My biceps have been killing me for 2 years, and doctors are baffled at the symptoms.

I have had this type of pain before from bouldering to many days on, couple questions:
Do you stretch your biceps? I found that stretching them helped a lot.

Does it hurt when you move your arm from a straight to locked position while squeezing a rubber donut or squeezing a fist?
Try hammer curls, I found that my biceps were strong but my brachialis (the muscle that helps lock your arm: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brach…)was really weak and that was causing a lot of issues.

Last, do you any shoulder exercises (press or like an earlier post mentioned, doing rotating motions with low weight?) I dislocated my shoulder a few years ago and found that my shoulder was really weak. This forced my lower arm to overcompensate, creating a lot of aggravation.

Just my two cents, but I am pain free if I stay on top of the maintenance exercises. If not the pain will come right back.

Hope this helps and good luck.

So it's been a while since I posted this and since I've partially solved the issue. Before I was climbing 5 days a week, and was projecting every time plus training etc. So I started scheduling moderate days where I wouldn't climb above 5.10.

I would only project one day a week and that started making a difference. But, what made the biggest difference was I stopped training on rings.

Before I was training on rings three times a week. So, I just cut rings out and only do them 4 or 5 times a month now. Made all the difference in the world. I think it was just too much of a strain on my arms to be climbing hard, doing lots of pull ups, and training on rings.

Thanks for all the help, I still get pain occasionally if I push it too hard for a bit but I have it under control enough now to be able to take a few days off and it goes away.

Hopefully this helps someone else out with similar issues.

Reedrombo wrote:So it's been a while since I posted this and since I've partially solved the issue. Before I was climbing 5 days a week, and was projecting every time plus training etc. So I started scheduling moderate days where I wouldn't climb above 5.10. I would only project one day a week and that started making a difference. But, what made the biggest difference was I stopped training on rings. Before I was training on rings three times a week. So, I just cut rings out and only do them 4 or 5 times a month now. Made all the difference in the world. I think it was just too much of a strain on my arms to be climbing hard, doing lots of pull ups, and training on rings. Thanks for all the help, I still get pain occasionally if I push it too hard for a bit but I have it under control enough now to be able to take a few days off and it goes away. Hopefully this helps someone else out with similar issues.

I've had the same thing that you were having and I found that it was from over exertion. I was doing a lot of the same things that you were doing and I couldn't figure out what it was. I eventually just dialed it back a bit and listened to my body. Goodluck.

well now that this is all finished up I'd just like to add this last bit of information.

Quit bouldering Reed :)

p.s. - we're friends!

What you're describing in your arm sounds a lot like what I experienced in my leg. It was caused by a pinched nerve. I think numbness and/or tingling are often signs of a nerve problem.

Greg, you just had to be the only asshole on the feed. You ruined the only feed on MP that had only positive responses ;-)