As I’ve progressed in my athletic career, I’ve realized the importance of maintaining strength and mobility in the wrists & elbows. This BOMBPROOF 💣 installment is a MED program meant to be performed as a part of the strength athlete’s warm up.
Building exceptional joint integrity in the small joints of the arm is paramount for longterm sustainability with kettlebell training. BOMBPROOF 💣 is appropriate from those with previous injuries or those looking to gain maximum durability.
John Parker
April 17, 2024
BOMBPROOF 💣 Wrist and Elbow
I became fascinated with the Olympic Rings early in 2015 and achieved movements like the muscle up, forward roll, backward roll, German hang, and other various feats of strength. My training progressed rapidly until I fell victim to golfer’s elbow.
https://centenoschultz.com/tennis-elbow-vs-golfers-elbow/
I developed excruciating pain in my medial epicondyles that disallowed me from grabbing a mug without searing pain in my elbows. My intensity in ring training was not matched by the specific strength & mobility that I should have developed first.
Ring training involves hard gripping, pulling, and pushing with high torque in the t-spine, shoulders, elbows, and wrists. My weak links (inside elbows) were exposed in this process. It took me 5 years to fix this problem. Then began lateral epicondylitis…
The lateral version (tennis elbow vs. golfer’s elbow) became a constant pain. Although my pain was localized to my elbows, I postulated that my tight shoulder girdle was to blame for the smaller joint taking the forces during my pushing and pulling exercises.
To keep medial and lateral epicondylitis at bay, I developed the Scapular Strength Series, invested in Crossover Symmetry Bands, and performed the stretches in The Long Stretch daily. With diligence, my pain began to subside with my new routine.
Last summer, I incorrectly threw a left hook during Muay Thai training and injured my wrist. I saw parallels with the resources to rehabilitate elbows with that of the wrist. In my research, I settled on a variation of Ben Patrick’s program, Wrist Ability.
Ever since feeling the pain points of wrist/elbow/shoulder injuries, I perform BOMBPROOF 💣 along with various mobility exercises prior to training with barbells, kettlebells, and clubbells. If I don’t have time to warmup, I’ll perform the warmup exercises in between sets of the assigned program for the day. Bent Press Flow with a SoCalKettlebellz 32kg at Corte Madera Mountain, CA.
BOMBPROOF 💣 - Wrist and Elbow showcases a warm up meant to improve blood flow to the lower arm with a stimulus of mobility/flexibility. I have included essential shoulder and upper back warm ups that ensure overall upper body health performance.
To perform this program, students will need basic self-massage & release tools, dumbbells, (ideally) clubbells, and bands. This program should be modified based on the individuals needs. If unsure of your needs, perform the program as written.
I would love to know any pain points that you may have as a kettlebell athlete. There is always something that can be done with an injury. We just need to be smart, apply full ROM, and know how much to push ourselves. As always, thank you for reading!
Instructions: BOMBPROOF 💣
Wrist and Elbow
Maintaining joint integrity in the wrists, elbows, and shoulders directly affects our interaction with strength training progress. Whether requiring pre-habilitation, rehabilitation, or covering one’s bases, these exercise progressions are indispensable.
I recommend performing any (or all) of these modalities depending on the severity of one’s injury history or need to build durable joints for their endeavors. Once mobility and strength have been restored, one can easily regress to maintenance schedule.
Wrist and Elbow Mobility + Flexibility
General Wrist Warm Up - Closed Chain - 10 Reps/Each
I aim to perform active stretching ie; performing reps into the stretch for each assigned movement. I perform between 10-20 reps per stretch depending on the tightness of the associated muscle
General Wrist Warm Up - Open Chain - 10 Reps/Each
Wrist and Elbow Strength
Perform the Wrist and Elbow Strength movements prior to beginning any other exercise. After getting a pump in the wrists, forearms, and upper arms, then perform the needed upper body mobility and strength exercises listed below.
Attribution to ATG Online Coaching and Wrist Ability.
A1. Wrist Ulnar Flexion 12+12/3
A2. Wrist Radial Flexion 12+12/3
B1. Clubbell Pronation + Supination* 12+12/3
*Of all the movements in this series, the Clubbell Pronation + Supination is my favorite. I find that each repetition stretches the pronators and supinators unlike any other exercises. This loaded flexibility seems to open up the medial and lateral epicondyles effectively.
B2. Wrist Flexion + Extension 12+12/3
C1. EZ Bar Reverse Curl 12/3
One can alternate this exercise with the dumbbell variation or Zottman Curls.
C2. Single Arm Dumbbell French Press 12+12/3
The Shoulder Girdle
Mobility + Flexibility
Post Wrist and Elbow, athlete’s can effectively use a dowel rod for loosening up their shoulder girdle.
Alternatively, and if available, one can prime their shoulder girdle using Crossover Symmetry bands as displayed in BOMBPROOF 💣 Shoulders.
BOMBPROOF Shoulders 💣
Serious athletes know the importance of maintaining BOMBPROOF Shoulders. A rigorous strength pre-habilitation practice using Crossover Symmetry can bolster the resilience of the shoulder girdle for athletic longevity and increased performance.
In the evening, I recommend performing the self-massage techniques listed in BOMBPROOF 💣
After the shoulder girdle is loosened, it’s prudent to add in choice stretches as listed in The Long Stretch.
For those training with Clubbells, follow the warm up listed in MED Clubbell Chains.
MED Clubbell Chains
Clubbell training invokes a primal reminder of our humbled human ancestry. Quite possibly the simplest of all weapons, the club’s short and conical shape allowed single and double handed gripping for bludgeoning the enemy in hand-to-hand combat.
Post-Workout Rotator Cuff Training
Perform rotator cuff, alternating the exercises listed here, after every upper body training session.
Tempo: 2-2-2-2
Side Lying L-Fly 12+12/3
Scapular Plane L-Fly 12+12/3
Once this program is memorized, it can be done incredibly quickly, ie; 8-10minutes. I perform a variation of this program, along with using my Crossover Symmetry bands, every time I plan to train with my barbells, kettlebells, or clubbells. It’s worth the time.
Thank you for reading and please let me know about your individual pain points so that I can provide more resources to you. All injuries subside in time, but every action toward strength is time well spent.
John Parker
April 17, 2025
This is awesome read:) i have currently golfer elbow in left hand and tight shoulder and silght slap tear in right shouder so its prefect for now. Im trying to fix shoulders with clubbel workouts, but they are heavy on elbows initially, especially with to fast weight progression:)
I also wanted to get back to rings at some point.
I have few questions.
You have mentioned that it took you 5 years to get rid of golfer issue. Was it with this protocol or before you knew it? Will it take me 5 years with above methodology?:)
Also do you think it is wise to do any ring work with slight golfer symptoms, or I should treat it fully first (no pain at all). Or i can work around pain, to maintain mobility and strength for rings?
Edit: Also, any points on diet for elbow injury recovery? Does collagen rich diet or joint supplements help rebuilding tendons and quicker fix? or just any balanced diet should be enough?
hey, just note - Scapular Strength Series link is broken in text:)