4 Grip Mistakes Causing Your Inner Elbow Pain (And How to Fix Them)

Inner elbow pain, often known as Golfer's elbow or medial epicondylitis, is a nagging injury that can completely derail your upper body workouts. While many people assume they need to rest or stop training altogether, the true culprit is often something much simpler: your grip.

If you're getting your fitness advice from random social media ads teaching you how to haphazardly fling weights around, you might already be suffering the consequences. But even if you're sticking to the basics, a slight misplacement of the bar in your hands can cause chronic elbow pain over time.

Here are 4 common exercises where your grip is likely causing elbow pain, and exactly how to fix it.

1. The Improper Kettlebell Clean

A kettlebell clean is an incredible exercise when done correctly, but it's also a common source of elbow and shoulder injuries when performed poorly. One of the worst pieces of advice is to "flip" the kettlebell out and let it violently slam into your forearm.

This improper technique forces unnatural torque on the elbow joint and places your subscapularis under massive stress from forced ballistic external rotation. Instead of zippering the kettlebell up close to your body, this wide, swinging motion invites severe elbow tendonitis and even rotator cuff tears.

2. The Fingertip Grip on Pull-Ups

When you jump up to grab a pull-up bar, where does the bar sit in your hand? If you're like most people, you let the bar rest loosely in your fingers.

This is a massive mistake. The deep finger flexors responsible for holding that weight attach directly to the medial (inside) part of your elbow. By hanging your entire body weight from your fingers, you overload these tendons, leading directly to inner elbow pain.

The Fix: Instead of wrapping your fingers around the bar first, push the meaty part of your palm directly over the top of the bar. Wrap your thumbs, then your fingers.

3. Sagging Grip on Bicep Curls

Bicep curls are notorious for causing medial elbow pain, and the reason is almost identical to the pull-up mistake. As you progress through your set and your forearms get tired, the heavy barbell or EZ-curl bar tends to roll down out of your palms and into your fingertips.

This drift shifts the load off the biceps and heavily onto the delicate deep finger flexors.

The Fix: When gripping the bar, lead with your thumbs. Secure the bar deep into the palm of your hand and wrap your thumbs tightly to lock it in place before wrapping the rest of your fingers.

4. Loose Grip on Cable Rows

Whether you are doing high cable rows, seated rows, or lat pulldowns, pulling with your fingers is a recipe for disaster. The handles on these machines are often thick, making it tempting to use a lazy fingertip grip. Just like the previous exercises, the stress on the inside of the elbow accumulates rep after rep.

The Fix: Ensure the handle is seated deep inside the palm of your hand before you initiate the pull. Your fingers should just be along for the ride, not acting as the primary hooks holding the weight.

Conclusion

It's not just about what exercises you do, it's about how you do them. Protecting your joints and tendons requires attention to detail. By making these minor adjustments to your grip, you can eliminate the unnecessary strain on your elbow tendons and get back to building strength pain-free.