How do you release muscle tension during workouts?

Question

When I weight train, whenever i do a task that requires the use of my arms, the opposite side of the elbow (so where the arm bends) i get a lot of tension and sometimes the muscles lock up (or spasm), how can i prevent this, either with exercises for the elbows or some kind of warmup, or what?

Answer 1

stretching

Answer 2

Hey there
Sounds like your tricep muscles are cramping up, could be that you are training your biceps too hard & forgetting to train the opposing muscle group. Do some stretching, lift your arm up above your head & drop your forearm down behing the head. Use your opposite hand to hold onto the bent elbow in the air...feel the stretch?? Is it real tight? If so, you need to stretch more & do some tricep dips to strengthen them. Try this...sit on a strong, sturdy chair (not sofa type) & one that doesn't move! Take your hands behind your butt & with fingers facing the front, lift your butt off the chair & bend the elbows, dropping your butt towards the floor, keeping it close to the chair, you'll feel it it the back of the arms...triceps. Do 8 repetition dips, rest & stretch then another 2 sets. After a while you can build it up & do more reps.
Alternatively, if you know how to do this, then it could mean that you are over-training & you've got an inflammation in the insertion of the tricep muscle (just above the elbow?) Then, you'll have to ice them, alternate between 30 seconds hot therapy & 30 seconds of cold, do it for 20 minutes & then rest for a couple of weeks. Good luck

Answer 3

You should start off with stretching your arms. Then start off with low weights and reps as a warm-up. Then increase the weight and reps (reps +3, weight plus 5-10) each time. This should help take off the spasms. Also take 2 min breaks between each set and drink water.

Answer 4

you need to take Calcium supplements. Muscle cramps and spasms are signs of a Calcium deficiency. Also stretch a little bit first.

Answer 5

stretch before and after, drink plenty of water and I have heard that something in bananas is good for muscle craps.

Answer 6

stretching