Try these two exercises to prevent tennis elbow

Tennis Elbow Prevention Exercises

Medical professionals call this issue lateral epicondylitis, but to most people, it’s called tennis elbow. In spite of its name, playing tennis isn’t the only way to get this elbow injury. Repetitive arm movements like painting or using vibrating tools can cause it too. The best way to deal with tennis elbow pain is to avoid it completely. This isn’t always possible for some people but there are two tennis elbow prevention exercises that can help. 

1.   Handshake stretch

One factor that can increase your risk of developing tennis elbow is tense forearm muscles. These muscles attach to tendons that are connected to the bones in the elbow. Stretching the forearm muscles can help decrease your risk of tennis elbow. A tennis elbow prevention exercise you can use to stretch tense forearm muscles is the handshake stretch. 

Doing this exercise will require a small hand weight or an object like a can that you can hold comfortably without using your thumb. You’ll also need a flat surface to rest your forearms on. To get into the starting position for the handshake stretch, hold the weight in your right hand with your thumb pointed up and rest your right forearm on the flat surface. Make sure your wrist is over the edge of the table so that it has room to move. 

Once in this starting position, slowly let your wrist move downward until you feel a stretch in your forearm. Hold this stretch for three to five seconds and then slowly lift your hand back into the starting position. Focus on moving from the wrist only during the entire exercise. Continue to repeat these steps until you’ve done 10 repetitions with your right wrist. Then repeat with the other wrist. 

2.   Wrist curls

Weak forearm muscles are another factor that can boost your chances of developing tennis elbow. An exercise that can help increase the strength of these muscles and prevent tennis elbow is the wrist curl.

To start this exercise, grab a light hand weight. If you don’t have one, you can use a can from the pantry. You’ll also need a counter or table to support your forearm. Starting with your left arm, grip the weight in your hand and then rest your forearm on the counter or table so that your wrist over the edge and your palm is facing up. From here, slowly curl your wrist upward and then return to the starting position. Your goal should be to do 15 to 20 repetitions before switching to the other arm. Adding three sets of this exercise to your normal strength training can help with tennis elbow prevention. 

Find out how SSOR can help you treat and prevent tennis elbow

Did you know that physical therapists can help treat and prevent tennis elbow using exercises and other techniques? Our physical therapy team at SSOR is ready to help you. Our complimentary screenings can help reveal that tennis elbow is the source of your elbow pain and can pinpoint issues that could increase your risk of tennis elbow. We can also build you an individualized therapy plan, which may use therapy methods like: 

Don’t wait to start getting our help with your tennis elbow. Contact us today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment.