OcUK Health Seekers: Post your progress pics

[icecold]

It honestly looks like fairly common sits-at-a-desk syndrome.

Quick test for you volcs:

Keeping your arms straight, how vertical can you get them? If you try and force it, where is tight? Potentially you have minor flexibility problems in your thoratic spine, poor scapular mobility/position and poor humerus placement in the socket. I'm not trying to tell you you're falling apart, the vast majority of people have similar issues. In general, if you don't have something wrong with your shoulder you're actually pretty lucky (it might only be very minor, but most people can't boast a perfect shoulder complex).

This is why I've been pimping that link so much, this stuff is very important. Shoulder health in particular is a lot more complex than just strengthening your rotator cuff.

edit:
For example:

 

[MoNkeE]

That's a really interesting link icecold. My shoulders seem to be in a constant ache since I've started HST, I think the volume and weight of the 15s and 10s respectively have been a shock for them, along with improved technique, so I really imagine a good stretch out will help them!

 

[Volcs]

Traps start to feel it first then rhomboids, but I do actually struggle to entirely vertical. I had to get physio about 3 years ago for a winged scapula as my shoulder was rounding, but I hadn't really thought about it a long time.

I do have the joys of a desk job and try to prevent harming my posture as much as possible by having all the risers, proper keyboard etc (don't know how everyone else can hunch over a lappy all day - it starts to hurt me after about an hour!).

Need to invest in a lacrosse ball!

 

[BennyC]

Golf balls are just as good (hurts more! and gets in deeper ) and you can do something similar leaning against a wall.

Decent vid though icecold, nice one.

 

[Skillmister]

Thought id post up something in here. First pic is at around 145lbs, possibly less. 2nd pic is a couple of weeks ago at 170. Time span around 8-9 months, 6 of which has been with a sorted routine and diet. Still a way to go but happy so far

Was hard to find a picture where i wasnt wearing a jumper, hiding my twig arms

oh and dont hate on the wife beater

 

[icecold]

The rest of the Mwod series is equally good, well worth checking out. I'm by no means unusually broken in the tissue department but I can think of 6+ areas that I'm working on getting super smooth at the moment.

Sounds fairly typical volcs, time to get to work! You can use a golf ball for the time being (will hurt a LOT more in places ), but for a lot of areas the lacross ball's size is better suited (gets nicely into the glutes and IT band (OUCH) for example). Having a few different sizes available to you is ideal though.

Monkee if your shoulder aches it's a good idea to give it some love (and pain) for a while.

Side benefits include looking better in general because your posture is better.


Edit
Skillmister: definitely put on some size; obvious improvements in your delts, arms and chest.

 

[Volcs]

Gave it a go with a tennis ball this afternoon as that's all I have to hand at the mo - ow ow ow.

 

[BennyC]

Tennis balls are the daddy. That or marbles, lol

Have a monstrous knot in my hip/rec fem/groin I've been working on.

 

[Boscher]

..

 

[icecold]

Gave it a go with a tennis ball this afternoon as that's all I have to hand at the mo - ow ow ow.

imagine using something harder

As I've just got home for a few weeks me and my brother did an epic mobilisation session last night. He'd picked up some hockey balls (you can tape two together which is awesome for your back) so we decided to have a play around with a variety of stuff. So much pain, was literally drunk of endorphins. It's crazy how mobile you get when you test your range afterwards.

 

[RIZZEE]

Gonna try that tennis ball thing this evening.

still trying to use my shoulders when i'm doing a press or something similar, shoulders are aching by the end of it
Might post up some pictures soon as well

 

[shadowcreaper]

It honestly looks like fairly common sits-at-a-desk syndrome.

Quick test for you volcs:


This is why I've been pimping that link so much, this stuff is very important. Shoulder health in particular is a lot more complex than just strengthening your rotator cuff.

edit:
For example:

This is a well known exercise that is used a lot in cycle world, tons of cycle mags have this listed as a exercise to do before long rides due to being hunched over bike for long periods can cause issues.

