So I just realised that last week I hit a lifetime pb on overhead press. 1 x 78.5kg/173 pounds.
Was the only rep I hit out of an aborted attempt at 4 x 2, so I missed the significance.
First major PB in any lift for about 5 years. 5 years ago i weighed 132kg/291 pounds.
Today I weigh 112kg/247 pounds.
Happy with that.
I have a curl bar but only about 40 lbs in weight plates (last move I left most of what I had for my sister). Sometimes I use the bar for squats but I tend to get pain in my upper back that doesn’t go away. It’s between my shoulder blades, at a point below where the bar touches my back. I tried padding the bar with a towel, no effect. It’s not much weight, so what I could be doing wrong?
In a HIGH BAR squat , the bar should sit on top of your traps (not on your vertebrae). In a LOW BAR squat , the bar should sit below your traps and above your rear delts. This is very important: the traps keep the bar from creeping up, and the rear delts keep the bar from sliding down.
Thanks! Googled the page and I’m doing them in the high bar position. The curl bar isn’t straight of course but it’s not directly against my spine. Pain is actually somewhat lower than I indicated before (see blue X). Maybe it’s something pre-existing that gets aggravated, not sure.
Weird, I don’t know. I watched a ton of Rippetoe low bar videos recently so figured I’d link that.
Are you sure the pain is caused by squatting? I have chronic pain in that area or a little lower, but more related to posture than exercise. It is brought on by long bouts of standing or walking, especially if I’m looking at my phone or doing something on the counter or in the sink. I’ve found mostly just resting, stretching, and using the “Body Back Buddy” back massager help. Shoulder mobility exercises are always good for squats as well.
I’m pretty sure my pain is muscular (my doctor thinks so too), but I guess if yours is directly in the spine, it could be something different.
The spot you’ve marked is your lower traps. These will be pretty active to hold your shoulder blades in place while you squat, particularly if you hunch forward or round your shoulders when you’re relaxed. My guess is that your lower traps are weak or tight or both.
I’m leaning (ha) toward this now. My posture isn’t great and if I don’t pay attention to how I’m sitting, standing, or walking, the pain increases because my upper back/torso bends slightly forward. Like you, this happens a lot when looking at a phone or book. I really feel it if I do a sit up on the initial part of the motion.
Stretches and trying to work them don’t cause pain, but hunching forward does. It seems like a posture thing. If my posture is normally bad it’s probably bad when I squat too, so adding weight makes it worse. I’m going to try some simple yoga things and see if that helps.
Thanks guys!
One nice thing about lower traps is that you don’t need a lot of resistance to strengthen them. On the other hand, it can be hard to target them effectively. I would look up “lower trap exercises” on YouTube and see what come up. Y Raises is the first thing that comes to mind.
Little late to the conversation, but that is an area I’ve had pain in the past, including seveeeeere pain a couple times when my back muscles would spasm. I had a physical therapist identify it as rib subluxation where my ribs were actually slightly dislocating from my spine (I think I’m describing that properly) and had me add warmups to my routine that loosened my back. I also added YTAs with a resistance band to my regular workout. These changes helped.
The most recent time it happened was after squatting–I had finished my squat sets and was setting up for deadlifts by literally carrying an empty barbell vertically. I must have twisted the wrong way and boom, instant pain. Had to get picked up from the gym because I couldn’t walk home.
Wife just bought a bench. One of us is about to get buff (probably her).
Interesting. I have some rib pain too but it’s at the front of my chest. I may have strained something bc my torso flexes some when I do pull-ups. Maybe it’s the same issue at my back. If I don’t pay attention to my posture it’ll start to hurt just sitting or standing. Simple stretches have helped.
What are you guys doing in the way of planks?
I do most of my planks with my forearms resting on one of those half-meter diameter inflatable exercise balls.
Way easier on my elbows that way compared to a floor or pad. And there’s the additional benefit of having to maintain balance/stability.
Got two weeks of WFH left. Have mostly hated it though having a 5 second commute to my computer and being able to work in a t-shirt + underwear is pretty awesome.
That said, I’d prefer it over working in a school during a pandemic. The plan in place is pretty terrible.
Moved up to 40 lb dumbells in July and 50 lbs as of a week ago. Have made it to the beach for a swim for the last 5 days. Getting some of my old strength back (from like 2005) and bought the Starting Strength book yesterday. Not losing weight atm, but putting on muscle and the mass is moving to better locations.
Interesting article on fitness equipment shortages. Why it’s so hard to find dumbbell sets in the US - Vox
When I bought my 50lb dumbells a week ago I called the store (small, independent store that sells about 50% used stuff) and told the guy i could come by “today or tomorrow” and he said that I better make it today as the inventory moves fast. Note that I live next to Long Beach, where much of the equipment arrives from China.
Doing cardio stuff at the start of the year was great to get me back to a baseline fitness level, but really liking the progress on strength. The Starting Strength guy is big on developing baseline strength as the foundation for other activity. It feels nice to be able to throw my 300lbs around with no issues, with improved balance and stamina due largely to strength. It’s nice to feel like I need to stretch my arms and back and flex my quads on occasion because I have actual muscles that require it. Core strength is much improved as well. I see this as a long term project, but it’s nice to be making tangible progress.
Being a little stronger now, it feels awesome to be able to ride, balance on and maneuver my bike without extra mental effort.
I have a slight anti plank bias. Too many people will establish a plank and hold it too long , until their abs are exhausted and they’re using their lower back to hold them up. Not good.
If you’re going to do planks then I recommend something more dynamic like establishing a plank and then lifting your feet one at a time for sets of ten, or one hand at a time, stuff like that. Fighting the rotation is probably a better workout and like I said I think pure isometric holds tend to be held too long until you’re working the wrong muscles.
Yeah. Lots of good plank variations.
I do a circuit of one arm one leg plank, regular plank, side plank.
The point I was trying to make was that the shoulder pain could be core weakness somewhere along the chain rather than in the site of the symptoms.
