Icecold's mobility thread

[DiCe!]

I have mentioned before that I have had a horrible issue with my shoulder/neck.
Basically I either fell on it badly at football or wrenched it down the gym feb of 2011 and only now is it starting to recover, had X-Rays and MRIs and all said there was nothing wrong. been to 2 phyisios and had massage, nothing was sorting it.

3rd physio found out what the problem was straight away, firstly it was only a problem with the muscles along my back/shoulder blades so had acupuncture to sort that out and it was brilliant, but as the pain they had been giving me went away I found my neck was hurting. Turns out because I have been carrying my shoulder differently the nerves have retracted up my arm so now having to strech my arm in unimaginable ways to "pull" the nerves back down my arm to give myself full moment again. Incredibly painful, but really shows what a good physio can do. If you find a good one, DO NOT LET THEM GO.

 

[Slipperz]

Well first off, GP. After that, GP and tell them to refer you.

Or alternatively, book something with a good physio now

Yep get it checked out by a professional. You can't begin to fix a problem you don't understand

Been to GP and got a referral to specialist at hospital.

Deads and squats were doing so good as well!!

 

[LiE]

When you're back on your feet post up a video of you form and we can help spot anything wrong.

 

[Delvis]

Been to GP and got a referral to specialist at hospital.

Deads and squats were doing so good as well!!

Same thing happened to me, weight started to go up nicely then BOOM, no more deads or squats

Hope you sort it mate

 

[King Damager]

I've decided pain for longer than a week is a bad enough sign to just go to the doctor...

kd

 

[Slipperz]

When you're back on your feet post up a video of you form and we can help spot anything wrong.

I will but the guy I train with he does strongman/powerlifting he reckons form for squats and d/lift is pretty good

Same thing happened to me, weight started to go up nicely then BOOM, no more deads or squats

Hope you sort it mate

Cheers fellas.

I did it offshore, the gym is quite small and this one night was very packed out.
I was only doing a light warm up set of deads say 20 a side, I didn't have a lot of room where I was and bang it just went. Weird.

Was doing so well, started on the 5 X 5 @ 40KG 6 months a go that night I was going for a 160KG .....but never happened!

Slipperz

 

[Deception]

Same thing happened to me, weight started to go up nicely then BOOM, no more deads or squats

Hope you sort it mate

That's how I feel at the moment

 

[icecold]

I will but the guy I train with he does strongman/powerlifting he reckons form for squats and d/lift is pretty good

Being a powerlifter myself and having seen the top level lifters in both sports first hand, it's definitely no indication that he knows what good form looks like.

In the comp I did last Sunday there was a lot of wince inducing form.

Post a video!



Honestly, I actually find it strange that more people aren't all over posting videos for form feedback...

 

[LiE]

I can say first hand how useful it's been posting videos on my form, its allowed me to make awesome progress in my lifts without any injury.

 

[Slipperz]

Being a powerlifter myself and having seen the top level lifters in both sports first hand, it's definitely no indication that he knows what good form looks like.

In the comp I did last Sunday there was a lot of wince inducing form.

Post a video!



Honestly, I actually find it strange that more people aren't all over posting videos for form feedback...

I will definitely post up some videos when I get back to normal, hopefully soon but I am not going to attempt anything at all in the mean time.

I have another niggle which you may be able to help with, It's when I bench sometimes. Offshore there is only a smith machine so no barbell and I get a pain underneath my right shoulder blade. I'm doing some massaging with a hard ball at the moment, I think it's just knotted up but it comes back quite frequently.

When I bench I try to retract my shoulder blades back and keep them there throughout the motion to keep form. Any Ideas?

Slipperz

 

[LiE]

Well if it's a smith machine with a locked axis then it's quite possible the line the bar is traveling isn't ideal for you, which is why I hate the smith machine.

 

[Delvis]

Ditch the smith, use DB's if you can.

 

[Slipperz]

Well if it's a smith machine with a locked axis then it's quite possible the line the bar is traveling isn't ideal for you, which is why I hate the smith machine.

Ditch the smith, use DB's if you can.

I agree with you that the Smith is bad but with limited DB's only up to 30kg, there is no option really. Looking back now I probably would do lighter rather than take an injury.

