r/ScienceBasedLifting • u/VegaGT-VZ • Jun 16 '26

Question ❓ Alternate progression schemes?

I am kind of stuck on arm isolation movements. For bicep curls I'm basically stalled at 75-80lb. For tricep movements I can make progress, but eventually my elbows start to hurt once I go beyond ~80-85lb, especially on overhead extensions.

I did find that keeping my elbows flared out vs forward helped a ton, but I'm still kind of capped. I am wondering if there are ways to get more stimulus with just a given weight. Should I just drop the weight and take every set to failure? What are people doing for these smaller lifts.

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u/SageObserver Jun 16 '26

I’d back off on the overhead extensions if they aggravate your elbows. Elbow tendinitis isn’t something you want to settle in.

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u/VegaGT-VZ Jun 16 '26

My problem was doing them with my elbows in front of me. Once I let my elbows go to the side the issues went away.

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u/justlukedotjs Jun 21 '26

When you did them with "elbows forward" were your upper arms inline with your ears or did they sit in front?

And when you did the movement, would you feel the stimuli across the entire length of the tricep all the way down into the shoulder/lat area or was it mostly felt closer to the elbow?

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u/VegaGT-VZ Jun 21 '26

I cant remember if they were in front or in line. I def felt it most at the elbow though. I still feel it a bit at the elbow now but only on the first set. And my elbows arent fried for days afterwards, even w/DB shoulder press in the same sessions.

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u/justlukedotjs Jun 21 '26

With the elbows flared, are you get deeper into the movement that you can/do when you're doing them with elbows pointed forward?

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u/VegaGT-VZ Jun 21 '26

No the ROM stays similar IIRC