Chiropractic / Musculoskeletal / Joint pain Q & A...

[ponysteak]

Through research online and reading similar threads on weightlifting forums I have come to the conclusion that I have a bulging or compressed disc in my neck. Over the past month I have re-aggravated it a few times. Once with DB shrugs, once with seated Arnold presses, and once while washing my hair in the shower (lol). When it happened in the shower it cracked twice and hurt like hell of days afterwards. I've been doing neck retraction/extension (can't remember exactly what they're called) from the Mackenzie method book and it helps. It involves stretching my head/neck backwards (to where my chin would be at the top of my chest for example) 8-10 times, then for another 8-10 times repeating the movement but at the end, while neck is still retracted, looking up at the ceiling and moving my nose back and forth a few times very slowly. Doing that every 2 hours, every day.

After staying out of the gym and doing those exercises the pain goes away, then I manage to aggravate it again after a few workouts. This is killing me. I need the gym.

I am about to the point where the pain is gone, except for if my posture slips up and I'm seated in a slumped fashion. I think it just built up over time. I never knew sleeping on your stomach was bad, and that's the way I've slept my entire life. I'm 24 years old. I have since quit doing that and sleep on my side with an orthopedic pillow my dad gave me which he used after his surgery for degenerative disc disease. It seems to be better than using regular pillows. But I have a feeling that if I get back in the gym I will re-aggravate it.

I have learned more that overhead presses and shrugs are very bad for people with this type of reoccuring injury. Bodyweight exercises like squats and regular/incline pushups don't seem to bother me, nor do very light curls. That's all I can really do outside of the gym with no equipment.

When I go back to the gym, what exercises should I avoid? Should I not do back squats because the barbell being on the top of my back would possibly reaggravate it? What can I do to workout shoulders without being able to do overhead press movements? Are shrugs for traps out of the question? Since deadlifts work traps is that a bad idea too?

Hope you're still checking this thread...I need help. The pain is mainly at the base of my neck in the center. No pain down my arms. After aggravating it the pain will be spread across both of my shoulders, sometimes one side more than the other. After doing the Mackenzie exercises the pain centralizes to the middle of my neck, at the base. I just sneezed. Sneezing also aggravates it apparently. Any advice?

I'm doing fish oil, glucosamine/chondrointon/msm, and super cissus rx hoping maybe that will help it. Ibuprofen sometimes. Tramadol right after it happens because the pain can be rather severe until it begins subsiding via the exercises I mentioned.

I also can't afford to see a professional nor do I have proper insurance..hence all the self-diagnosing, which I feel is rather accurate. Also worth mentioning, it's always the worst right when I wake up. My whole neck/top of my back/shoulder region feels really stiff and crunchy/crackly (if that makes sense).

 

[ScottyDoc]

I also can't afford to see a professional nor do I have proper insurance..hence all the self-diagnosing, which I feel is rather accurate. Also worth mentioning, it's always the worst right when I wake up. My whole neck/top of my back/shoulder region feels really stiff and crunchy/crackly (if that makes sense).

First and foremost, whether you can afford it or not I feel obligated to tell you that seeking the help of a professional, I know that I am, but one that can actually put his/her hands on you and diagnose you in person is my # 1 suggestion. Yes, I saw that you cannot afford it and I am going to make a suggestion, but it is possible that if you have a fractured vertebrae, or some other congenital defect I or any other professional could only see or know about is from X-rays, then it could possibly make matters worse. Do you understand what I am saying, I am clearly stating that my suggestion is at your own risk because I am not there to personally diagnose you and determine this exercise is 100% safe...

Seated Cervical Traction using a device such as this...
Invalid Link Removed
That is about the only thing you are not doing (minus not seeking professional Chiropractic or Physical Therapy Care) that could for the most part safely and effectively treat your neck injury! I believe they can be purchased at a great many different places, follow the instructions and slowly increase the weight and duration over time or it can exacerbate the situation!

Hope all this helps you Bro!

AL - ScottyDoc

 

[ScottyDoc]

Hope you're still checking this thread...I need help.

What??? Still checking this Thread? Always and Forever Brother, gotta always be on the Look-Out to help my fellow AnabolicMinder's!

 

[ponysteak]

I completely understand what you are saying. I will look into the device. Though considering the fact that the pain seems to go away then come back...would you think this is something I can just wait out? Without getting x-rays/mri's etc? But then again saying that...waiting it out also hasn't been 100% successful.

And thanks!

 

[ScottyDoc]

I completely understand what you are saying. I will look into the device. Though considering the fact that the pain seems to go away then come back...would you think this is something I can just wait out? Without getting x-rays/mri's etc? But then again saying that...waiting it out also hasn't been 100% successful.

And thanks!

