I've Been Diagnosed...

Tennis elbow :(

Tennis elbow is a common condition in those who overuse their arms. It is inflammation on the outside of the elbow, where the tendons insert into the elbow bone. Tendons are tough bands of tissue that connect muscle to bone. The medical term for tennis elbow is lateral epicondylitis, which means inflammation at the bony prominence on the outer side of the elbow (the epicondyle). This is a type of tendinitis.

I will be wearing a strap on my forearm to keep the tendon in place for two weeks, if that doesn't work then I get to have a cortisone shot in my elbow :(  I may have quite a few tattoos, but I HATE shots, I HATE big needles and the thought of getting a shot in my elbow sounds plain horrific.

No lifting with my arms, I can still do lower body and cardio.  I'm not looking at it as a set back, just a little break and I'll be back at it in January.  Kyle isn't worried at all and thinks we can still get 5 pounds of lean muscle on me and have time to cut for the competition in May.

Glad I caved and went to the doctor, wishing I would have went sooner, maybe someday I won't be saying that and I'll actually go right away ;)

Cupping Therapy

My massage was wonderful and painful last night.  Kelly did some cupping therapy on me, my first time having that done.  It was interesting, I imagined for some reason that it would hurt, but it didn't.

When she first got started she was openly surprised by how bad my right shoulder area was.  In her words, "this is really bad", not really what I wanted to hear but I figured it was.  I have a huge knot in my right shoulder, little knots in my tricep, elbow and forearm.

She really worked me over, when she was focused on my forearm and elbow it was so painful.  She asked me if I wanted her to ease up a bit, heck no let's get through this and get me fixed!  I can't say enough about how amazing she is, so strong and really gets into it.

I have to go back next week, no heavy lifting with my arms.  I will probably just stick to working my legs, chest and back, no shoulders or arms for now.

I am pretty sore today and look like I have huge hickeys on my back, lol.  Everything still feels pretty tight, I will work on stretching with the foam roller and keep trying to get my muscles to ease up and RELAX.

I should have reached out to Kelly a while ago, another lesson learned about thinking I wait it out and the pain will go away.

Getting older sucks, doesn't my body understand I'm just trying to get it in the best shape possible???

At least it is a busy time of year, I'm not freaking out about missing days at the gym.  Focusing on taking care of me, once January hits though I better be feeling great because I will be back to hitting hard!