In the quest for mass, many people have used skullcrushers as a tricep exercise, only to end up with aching and tender elbows. If you google "skullcrusher pain" you get an idea of just how prevalent it is. After reading numerous posts on a variety of fitness forums, I think it's safe to say that the number of pain sufferers far exceeds the painfree.
It seems like it affects almost everyone who does this exercise. Surprisingly however, I couldn't find a single article on the biomechanics that cause it, so I had to dig a little deeper and do my own write-up.
I posted it in my training journal but since a few folks thought it would be a helpful post for others, I'm putting it here as well.
Skullcrushers and Elbow Pain
In this write-up, I will address the following topics:
Elbow Anatomy
Skullcrusher Biomechanics
Why It Hurts
What To Do About It
The Anatomy of the Elbow
The elbow is made up of three bones, connected by muscles, ligaments and tendons. The humerus is the large upper arm bone. The ulna and radius are the two bones in the forearm.
The elbow joint is actually three separate joints; the ulnohumeral joint, the radiohumeral joint and the superior radioulnar joint. This allows the forearm to move up & down, side-to-side and rotationally.
The elbow also has four main ligaments. On the medial aspect of the elbow is the ulnar collateral ligament that connects the ulna to the humerus. On lateral aspect of the elbow is the radial collateral ligament that connects the radius to the humerus. The other two ligaments are the annular ligament and the quadrate ligament. They connect the radius to the ulna. There is articular cartilage anywhere that two bony surfaces come into contact with each other, allowing the elbow bones to move easily as the elbow bends.
The biceps, brachialis and brachioradialis muscles flex the elbow. The triceps muscle extends the elbow. Other muscles that move the hand at the wrist also originate at the elbow. These muscles attach via tendons to the medial and lateral epicondyles.
The bursa is a small fluid filled sac that decreases the friction between two tissues. Bursae also protect the bony protrusions on the elbow bones. There are three different bursae around the elbow the largest of which is the olecranon bursa in the back of the elbow.
The Biomechanics of Skullcrusher Pain
Looking at the anatomy of the elbow, it's easy to see that the human arm wasn't designed to hold a heavy weight in an inverted, suspended position. In part, this is why skullcrushers are so effective at isolating the triceps but it's also the reason why they end up hurting.
In addition to the stresses that are placed on the tricep muscle, it's a movement that compresses the outer elbow joint. This compression increases the amount of friction on the tricep tendon as it inserts into the olecranon at the tip of the elbow. This friction in turn irritates the olecranon bursa, which reacts by becoming inflamed. This is called Olecranon bursitis.
Why Does Olecranon Bursitis Hurt like Hell?
As anyone who's bumped their funnybone knows, there are a surprising number of nerve endings in the elbow joint. A swollen bursa is no different than a water balloon and any engineer can tell you that water cannot be compressed. So every time you bend your elbow, you're squeezing that water balloon and the pressure is being transferred directly to those nerve endings.
More bending = more pressure = more inflammation, which is why your elbows can hurt for days after doing skullcrushers. People who attempt to ignore the pain and not let the inflammation subside, tend to regret it:
So What's The Cure?
For starters, stop doing skullcrushers when your elbows begin to hurt and don't try to macho it out with that stupid "no pain, no gain" cliché.
Rest is the most effective treatment. Ice will reduce the inflammation. Cortisone injections will alleviate elbow pain and swelling but almost always deteriorate the ligaments after repetitive doses.
Alternative Exercises
There are a variety of equally effective tricep exercises that will not place as much stress on the elbow joint. Dips and Close-grip Bench Press are the first two that come to mind.
The important thing is to not lock yourself into a paradigm of thinking that there is only one exercise that is going to get you larger triceps and then to ignore your body's warning signs. Rather than injure yourself and end up not growing at all, find an alternative path to your goal. You may get there slower, but it's better than not arriving at all.
References:
JointPainInfo.com
MedicineNet.com
Dartmouth.edu
AidYourPain.com
ChiroCommunity.com
I'll add the caveat that I'm neither a doctor nor a kinesiologist...this is simply what I've put together from my own research. Doubtless there are a whole lot of folks out there far more qualified than me to describe why skullcrushers hurt but until they step up and add their $0.02, this is the best conclusion I've got.