Typically even with Chiropractic &/or Physical Therapy type care, you always correct the injury (structure affects function) then you strengthen the soft-tissue (muscle) around the afflicted area, making it more resilient to further pain and injuries!

 

[ponysteak]

I see. Man now I'm kinda worried that it's fractured...but I feel like if that were the case I'd be in much worse pain. Then again, not like I am an expert or anything so how could I really know without getting the tests.

Thank you so much for your advice. It's really cool of you to do this for us.

I think I'm gonna try to hit back tonight, lightly and without shrugs, and see how it goes..

 

[ScottyDoc]

I see. Man now I'm kinda worried that it's fractured...but I feel like if that were the case I'd be in much worse pain. Then again, not like I am an expert or anything so how could I really know without getting the tests.

Thank you so much for your advice. It's really cool of you to do this for us.

I think I'm gonna try to hit back tonight, lightly and without shrugs, and see how it goes..

Totally not trying to scare you, but it is possible to fracture like a spinous process, bony protuberance that you can feel as in the ridges down the center of your back and not really know it other than chronic low back pain and inflammation, fractures take a while to heal and it isn't like they would put you in a body cast, they would just not want you doing anything physically exerting or lifting heavy weights, so it is possible, but highly unlikely, as in I agree, I believe you would be in more pain, at least when it flares up/becomes swollen and inflamed anyway, but possible, I just had to let you know that!

As far as what I am doing here and for the forum, Nahhh... stop, your making me blush, LoL! My pleasure friend, I believe in giving back, paying it forward, no matter how you wanna put, I enjoy helping my fellow man with what I know best, now kneel suckers :box:! As you can see I love to joke around and have a good time, but when it comes to giving advice I am always 100% serious!

 

[ScottyDoc]

I see. Man now I'm kinda worried that it's fractured...but I feel like if that were the case I'd be in much worse pain. Then again, not like I am an expert or anything so how could I really know without getting the tests.

Thank you so much for your advice. It's really cool of you to do this for us.

I think I'm gonna try to hit back tonight, lightly and without shrugs, and see how it goes..

Hey... one more thing while I was thinking about it, not sure how much difference this will make, but how are you lifting? If you are lifting heavier with a low rep-range, you might, for at least a few weeks, lower the weight and start doing killer fast (30 second to 1min break between sets) sets of 20-25 reps, yes keep it challenging and burning like a MO-FO and pumped to the gills, but always get at least 20reps or you lower the weights, seriously try that for a few weeks, I think it will help and yes, avoid shrugs for a few weeks!

 

[ponysteak]

Haha..just wanted you to know that it's appreciated man.

Yeah...I've been lifting heavier in low-rep ranges, trying to increase strength and eating above maintenance. Could be that my strength exceeded what my body was able to handle.

I will lower the weight and increase reps like you said. No shrugs. Are deadlifts ok? Or is that more of a if it bothers me stop, or if it doesn't bother me proceed?

 

[CJ_Xfit89]

Hey... one more thing while I was thinking about it, not sure how much difference this will make, but how are you lifting? If you are lifting heavier with a low rep-range, you might, for at least a few weeks, lower the weight and start doing killer fast (30 second to 1min break between sets) sets of 20-25 reps, yes keep it challenging and burning like a MO-FO and pumped to the gills, but always get at least 20reps or you lower the weights, seriously try that for a few weeks, I think it will help and yes, avoid shrugs for a few weeks!

That apparatus looks scary hahah...looks like a decapitation method

 

[ponysteak]

Hah yeah it does look pretty...barbaric. I think my dad actually might still have his. I remember him using one around the time of his DDD surgery.

Just finished back with high-reps like you said. That felt amazing. Neck isn't bothering me any more than it normally would, but then we'll see how it feels tomorrow afternoon once the copious amounts of beer I'm about to drink wears off. I did do deadlifts, but I only used 135 and made absolutely sure my head was UP. Gonna continue with the high rep workouts and see where it takes me. You're the man, doc.

 

[ScottyDoc]

Hah yeah it does look pretty...barbaric. I think my dad actually might still have his. I remember him using one around the time of his DDD surgery.

Just finished back with high-reps like you said. That felt amazing. Neck isn't bothering me any more than it normally would, but then we'll see how it feels tomorrow afternoon once the copious amounts of beer I'm about to drink wears off. I did do deadlifts, but I only used 135 and made absolutely sure my head was UP. Gonna continue with the high rep workouts and see where it takes me. You're the man, doc.