But on a better note they have just ordered some squat stands that will do the trick nicely, for shoulders and bench. The only thing is as it's a floating vessel it moves when the weather picks up so squats is really out of the question here

Slipperz

 

[LiE]

That reminds me of my honeymoon on a cruise ship. 2 days in we were in the bay of Biscay and caught the tail end of the storm that hit the UK, I was pretty sea sick that day. Threw up, felt better then hit the on board gym. It was quite interesting trying to balance myself when lifting!

 

[King Damager]

Slipperz, I have the same issue with only having a smith, emailed Ice the other day, and asked for some advice.

To save him typing out the same thing twice:

It's certainly tricky, because a smith will force you into terrible positions if you aren't careful.

I actually don't have a smith in my gym any more, but I'd imagine that you'd fine a high bar back squat more comfortable. Here you're trying to keep your torso relatively upright, and your knees will be tracking forward over your toes. This should mean that your hips sit down more between your ankles.

With those differences in mind, you can more or less follow the guide I wrote for squatting in the form thread. Beyond that, it's just a case of finding a foot position that's comfortable. You'll want a regular squat stance width, and it'll probably be best to put your mid foot in line with the bar path. Play around with it, and just be careful to maintain a neutral spine.

A quick google found this, which isn't too bad: www.youtube.com/watch?v=j30j7CLsI18

Ignore what he says about low bar, it's largely wrong!

This isn't a terrible example of smith squats, although he needs to go deeper:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yv8oo40pKw

Other than that, just make sure that you're hammering the leg press and putting extra emphasis on single leg work (DB split squats!)

Sorry I can't be of more help with this, I know it's not an ideal situation. If you video a set when you start training there I'll be able to give you some feedback.

kd

 

[King Damager]

I really need to put together a 'pre-workout/swim' mobility thing.

I already do a fair amount of stretching (I know it's not quite the same but oh well). I probably stretch shoulders out on a daily basis at least.

Because I do a reasonable amount of front crawl/butterfly in the pool, I'm pretty sure this will be pulling my shoulders forwards. I try and do some backstroke to bring the mobility back, but I know that's not quite the same.

A brief look into it, and I've been trying some shoulder dislocations over the last few days, and my width doesn't seem awful here, although, I'll keep working on them, because they do seem great.

Oddly, the ball work, I don't seem to quite understand I guess, there's very few issues I have with pain in places, and it seems these are the areas to massage? (Either I'm doing it wrong, or this is a blessing - I think I've misunderstood? xD)

I rarely have issues, the only place I really have issues is in my left shoulder, and I feel like my mobility is particularly poor when doing dips? (this links into issues with my left shoulder).

A couple of years ago I was being foolish and dipping in between some bike lock areas when my left shoulder gave way. Anyway, after a visit to the GP she thought it was a minor tear. Said rest and Ice. Basically, since then I'm not sure it's particularly comfortable with dips

I've got to get some videos of form on all exercises up still, at which point I'm sure ice is going to tell me my form/mobility is dire xD

But apart from that any advice really?

kd

 

[icecold]

When looking at your shoulders it's best to do a little bit of self diagnostics with the stretches in the OP. I'm pretty sure Kelly explains healthy range in all of those videos, but you'll be able to feel where you're limited too.

I wouldn't have guessed that swimming influenced your shoulder mobility too much, but if their is already a problem then I guess it could. Fixing it could even make you a better swimmer.

Where have you been using a ball? Some lucky people (****ers!) have great tissue quality, but it's more likely that you're either not being aggressive enough or using it in the wrong place.

A problem with dips will sometimes mean that you're lacking internal rotation (test it!), so try smashing the ball just above and to the outside of your nipple. Then with the tissue "pinned" move your arm behind you with internal rotation, and try moving your arm as if you were doing a press up. A corner of a wall comes in handy here!

 

[DiCe!]

Ice, I tend to have my shoulder rolled forward/hunched a lot, anything you can recommend to make them sit back and lower?

 

[Djdom56]

Pec stretches and internal/external rotation stretches as well. There are quite a few listed in the op. You will also benefit from soft tissue work on your pecs.

 

[icecold]

...and thoracic mobility work!