But tbh best way to help is swimming, backstroke, having to keep arms close to ears very good for this, again, people bodybuild but forget about their CV and mobility too much.

triathletes are easly some of the fittest people i know and their training is what more people should look at rather than pure weight gain via shakes and powerdrinks.

 

[BennyC]

Don't forget the golf ball on the sole of your foot, standing on it giving it a good roll around to release the calfs/hamstrings. Specifically the heel though I usually give the whole foot a good going over.

 

[Djdom56]

Hockey ball underneath the scapula was agony, literally almost cried but today I feel awesome! Although I need to find an appropriate way of doing my medial hamstring

 

[Skunkworks]

This reminds of the time a friend got me a voucher for a sports massage for me birthday. I was expecting soft music and scented cadles, what I got felt like the end of a broom handle being stabbed in my back.

 

[icecold]

This is a well known exercise that is used a lot in cycle world, tons of cycle mags have this listed as a exercise to do before long rides due to being hunched over bike for long periods can cause issues.

But tbh best way to help is swimming, backstroke, having to keep arms close to ears very good for this, again, people bodybuild but forget about their CV and mobility too much.

triathletes are easly some of the fittest people i know and their training is what more people should look at rather than pure weight gain via shakes and powerdrinks.

Good points. But don't underestimate other athletes, all high level stuff requires almost physical perfection.


For those thinking of trying this out, definitely invest in a lacross ball (hockey ball at worst, although the slightly different texture makes it a bit slippy). It's by far the best tool I've met so far, certainly superior to a tenis ball (although I wouldn't judge anyone for starting out with a tenis ball for a session or two).

Bands are also really useful, the idea for the stretch seen in that vid can be applied to lots of different angles with the shoulder.

More shoulder action:

Be careful with these. The most important thing here is to ensure your shoulder is pulled back into the socket at all times.

 

[Clipsey]

triathletes are easly some of the fittest people i know and their training is what more people should look at rather than pure weight gain .

**checks sig **

 

[Marshstyles]

Thank you for posting that site icecold

I was going to ask about this in a thread of my own but as its sort of relivent here.

I get terrible fatigue in my sholders - a LOT more than any part of my body

I can be doing any leg exercise lunges/squat/stepups/whatever with 15-20kg dumbells in each hand and my legs are normally fine but my sholders are practicly dead.

my sholderpresses are not much better, maybe 12kg for 12 reps and im ******. lateral raises are about the same. ive hit this road block for abour 2 weeks now. I have tried increasing weight and lowering reps but doesnt seem to be getting anywhere.

sholder shrugs maybe 50-60 kg @ 20 reps

Im 82kg, been training 7 weeks (for weight loss)

Do you think doing the exercises in the video will help my problem?

 

[icecold]

It's hard to tell without seeing your posture and movement patterns, but there's no harm in trying them. I now have no shoulder pain when benching (touch wood) and everything just feels loads better. I'm continuing to work on more or less everything because I'm seeing improvements in problems I didn't even know I had!

It is possible that you have weaknesses or imbalances in your shoulders, but it's also possible that you just not given them much attention before. Either way, encoraging the right movements and correct body position is a great idea anyway. Try them and let us know how you feel, if you can do the test/retest stuff that is a good indication of how it's going. It might take a week or so if you're really pulled out of shape though

 

[BennyC]

My right shoulder used to fatigue much quicker than my left.

I view the shoulder as two separate groups. The internal & external.
The external being the anterior/medial/posterior deltoids.
And the internal being muscles that make up the rotator cuff/teres major & minor/subscapularis etc.

Instabilities in your shoulders along with poor form and recruitment I found will cause the internal muscles to fatigue and actually feels very much like a burning almost down to the bone right and across the joint. Addressing this with RC work and stabilising exercises along with researching form I found helped massively.

The best exercise I found for stabilising my shoulders has actually been TGU's and DB windmills. Direct RC work helps too but the TGU/WM is more of a compound in my eyes helping the shoulder work together in balance rather than over developing particular areas.

Coming from the chap who's had minor tears in both RC's from lifting I know how to look after them, for me I discovered at the weekend throwing American football with poor form is not favourable!