Thanks... Also, you will probably notice that if this high-rep thing is new for you, that a good 6wks of this, for no other reason than shocking your body and doing something it is not used to, will actually grow and breach a few plateau's you may have been having trouble with. Oh and whatever you do, do not worry about your strength, it will there waiting for you when you decide to start lifting heavy again, it may take a couple of weeks for your body to adjust to heavy lifting again, unless you are a professional power-lifter trying to set world records, the strength will still be there, I promise! Just look at this change as a few things... 1) a shock to the body in which to stimulate growth and strength in the form of stamina; 2) Will burn more calories per workout this way, so you will get leaner; 3) Finally, it is less taxing on your joints so you are giving them a break/rest, while still using them frequently increasing the blood flow and healing oxygen and nutrients to those stressed joints! I mean that is a WIN....WIN....WIN if you ask me!

 

[Rahl]

Hey Al,

I'm having an issue is like your thoughts on. For the past 2 months I've been getting cramps in my feet. On one foot on the inside arch and on the other on the outside. I get them running and sometimes even walking.

I've tried new running shoes. I've tried stretching. My calves are right and so is my Achilles.

I am running a tough Mudder in April. I need to figure this out! Any thoughts brotha?

 

[ponysteak]

Thanks... Also, you will probably notice that if this high-rep thing is new for you, that a good 6wks of this, for no other reason than shocking your body and doing something it is not used to, will actually grow and breach a few plateau's you may have been having trouble with. Oh and whatever you do, do not worry about your strength, it will there waiting for you when you decide to start lifting heavy again, it may take a couple of weeks for your body to adjust to heavy lifting again, unless you are a professional power-lifter trying to set world records, the strength will still be there, I promise! Just look at this change as a few things... 1) a shock to the body in which to stimulate growth and strength in the form of stamina; 2) Will burn more calories per workout this way, so you will get leaner; 3) Finally, it is less taxing on your joints so you are giving them a break/rest, while still using them frequently increasing the blood flow and healing oxygen and nutrients to those stressed joints! I mean that is a WIN....WIN....WIN if you ask me!

Excellent way to think about it. My neck is feeling fine and dandy today. Considered going and hitting chest but I think I'm going to switch to workout out every other day, just to be cautious. Another thing I noticed was that with the lower weight and increased reps, I was really spot on with my form. A 4th win.

 

[ScottyDoc]

Hey Al,

I'm having an issue is like your thoughts on. For the past 2 months I've been getting cramps in my feet. On one foot on the inside arch and on the other on the outside. I get them running and sometimes even walking.

I've tried new running shoes. I've tried stretching. My calves are right and so is my Achilles.

I am running a tough Mudder in April. I need to figure this out! Any thoughts brotha?

OK, a few suggestions... Increase your calcium intake preferably from leafy green vegetables or if from vitamins, vitamins taken from leafy green vegetables, also increase your potassium, from bananas, also from vitamin sources as well is fine, next increase your glucosamine, chondroitin, & MSM (can usually find a product with all 3, good for cramps and your joints, so a double whammy), next increase your Omega 3-6-9's (usually can find all 3 in one product), next increase your Vit. C (2-3 g's per day as in 2-3,000mg's) and finally I would massage the arch of your foot as often as possible change it up from a golf ball to really dig in, or a tennis ball if it is tender, but really work at it, it may be a mild form of plantar fasciitis! No matter what the problem is or may be, all of those above suggestions are good and healthy for anyone and everyone and I believe the fix to your problem lies in one or more of those above suggestions, not to mention they are all good for your over-all health and well-being anyway!

 

[Rahl]

OK, a few suggestions... Increase your calcium intake preferably from leafy green vegetables or if from vitamins, vitamins taken from leafy green vegetables, also increase your potassium, from bananas, also from vitamin sources as well is fine, next increase your glucosamine, chondroitin, & MSM (can usually find a product with all 3, good for cramps and your joints, so a double whammy), next increase your Omega 3-6-9's (usually can find all 3 in one product), next increase your Vit. C (2-3 g's per day as in 2-3,000mg's) and finally I would massage the arch of your foot as often as possible change it up from a golf ball to really dig in, or a tennis ball if it is tender, but really work at it, it may be a mild form of plantar fasciitis! No matter what the problem is or may be, all of those above suggestions are good and healthy for anyone and everyone and I believe the fix to your problem lies in one or more of those above suggestions, not to mention they are all good for your over-all health and well-being anyway!

Thanks man. I'll start up a joint supp again. I've thought of adding a calcium and or potassium supp. I do eat a lot of greens and I have at least one banana a day. Plus I drink about a 1/2 gallon of milk daily. 1%.

It's in both feet occasionally. I was think plantar fasciitis might be a possibility.

What do you think about skipping leg workouts for a few weeks? I've drop deads for now because that seemed to really flare them up.