~ Chris
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Thread: Skullcrusher Pain
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02-09-2007, 10:41 AM #1
Skullcrusher Pain
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02-09-2007, 11:01 AM #2
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02-09-2007, 11:04 AM #3
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02-09-2007, 11:06 AM #4
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Wow, I got such good gains using the pre-weighted 90-100lb EZ bars for that exercise. Been doing them for years and no adverse affects from it.
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02-09-2007, 11:12 AM #5
You know, Chris... I was thinking about this last night after I got home. When I do these with an EZ Curl Bar, and a spotter, I have the pain. But since I started doing them sans spotter on the Paramount Cable Machine, I haven't had any problems with pain at all. Any ideas why? Not that I'm complaining or anything... I would assume it's some sort of ROM issue, but that is strictly a guess.,
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02-09-2007, 11:13 AM #6
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02-09-2007, 11:22 AM #7
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02-09-2007, 11:28 AM #8
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02-09-2007, 11:30 AM #9
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02-09-2007, 12:06 PM #10
Wow, great post.....and I thought it was just me. I have had left elbow pain when doing these. For some reason I have been ignoring the pain thinking it would work itself out. A gym buddy said to extend the range of motion so to speak and bring the bar a bit past my head. For some reason, the pain is minimal when I do this, and the triceps still seem isolated. I am not sure if this is the best thing to do, but it seems to work.
Cardio rules!!:)
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02-09-2007, 12:08 PM #11
Excellent post, Chris. Much good info in there.
To second your exercise suggestions, I cannot do skullcrushers due to elbow pain but can weighted dips and heavy cgbps with any discomfort at all.
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02-09-2007, 12:10 PM #12
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I do skull crushers each tricep workout but I use a tri cep bar (I think that is what it is called). I haven't gotten pain in my elbow but I have pain in my right forearm about mid way on the outside. I can't determine if it is from working tri's or curling. I do skull crushers each tricep workout but I use a tri cep bar (I think that is what it is called).
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02-09-2007, 12:15 PM #13
Good article. I noticed a little pain the first couple of times I did them, but a little rest did seem to help. I only do them about every couple of weeks now, so I don't stress the joints too much...
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02-09-2007, 12:37 PM #14
Very nice article. I, too, like skullcrushers and include them with every tricep day. I use an ez curl bar as well and pass the bar just past my forehead, and bring the bar to the top of my head in the low position if that makes sense. If I were to fail a rep, I'd rather not crush my forehead as the name of the exercise implies.
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02-09-2007, 12:40 PM #15
StartinOver, I posted before I read your post. Yes, this works well....holding the elbows high and missing the head completely. It was such a small modification that made such a big difference. Now I have to figure out why my left wrist/ inner forearm is killin me when doing bicep curls.
Cardio rules!!:)
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02-09-2007, 01:17 PM #16
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02-09-2007, 04:34 PM #17
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02-09-2007, 04:45 PM #18
Hey, I was only ranting when I brought this up.....didn't mean for you to actually dig into it like this! Great post Chris!
Dante knows about my tendonitis issues and the fact they have been slow to heal, so my tri rotation is dips, reverse grip and close grip BP's, none of which bother my tendons in the slightest.....great mass builders as well.
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02-09-2007, 05:34 PM #19
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08-22-2007, 10:29 AM #20
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08-22-2007, 10:50 AM #21
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08-22-2007, 11:06 AM #22
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Likewise for me and doing them since I started a bit over two years ago.
I use the curl bar for these too and do them every other week.
No probs thus far and just bumpred the wt to 85# for these.
I did have two significant bouts of the elbow pain tendonitis though.
Thanks for pointing this out as I will keep aware if pain starts rearing it's ugly head.Last edited by Wayne Evans; 08-22-2007 at 12:48 PM.
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08-22-2007, 11:40 AM #23
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08-22-2007, 11:46 AM #24
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08-22-2007, 12:02 PM #25
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Hey this is a great writeup man.
I've been experimenting with DB skullcrushers, because there isn't a barbell set with plates in my apartment's workout center.
I haven't heard of anybody doing them, but I'm wondering if there might be some benefit to doing these.. as opposed to the standard bar version (or maybe I'm just hitting a different head on my tri's? The motion feels really natural and smooth, as I'm holding the DB's in the natural up and down position of the hand (knuckles out), instead of knuckles up.. and it still works the heck out of my tri's!!
I would love to hear some thoughts on DB skulls if anybody has any.My workout sessions are so vicious, so auspicious, and so clankalicious!
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