Today I want to talk about something I’ve dealt with at various points in my kettlebell training career: elbow pain.

Here’s one big thing most people get wrong about elbow pain. They treat it like the elbow itself is the problem. Ice it, wrap it, pop some Advil, throw on a sleeve. But your elbow is a simple joint; it just bends and straightens, and a lot of the time the real cause is coming from somewhere else, usually the shoulder or the wrist. Get those working the way they’re supposed to and the elbow pain often clears up without you ever directly treating the elbow.

That’s exactly what I dig into in my 8-minute Elbow Pain Fix course, dropping very soon. Stay tuned! But here are a couple quick things you can try today:

1 – Don’t just shut everything down and wait it out.

A short break, a week or two, away from the moves that are bothering it the most, is a smart move. Rest, but then get back to it, with an intelligent approach. Going months without training that area tends to leave you weaker, and the pain often shows back up once you start again anyway.

2 – Work on strengthening your rotator cuff.

Your triceps help stabilize your shoulder. If your rotator cuff is weak, your body starts leaning on the triceps to do that stabilizing job too, on top of everything else they’re already doing. That’s extra work the triceps weren’t built to handle, and often that overload shows up as elbow pain. Band pull-aparts and face pulls are a simple way to start building that strength back up. (I’ll get into exact routines later this week!)

There are many other considerations that go into a complete program to address elbow pain. These are just two to start. The full routine walks you through the whole thing step by step. Stay tuned; the full 8-minute Elbow Pain Fix is coming soon.

— Forest

PS – Lifetime Kettlebell Fitness was on flash sale over the weekend, and it sold way more than I expected! I honestly didn’t realize how many of you would want the 2026 edition. It’s no longer at the flash-sale price, but it’s still available at a great price if you’re interested. Go check it out HERE.