 

[ScottyDoc]

Thanks man. I'll start up a joint supp again. I've thought of adding a calcium and or potassium supp. I do eat a lot of greens and I have at least one banana a day. Plus I drink about a 1/2 gallon of milk daily. 1%.

It's in both feet occasionally. I was think plantar fasciitis might be a possibility.

What do you think about skipping leg workouts for a few weeks? I've drop deads for now because that seemed to really flare them up.

I think doing everything I told you to do and avoiding exercises you know for a fact really make it flare up for 1-2wks would be a great idea, just make sure to make up for those exercises skipped with extra intensity in other areas, as to keep your stamina up. Also, I would continue stretching, foot, toes, arches, gastrocs & achilles, ant. tibialis, use that golf ball & tennis ball to dig in, break up any and all scar-tissue and adhesions (which is basically all plantar fasciitis is... inflammation and scar tissue of the fascia on the sole of the foot).

One last thing, kind of a wive's tale kind of thing, but I have tried it personally and I swear it works... on days that you do certain exercises that would make your foot cramp, drink some pickle juice, not really sure how it works, but when I was extremely lean and was not taking in a lot of carbs and doing my muai thai training at night, I would have horrible leg cramps, I'm talking about ones where I'm like screaming in agony and I was basically ready to quit the muai thai at night (lifting was in the am before work) and muai thai was in the pm after work and one of the instructors there suggested pickle juice and I would drink about 1 huge gulp and a big dill pickle before and one right after each MMA session (3 x's week) and the cramps went away, oh and when I say leg cramps I mean quads, hamstrings, sometimes both, like if I straightened my leg to stretch out the hamstring, the quad would lock up and if I bent my leg to unlock the quad, then the fuggin Hammy would lock up, I'm talking praying for death it is so painful, so if it worked on those severe cramps, I believe it can help you as well!

 

[Rahl]

Ouch. Pickle juice huh? Would you think maybe just the slat would
Make you hold water and hydrate the cramping muscles? Just a thought.

I'm using a trigger point ball. Triggerpoint.com. Fn hurts! I had to skip the right foot yesterday. I just couldn't bear it. The arch supports I picked up alleviated it a bit. I'll go crazy intense on my other body parts in the mean time. I hate not working my legs!

 

[ScottyDoc]

Ouch. Pickle juice huh? Would you think maybe just the slat would
Make you hold water and hydrate the cramping muscles? Just a thought.

I'm using a trigger point ball. Triggerpoint.com. Fn hurts! I had to skip the right foot yesterday. I just couldn't bear it. The arch supports I picked up alleviated it a bit. I'll go crazy intense on my other body parts in the mean time. I hate not working my legs!

I'm assuming you meant "salt" above, anyway, absolutely, I know the salt plays a crucial role in it from the pickle juice, but there is something else that has to do with the combination of sodium and vinegar, ya know what, let me just Google it and see if I can find that answer, I mean it is totally a legit question, there must be some kind of scientific explanation of why it works!

As far as trigger point and trigger-balls and all that stuff, hate to put it this way, but I must because it is true, just like with any real good massage.... No pain, no gain, but don't worry your body will become accustomed to it and it will become a "Hurts so good!" kind of thing, I know you understand, like a good deep-tissue massage!

 

[ScottyDoc]

Ouch. Pickle juice huh? Would you think maybe just the slat would
Make you hold water and hydrate the cramping muscles? Just a thought.

I'm using a trigger point ball. Triggerpoint.com. Fn hurts! I had to skip the right foot yesterday. I just couldn't bear it. The arch supports I picked up alleviated it a bit. I'll go crazy intense on my other body parts in the mean time. I hate not working my legs!

OK... Here it is, I found something very good and pretty damn explanatory, for me anyway, this made a lot of sense!

This Article was taken from the New York Times

June 9, 2010, 12:01 am[h=1]Phys Ed: Can Pickle Juice Stop Muscle Cramps?[/h] By Invalid Link RemovedInvalid Link RemovedStockbyte/Getty Images


Recently, 10 healthy male college students filed into an exercise laboratory at Brigham Young University in Utah to drink pickle juice. Many people involved in sports are convinced that the briny fluid combats muscle cramping. In a 2008 survey, a quarter of the athletic trainers interviewed said that they regularly dispense pickle juice to cramp-stricken athletes. Many also report that, in their experiences, the stuff quickly brakes the cramping. The athletic trainers have told researchers that they believe the pickle juice must be replenishing the salt and fluids the athletes had lost to sweat. But no laboratory science had verified that theory.


