Tennis Elbow Rehab Secrets

The tennis elbow rehabilitation process is essential to strengthen the muscles throughout the elbow to prevent future strain. Proper stretches before and after regular activities while using the elbow are important to keep the muscles in the area flexible. I have occasionally forgotten the stretching part before playing tennis and have suffered the consequences. The following stretches and strengthening exercises are the most effective I've used over the last 30 years of participating in tennis. Basic Stretch: Most physical therapists will advise you to do a basic warm-up before doing any stretching. My favorite is 10 minutes with an exercise bike. In the event that's not possible, jogging in position or jumping jacks work just as well. The fundamental stretch is holding your arm straight ahead of your chest and gently pulling you fingers toward your chest. I recommend holding the stretch for the 10-20 count and repeating two or three times. Advanced Stretch: I learned the the advanced stretch from the University of Minnesota tennis team's orthopedic specialist. Extend your arm just like the basic stretch, but turn your finger away from the body. Then gently pull your fingers toward your chin for the 10-20 count. Repeat 2 or 3 times. Easy Finger Extension: This easy strengthening exercise can be carried out anytime or anyplace if you have a rubber band. Put the rubber band around your fingers and extend them. Your can feel the critical muscles within your upper forearm. I do three sets of 10-20 reps dependent on the sized rubber band. Wrist Curls: A really efficient way to improve the strength of the muscles around the elbow is easy curls using small weights or a can of veggies from your your pantry. Be sure you begin with smaller weights before you build the elbows strength. Do 2 or 3 sets of 10-20 curls based on the sizing of the basic curl is the forearm extending over your knee and simply raising and lowering your wrist slowly.A more advanced curl technique is to hold the weight in a vertical position and twist your wrist back and forth Forearm Curl: The forearm curl is favored by my club's head tennis professional. Support the weight vertically in your hand in front of your belly button. Keeping your wrist locked, lift the weight up and down between your belly button and chest. Deep Massage: When the pain is substantially reduced, sports doctors recommend massaging the injured part of the elbow with your thumb. He stressed that it is critical to use a a lot of pressure during the massage.