Stretching those forearms!

[Gerald Mangona]

So this is more of a shared discovery than a question. I'm getting a wonderful lesson in how joint and connective tissue health are so important. Regular stretching and massage go a long way. I've been stretching my extensor muscles at the forearm near the elbow by holding my arm straight out and flexing my hand downward as much as possible. But unfortunately, either because I'm really lanky or because I'm really flexible, it doesn't do whole lot to stretch the tendons connecting the forearm to the elbow

What I've discovered is that by holding a stretch in that position while internally rotating my arm as much as possible, I can finally stretch that pinky extensor muscle up at the elbow. Now maybe that's why dorsal pushups are so important...I don't know. But for those of you who are having inflammation that'll lead to tennis elbow, give that a try. External rotation offers a nice stretch too to the other side.

Stretching, massage, ART, fish oil, magnesium, monitoring workload...anything else?

Boo tendinitis!

JM

[Joshua Naterman]

You can do the same thing for the inside of the elbow by reversing the twist when your palm is facing out during a forearm stretch! The forearm muscles run diagonally for the most part, so you get a better stretch when you twist. It really is the only way to get a good stretch, I remember being frustrated when my elbows first got screwed up during scruff duty in Virginia! I just couldn't get a good stretch, and then I realized that if I twisted my arm while I was stretching I could! It helped a lot.