Invalid Link Removed


The Utah volunteers began with a series of 30-minute bicycling sessions, using a semi-recumbent bicycle, configured so that only the leg pedaled. The laboratory was warm, increasing the amount the exercising men sweated. Each cycled in 30-minute bouts (with five minutes of rest between) until each had lost 3 percent of his body weight through perspiration, a widely accepted definition of mild dehydration.
The young men were then fitted with a contraption on the big toe of their unexercised leg, and the tibial nerve in the men’s ankles was electrically stimulated, causing a muscle in the big toe to cramp. (The procedure causes some discomfort, making it too painful to use on larger muscles, like the hamstrings or the quadriceps.) The volunteers were told to relax and let the cramps run their course. The average duration of the cramps was about two and a half minutes.


The volunteers rested and did not drink any fluids. Then their tibial nerve was zapped again. This time, though, as soon as the toe cramps began, each man downed about 2.5 ounces of either deionized water or pickle juice, strained from a jar of ordinary Vlasic dills. The reaction, for some, was rapid. Within about 85 seconds, the men drinking pickle juice stopped cramping. But the cramps continued unabated in the men drinking water. Pickle juice had “relieved a cramp 45 percent faster” than drinking no fluids and about 37 percent faster than water, concluded the authors of Invalid Link Removed, which was published last month on the Web site of the journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.
[h=6]Related[/h]

• Invalid Link Removed
• Invalid Link Removed
• Invalid Link Removed

Exercise-induced muscle cramps are one of the continuing mysteries of physiology. Extremely pervasive, they afflict most active people at some point. But scientists remain deeply divided about what causes the cramping. For years, most people, inside and outside academia, believed that cramping was caused by sweating-induced dehydration and the accompanying loss of sodium and potassium. Sufferers were advised to load up on potassium-rich bananas or chug large amounts of salty sports drinks.


But a number of laboratory and field studies in recent years have undermined the dehydration theory. Invalid Link Removed, completed by the same group of scientists who studied pickle juice, employed a similar study design. A group of college students had cramps induced in their toes. They then pedaled with one leg until dehydration set in. Their toes were made to cramp again, Presumably if dehydration were the underlying cause of the cramping, the scientists should have been able to induce a cramp with less electrical stimulation when the men were dehydrated; their muscles should have been primed to cramp. But the experiment didn’t work out that way. As detailed last month in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, the scientists had to use the same amount of stimulation to induce a cramp after dehydration as they had before. Their conclusion? “Exercise-induced cramps occurring to athletes” who are mildly dehydrated “were likely not caused by dehydration,” says Kevin C. Miller, Ph.D., ATC, the lead author of both studies and now an assistant professor in the Athletic Training Education Program at North Dakota State University in Fargo.


What, then, does probably cause athletes to cramp? The pickle-juice experiment provides some intriguing clues. “The pickle juice did not have time” to leave the men’s stomachs during the experiment, Dr. Miller points out. So the liquid itself could not have been replenishing lost fluids and salt in the affected muscles. Instead some other mechanism must have initiated the cramps and been stymied by the pickle juice.


Dr. Miller suspects that that mechanism is exhaustion, either directly or through biochemical processes that accompany fatigue. Certain mechanisms within muscles have been found, in animal and limited human studies, he says, to start misfiring when a muscle is extremely tired. Small nerves that should keep the muscle from overcontracting malfunction, and the muscle bunches when it should relax. Pickle juice may work, Dr. Miller says, by countermanding the malfunction. Something in the acidic juice, perhaps even a specific molecule of some kind, may be lighting up specialized nervous-system receptors in the throat or stomach, he says, which, in turn, send out nerve signals that somehow disrupt the reflex melee in the muscles. Dr. Miller suspects that ultimately, it’s the vinegar in the pickle juice that activates the receptors. In a recent case report by other researchers, a single athlete’s cramping was relieved more quickly when he drank pure vinegar (without much pleasure, I’m sure) than when he drank pickle juice.


At the moment, speculation about the powers of pickle juice remains just that, speculative. “It’s extremely challenging” to induce realistic sports cramps in the lab, Dr. Miller says. His technique, of causing the big toe to spasm, while useful, can’t fully replicate what happens in larger, stronger leg muscles during a cramp. Still, the work is suggestive and, perhaps most important, implies methods for finding relief. “If muscle fatigue is the cause,” he says, then training properly, building up your mileage slowly and perhaps adding strength training that focuses specifically on muscles that have cramped in the past, may help. In the meantime, if your calf or other muscle suddenly, painfully catches, “try stretching it,” Dr. Miller says. Doing so has been found in laboratory studies to significantly shorten the duration of a muscle cramp, most likely by shaking up and resetting the misfiring muscle and nerve reflexes. And perhaps, if you can stomach the idea, pack a few ounces of pickle juice on your next training session. It’s not as palatable as bananas, but unlike them, Dr. Miller says, “it seems to work.”

