you're not going to get a ton of support for your issues if you keep this type of attitude going on for very long. However, I'm going to post this since someone later on down the line will most likely ask the same question and I won't feel like typing it then

Second of all, Bodybuilding is not a sport that concerns itself too much with peoples long term joint conditions / health etc. It's just the nature of the sport. However, since most of us are not professionals I think we should consider taking a look into the long term effects that heavy weights have on our joints and ligaments etc.

The study of Kinesiology / Anatomy supports the fact that our bodies are built for specific reasons in relationship to survival etc. Our bodies are structured to support certain functions; a perfect example is that of the "carrying angle" of the arms and legs, in order to "carry" things .

To help you understand why your elbow / arm has a "tingling" sensation you need to do this.

1. Stand up and put your arms to your side. Palms by your waist facing forward (supinated) and your upper arm (bicep / tricep) tucked tight against your body. What do you notice? The average male has a "carrying angle" of 5 degrees to 15 degrees. This means that if you were to look in the mirror right now that your hands would be farther away from your body than your upper arm (so you can carry things).

2. Now, remaining in this position you need to slowly pull your hands toward your upper body. If you follow the bodies natural range of motion (ROM) your hands should end up somewhere near the center of your chest or your mouth / face. In most case your hands will cross each other about 75% of the way into the ROM. This is your bodies natural ROM for the elbow joint (most people have about 135 degrees total ROM when allowing for the "carrying angle").

3. With your hands still at your chest or your mouth / face level turn your palms around to face forward (now a pronated grip). Push your hands slowly down to your waist. If you follow the bodies natural ROM again your hands should end up back where they originally started. You should be able to see where we are going now.

The body’s anatomy was not made to safely perform "close grip" tricep pushdowns. You can probably now imagine the amount of stress that is placed on your elbow when you add 200 pounds to the exercise (not to mention that a "close grip" tricep pushdown places about 3-4 times the amount of the 200 pound weight onto your elbow joint respectively).

The best way to "safely" work the tricep muscle in respect to your elbow and wrist joint is to perform tricep pushdowns with a lat bar with your hands spaced at shoulder width (typically 24" to 28"). You also need to adduct your shoulder blades to open the "carrying angle" to match this ROM. The wrist should be locked in place parallel to your forearm. How many times do you catch yourself with the back of your hand facing the ceiling at the bottom of this movement because the weight of the machine / bar is pulling your hands back up while your tricep is pushing your forearm down? Once again this places a ton of stress on your wrist. If you keep your wrists locked in position throughout the exercise the back of your hand should be facing the mirror in front of you (it also adds an extra inch or two to your ROM).

Rope pushdowns can also be performed "safely" but you need a rope that is at least 18" to 24" long. Most gyms do not have these as they do not realize the importance of one. However, if you have access to a rope close to this length you can follow your bodies natural ROM. Your hands start at your chest or your mouth / face and must follow the ROM meaning that as you go down with the weight your hands spread apart. The same strict form for your wrist should be taken into account here as well.

There are numerous other variations of these exercises that can be "safely" performed but these two are just the basics.

Also, if you ever venture into the machine area of your gym (hopefully high end machines or the example won't work ) you can see that the machines were mainly built with these things taken into consideration. That's why they are typically deemed "safer" than free weights.

As for dips, science has proven that any dip performed that exceeds a 70 degree angle increases your chances for "extreme shoulder joint hyperextension" and consequent elbow / wrist injury. Be very, very, very careful with dips (the same goes for squats).

There are tons of exercises for legs, shoulders, chest, forearms etc that are performed "improperly" in relationship to Kinesiology so I won't even go into those. However, if you ever have pain later on in life in relationship to your joints you should probably look into the study of the human body instead of just performing heavy exercises that can eventually wreak havoc on your aging body (realize that there is not a second that goes by that your body is not aging).

In conclusion, I still use old school methods of weight lifting from time to time to maximize strength and size but I have been more and more focused on treating my body better. This means that I do fewer and fewer dangerous exercises that may cause me not to be able to type a "search" for "carrying angle" to help myself out when my elbows and wrists are in so much pain.

[DrMull04]

Thank you man I appreciate the post, as for Shibby and you both I apologize, as I now see the laziness and attitude that I had on this thread...again, thanks.

[fog_hat1981]

No problem bro...

[helix139]

pain? try something else for awhile

[Puddles]

Excellent post, Fog hat.

I've learned that for me, most exercises performed with free weights aggrivate injuries less than using machines because the ROM on machines is not natural for me. I'm short and most machines are made for people bigger than me and adjusting the seat, etc. often just doesn't work for me. And of course, propper form helps a lot, make sure you're not being absentminded and doing things carelessly. Having a training partner who can point out when you're off is really helpful.

[offroad1]

no offense, but if you just want someone else to do something like that for you, not that people don't know what they're talking about, but what if they give you the wrong info and if fucks up your tricep to the point where you can't funtion with it.