Snapping feeling in triceps

wynneth · 06-21-2008, 08:40 PM

Alright, so short of going to a doctor with something that may be silly and perfectly normal, I googled my way to this forum. I don't actually 'workout' per se, but I do a very physically demanding job that has put about 20 pounds of muscle on me in the last 8 months. Recently I've started to notice this issue with my triceps. It's not necessarily what I would call 'painful' in any true sense of the word, but in the same sense as popping the knuckles of your hand may be. Basically I find that at times (usually laying in bed) I can reach for something (the remote!) in a way that involves rotating my arm (like turning a doorknob) and something snaps in my tricep area. It's like the muscle is jumping over a knot or something, not like a tear. I don't actually know when this started, I just noticed it recently. When I rotate my arm the same way without any kind of downward pressure on it (not holding anything, etc) it seems like it wants to snap but doesn't. Being that I just put on alot of muscle in my upper arms, I'm betting it's just a matter of having more muscle in one area than another. It seems to me that while I have alot of endurance in my upper arms for most motion and quite a bit of strength, there are a few things that seem incredibly weak - for example: if I extend my arms palms up in front of me and try to hold a very small amount of weight (compared to what I can lift in any other way) it doesn't take much to over do it. FYI I work in construction and I'm also one of those guys whose muscles tighten way more than they bulk. (5'9 125lbs)

I realize this is probably some simple thing that I already answered myself, but I'm no expert.

Feel free to e-mail me, who knows if I'll remember to check this thread.

UConnJulie · 06-22-2008, 06:58 PM

Sounds like you need to do some stretching if you are tight.
What you are describing sounds to me like your wrist extensors ... and they are probably just tight but also might have trigger points. Any kind of tennis elbow stretches will help (do a search) as would finding the sore spots and then massaging them.

If you even see this.

wynneth · 06-23-2008, 04:07 PM

Actually I remembered to come check because I got some spam in my private box. Anyway, thanks for the info, I am googling "wrist extensors" and "tennis elbow stretches" right now.

Wyn