 

[Rahl]

Lol. Damn phone. Yes I meant salt. I thought maybe the vinegar may also be involved. That's interesting reading. I had no idea that relief was the quick. That's surely makes the response evening intriguing.

As to the trigger point stuff you are correct. I remember the first time I used a foam roller on my IT bands. I nearly screamed. I now do them with full body weight pleasurably. Lol. Can't wait until the feet get to that point! My wife got me the trigger point stuff for Christmas. What a timely gift!

 

[JajaNe20]

Scotty doc how yah been bro! I got a good question for you, it might be general but i am curious. So i started shredding for my show 3 weeks ago and my philosophy is that whatever put that muscle there you need to keep training in a similiar way to keep that muscle there! So I train intense and heavy with everything even isolation exercises.
Anyways, i was doing shoulders and triceps on Friday and it was honestly one of the best tricep workouts ever, I was doing skulls with 150 lbs x 6 and single dumbell behind the heads with 55's x6. The numbers are relevant here thats why i posted them. Now i did 4 shoulders exercises and 3 tricep exercises.

THE PROBLEM: I was done with my workout but decided to do a "light burnout" to get blood into the muscle before I was completely finished. I picked up a 100lb dumbell and with two hands lowered it behind my head and when i got to repition number five as i was descending my tricep felt a sharp charlie horse pain and it moved my whole arm. I put down the weight and was shocked. My tricep hurt and the pain was up higher like 2 - 3 inches from the proximal part of my humerus. I couldnt sleep at all that night and the next two days it was incredibly sore. It didn't bruise and it looks normal (no irregularities). So i benched yesterday and it just felt sore like if you were to hit triceps hard the day before and bench the next day kinda thing.


It actually feels good today, but wow did this really put a little scare in me. A couple guys say I "popped it," but i don't listen to this bro talk i was looking for an educated guess like a sprain, or strain or even it was fatigued or overtrained? It just baffles me it didn't do this with the heavy weight and did it with the light burnout set.

Thanks in advance Scotty!
Zach

 

[ScottyDoc]

Scotty doc how yah been bro! I got a good question for you, it might be general but i am curious. So i started shredding for my show 3 weeks ago and my philosophy is that whatever put that muscle there you need to keep training in a similiar way to keep that muscle there! So I train intense and heavy with everything even isolation exercises.
Anyways, i was doing shoulders and triceps on Friday and it was honestly one of the best tricep workouts ever, I was doing skulls with 150 lbs x 6 and single dumbell behind the heads with 55's x6. The numbers are relevant here thats why i posted them. Now i did 4 shoulders exercises and 3 tricep exercises.

THE PROBLEM: I was done with my workout but decided to do a "light burnout" to get blood into the muscle before I was completely finished. I picked up a 100lb dumbell and with two hands lowered it behind my head and when i got to repition number five as i was descending my tricep felt a sharp charlie horse pain and it moved my whole arm. I put down the weight and was shocked. My tricep hurt and the pain was up higher like 2 - 3 inches from the proximal part of my humerus. I couldnt sleep at all that night and the next two days it was incredibly sore. It didn't bruise and it looks normal (no irregularities). So i benched yesterday and it just felt sore like if you were to hit triceps hard the day before and bench the next day kinda thing.


It actually feels good today, but wow did this really put a little scare in me. A couple guys say I "popped it," but i don't listen to this bro talk i was looking for an educated guess like a sprain, or strain or even it was fatigued or overtrained? It just baffles me it didn't do this with the heavy weight and did it with the light burnout set.

Thanks in advance Scotty!
Zach

Wow... that does sound scary! Unfortunately I am not there to muscle-test you and give you a real examination to come to diagnosis! So what we are going to do here is play a little Q & A and see if we can narrow it down to the best of our ability, ok?

1) Did you hear a pop, snap, anything of the sort?
2) Are you bleeding internally? (turning black and blue / bruising or even green looking anywhere in the area?)
3) How long has it been?
4) Does it still hurt?
5) Do you have complete range of motion in your arm if someone was to passively move it and stretch it in all directions (check both shoulder and elbow joints just to be certain)?
6) Do you have complete range of motion in your arm if you actively (no assistance, using only your own muscles) move and stretch both your shoulder and elbow joints in all directions?

There, that is a pretty good start to see if we can get to the bottom of it!

 

[hypo]

Hey man, very cool of you to do this. I have two issues, actually:

I have a problem in my upper trapezius. Whenever I stretch it, or roll my head side to side, one side (the right) feels decidedly less flexible, though I don't think I actually have less flexibility on that side. I can narrow it down to a specific small area. It almost feels like a knot, though I'm not sure exactly what a knot actually is, physiologically. It feels like this small area is keeping that side from being fully flexible, if you know what I mean, like its preventing a full stretch of all the other fibers.

