This has been such a thorn in my side for sometime now, so I am writing this post to put all the questions on this topic to bed once and for all!
Should you or should you not do stretches for tennis elbow?
What about stretching before/after exercise in general?
Is there any benefit when it comes to accelerating your elbow injury healing time?
The answers to these questions can be quite complex and confusing but after reading this article it will be much more clear and you can decide for yourself.
The rationale behind stretching is that it makes your muscles more flexible.
Ok.
And why is this good?
Most people think that if you stretch before and/or after exercise, your muscles will be less sore and you can avoid injuries such as tennis elbow.
Studies like this one have shown that when it comes to stretching, there really is no benefit.
But does that mean that you shouldn’t do it?
In my opinion, no.
Here’s the thing:
If the tennis elbow stretches below help decrease the pain in your elbow, then they are effective?
It really is up to you whether or not you should do them.
There is nothing bad about being a little more flexible and if the stretches help relieve tension and improve your injured arms range of motion.
Then by all means do them.
Even if psychologically they provide relief from your pain and suffering, then I would do them everyday without question.
So which stretches work best for tennis elbow?
The 4 below are the “goto” ones that I highly recommend to my clients.
The reason why these work is because they focus on relieving the stress, tension and pain in your upper forearm and extensor muscles.
In many instances, people tend to focus on the area of pain- instead of the muscles, tendons and ligaments that pull on that area.
And when it comes to tennis elbow, it is your forearm extensor muscles which need addressing!
The great thing about stretching is that you can do it pretty much anywhere, at anytime of the day and…
It doesn’t cost you a cent!
Let’s get started …
Forearm Extensor Stretch
- Lift your affected arm out in front of you, fully extended.
- Next rotate your arm inwards.
- Bend and flex your wrist back.
- With your other hand, reach around and grab the fingers and pull inwards.
- Hold this stretch for 10 seconds.
What happens here is that you are stretching your forearm extensor muscles, which are the ones which are affected when you suffer from tennis elbow.
Forearm Flexor Stretch
- Lift your affected arm out in front of you, fully extended with palm facing up.
- Let your wrist fall with fingers pointing downwards towards the floor.
- With your other hand, reach around and grab the fingers and pull back on the fingers.
- Hold this stretch for 10 seconds.
This will help any tension or tightness on the front of your forearm dissipate and improve your overall elbow flexibility.
Prayer Stretch
- Stand up straight with your palms closed with finger tips just below your chin.
- Keep your hands in close to your body.
- At a snails pace bring your hands down towards your waist.
- Maintain your palms together and you’ll start to feel your forearm and wrist flexors tighten and stretch.
- Hold for 10 seconds.
- Repeat 4 times a day.
This stretch helps improve the flexibility of your forearm and wrist flexors.
Reverse Prayer Stretch
- Bring your palms together just in front of your waist.
- Maintain this position in close to your body.
- Slowly move your hands upwards by bending your elbows.
- You’ll begin to experience a stretch and tightness in your forearms.
- Remember to keep the palms of your hands firmly against one another and close to your body throughout the entire range of motion.
- Hold for 10 seconds.
- Repeat 4 times a day.
As I discussed earlier on in this article, medical research has not proven that stretches whether for tennis elbow, other injuries or before/after exercise is beneficial.
While it is true that they improve your range of motion, flexibility and can help remove stiffness or tightness in your forearm, they won’t cure your completely of your tennis elbow.
So what is the permanent solution to recovering from tennis elbow once and for all?
In a nutshell:
You need to start a treatment program that helps build the strength back up in your forearm extensor muscles.
It’s as simple as that!
Without them, there is no chance of a complete recovery.
To this day I still get frustrated by sufferers who think that their condition can be cured by drugs, creams or pain medication.
The answer that you are looking for can not be found at the bottom of your pill bottle!
If you think you can just sit around the house, put your arm in an elbow brace and sit on the couch and eat potato chips – think again!
There is no need to waste your time or money going back and forth to Doctors or Physio, washing down pain medications every 3-4 hours, wearing bulky and restrictive tennis elbow braces or taking the more painful route of cortisone injections.
Tennis elbow is an injury that can be fixed and resolved at home using self-treatment techniques.
Stretches are good for temporary pain relief but as you now know, they can only take you so far.
The thing is that it your recovery starts with you.
All you need to do is follow the 5 proven steps in the video and I guarantee your tennis elbow will be completely gone in 30 days or less.
I really can’t make it any simpler or easier for you.
But …
If you’d rather just pop pain medication every 3 hours for temporary pain relief – then please don’t bother.
The thing is:
You don’t have to break a sweat!
You don’t have to devote special time out of your busy day for treatment!
Never again will you have to shell out a single dime on “traditional treatments” which are simply band-aid solutions and temporary fixes that only take away your money and not your pain!
Ready to get started?
Step 1 is to check out this instructional video tutorial that explains everything you need to know on how to quickly get started at home.
Then just follow the step-by-step guide that I give you and your elbow pain will be dramatically reduced within 72 hours or less.