It doesn't exactly cause pain, and I only feel it or notice when I'm stretching my neck. It's more just like a localized tightness. Could it be scar tissue of some kind that is binding to the local muscle fibers? And if so, any way to break this up?

Secondly, I always seem to injure the exact same area in my back. It is always from doing deads or squats, and I know it's because my back rounds under extreme weight (for me). I know I am using too much weight and can back off, but my question is more about PT, and a general curiosity of why its always the same area, and not the other side that gets injured. It is localized to the right of the spine, right in the small of the back, or a bit lower. If it helps your diagnosis, when I stand up straight, I cannot extend my right leg in front of me without sharp pain. The day after the injury, I can barely even walk because of the extension of the leg required to walk, and end up limping. Could this one sided injury be due to some kind of muscle or tissue imbalance?

Thanks!

 

[JajaNe20]

Wow... that does sound scary! Unfortunately I am not there to muscle-test you and give you a real examination to come to diagnosis! So what we are going to do here is play a little Q & A and see if we can narrow it down to the best of our ability, ok?

1) Did you hear a pop, snap, anything of the sort?
2) Are you bleeding internally? (turning black and blue / bruising or even green looking anywhere in the area?)
3) How long has it been?
4) Does it still hurt?
5) Do you have complete range of motion in your arm if someone was to passively move it and stretch it in all directions (check both shoulder and elbow joints just to be certain)?
6) Do you have complete range of motion in your arm if you actively (no assistance, using only your own muscles) move and stretch both your shoulder and elbow joints in all directions?

There, that is a pretty good start to see if we can get to the bottom of it!

Well i knew you couldnt find the problem exactly but I thought you could maybe give me a round abouts. I apologize if i didnt make that clear.

ANSWERS:
1.) I didn't hear anything but i felt a little Pop
2.) No bruising and everything looks normal
3.) When i did it 5 days ago the pain was a 6 out of ten and the next day it was a 7. Now it's about a 1 outta 10 very minor
4.) I could compare it now to working triceps hard 3 days ago with slight very slight DOMS
5.) Yes complete range of motion
6.) Yes full ranfe of motion actively.

I just wanted to maybe narrow this down and post this minor set back in case anybody else ever has something like this happen. Like i said before i dont think i tore anything but it could it have been excessive fatigue contributing to a severe cramp or strain of some sort. Thanks AL!

-Zach

 

[ScottyDoc]

Hey man, very cool of you to do this. I have two issues, actually:

I have a problem in my upper trapezius. Whenever I stretch it, or roll my head side to side, one side (the right) feels decidedly less flexible, though I don't think I actually have less flexibility on that side. I can narrow it down to a specific small area. It almost feels like a knot, though I'm not sure exactly what a knot actually is, physiologically. It feels like this small area is keeping that side from being fully flexible, if you know what I mean, like its preventing a full stretch of all the other fibers.

It doesn't exactly cause pain, and I only feel it or notice when I'm stretching my neck. It's more just like a localized tightness. Could it be scar tissue of some kind that is binding to the local muscle fibers? And if so, any way to break this up?

Secondly, I always seem to injure the exact same area in my back. It is always from doing deads or squats, and I know it's because my back rounds under extreme weight (for me). I know I am using too much weight and can back off, but my question is more about PT, and a general curiosity of why its always the same area, and not the other side that gets injured. It is localized to the right of the spine, right in the small of the back, or a bit lower. If it helps your diagnosis, when I stand up straight, I cannot extend my right leg in front of me without sharp pain. The day after the injury, I can barely even walk because of the extension of the leg required to walk, and end up limping. Could this one sided injury be due to some kind of muscle or tissue imbalance?

Thanks!

- First off a not can be from a number of different things, yes it could be from scar-tissue, it can just be an irritation to the muscle or nerve feeding that area causing to stay contract and protecting itself. Nothing beats a deep tissue massage to get rid of knots, scar-tissue, and other soft-tissue problems. Chiropractic adjustments can also be extremely helpful to make sure that the pressure is off of the nerve, which can also cause pain, knots, and limit ROM (range of motion).

- Second part, Your LBP (low back pain) keeps happening in the same place for a number of reasons:

1) It has become a pre-disposed area of weakness (weakest link) the chain is always going to break at the weakest link!
2) You continue to do the exact same exercise, with the exact same bad form, therefore effecting the exact same area (right where the weak link is)!

- What to do...
1) Take a week or two off of the exercises that aggravate &/or irritate your LB.
2) Lower your weight / increase your reps
3) With lower weight it will be easier to maintain proper form
4) Strengthen pre-disposed area of weakness (search google or youtube videos) to hard for me to tell you exactly what to do when I don't know exactly where on your LB that you are experiencing the pain, if you want to find a picture of a back and make an X marks the spot for me I'll try to come up with some really good strengthening exercises for you to do!

 

[ScottyDoc]

Well i knew you couldnt find the problem exactly but I thought you could maybe give me a round abouts. I apologize if i didnt make that clear.

ANSWERS:
1.) I didn't hear anything but i felt a little Pop
2.) No bruising and everything looks normal
3.) When i did it 5 days ago the pain was a 6 out of ten and the next day it was a 7. Now it's about a 1 outta 10 very minor
4.) I could compare it now to working triceps hard 3 days ago with slight very slight DOMS
5.) Yes complete range of motion
6.) Yes full ranfe of motion actively.

I just wanted to maybe narrow this down and post this minor set back in case anybody else ever has something like this happen. Like i said before i dont think i tore anything but it could it have been excessive fatigue contributing to a severe cramp or strain of some sort. Thanks AL!

-Zach

Zach... I would skip any exercises that utilize the joint where you felt the pop and later pain for at least a week, preferably two weeks. Then, when you come back (for two additional weeks), go extremely light, but for high reps, really try and make it burn, get an awesome pump and really get the blood flowing in there, will definitely keep your muscles from atrophying as well as bringing a lot of blood = oxygen to the area in question increasing any healing to what sounds to me like a muscle/ligament/tendon sprain/strain! Now you are ready to start increasing the weight, would try to take an additional 2 weeks before you are completely back to lifting just as heavy as you were before or around the time of the mishap! That is my best advice bro, unless you find or discover something else, or start experiencing pain, you should be good to go, but if you do, you know where to find me!

 

[JajaNe20]

As always AL thanks for taking the time to help me out and your advice is taken seriously sounds like the most ethical beneficial thing to do! I'll keep ya posted but if not than that means I am back to normal..

-Zach

 

[ponysteak]

Scotty...just to update, I've been doing what you said and switched to higher reps (20-25/set). Some are more like 15-20 but it's still higher than what I did before. I am right now in the best shape I've ever been, and feel great. Sometimes my neck feels a bit stiff but it never hurts, and it never hurts while training. I'm still not doing any shrugs or overhead press movements. Or dips, which I found out don't feel too great any more. However, everything else has been fair game. I tested the waters yesterday on deadlifts. I haven't been letting myself go over 225, but I tried out 315 and had no pain. In fact felt fantastic. On pull-ups I use the assisted dip/pull-up rack thing (don't know what to call it hah), and have noticed a nice increase in back thickness.

Another thing is my form is MUCH, MUCH better than it was before. I've gotten a lot better at establishing the mind-muscle connection, and really striving to use only the target muscle.

I appreciate your advice. You're doing a good thing here.

 

[ScottyDoc]

Scotty...just to update, I've been doing what you said and switched to higher reps (20-25/set). Some are more like 15-20 but it's still higher than what I did before. I am right now in the best shape I've ever been, and feel great. Sometimes my neck feels a bit stiff but it never hurts, and it never hurts while training. I'm still not doing any shrugs or overhead press movements. Or dips, which I found out don't feel too great any more. However, everything else has been fair game. I tested the waters yesterday on deadlifts. I haven't been letting myself go over 225, but I tried out 315 and had no pain. In fact felt fantastic. On pull-ups I use the assisted dip/pull-up rack thing (don't know what to call it hah), and have noticed a nice increase in back thickness.

Another thing is my form is MUCH, MUCH better than it was before. I've gotten a lot better at establishing the mind-muscle connection, and really striving to use only the target muscle.

I appreciate your advice. You're doing a good thing here.

What can I say... I gotta take care of my Louisiana Home-Boyzzz!!! Glad to help Brotha!!!

 

[ponysteak]

Haha foshoooo...are you from LA, too?

I went back and read what you told me...and it was spot on. I'm leaner and bigger from changing my reps and shocking my body. If I actually did a cut I think it'd be epic...but not till I hit 200.

 

[waleedkhot]

Hi, Doc,
I kinda have an issue here with the posterior of my left knee. Its kinds stiff during the flexion movement. Took a break from working out for the past six months as I was too damn busy with work. And my work involves a lot of standing up and is a quite physically taxing. And during this period I developed a strange habit (rather noticed this habit, unsure if I had it even before) of putting more body weight on my left leg while standing. And started feeling little discomfort in the knee.

So the day before yesterday was officially my first workout after six months and squats, leg extensions, leg curls and seated calf raises I did. The right leg is alright apart from the DOMS, but the left knee !! I googled a bit and my guess is the Illiotibial Band syndrome.

Also RICED it but the pain is still there.. Hope all of this makes sense to you cuz I am bad at writing stuff..