Muscle Imbalances

I would consult a doctor that is aware about sports and training, so that he can propose exactly what to do. Back is a serious thing.

This video helped me with my back pain. If you have the patience to watch for 13 minutes you'll be glad you watched it.

The truth is nobody really knows what causes minor back pain.

As a powerlifter, I pretty much lived with pretty nasty back pain for the first 3 years. The game changer was to first learn to control the retraction (pulling back via the trapezius and rhomboid muscles) and depression (pulling down via the latissimus dorsi and rhomboid muscles) of the shoulder blades (scapulae). YouTube is your friend for this! Then work on rowing/pull up variations with light weight while maintaining the depressed and retracted position of your shoulder blades. Do this until it becomes a habit and a lot of your back irritation should improve. A lot of times, putting explosive stress (such as the body rotation of a loop stroke) on a muscle that is weak will lead to the kind of discomfort you're talking about. Hope this helps!

I cannot tell you where your back pain comes from. But I can tell you that my back pain I had after some exhausting training sessions completely gone away after a few months of training in the gym. That was ten years ago. Never had that back pain ever again after playing table tennis, of course I still go to the gym regularly. Not sure if you go to the gym already or not?!

Due to a variety of small muscle imbalances, my head is usually a little bit tilted to the right. My chest is also a bit too strong compared to my lats and shoulders.

I have nothing really serious going on that causes discomfort, so I just approach it by training normally, but pushing the weaker side just a little bit more compared to the stronger side. It's gotten slightly better over the years. I can feel that my non-dominant side is getting more even with my right.


Back pains are funny, because mine are either from sitting, or usually just psychological. If I feel very good, I don't have back pains at all. Like Baal said, it's a bit strange.

Archosaurus said:

[...] so I just approach it by training normally, but pushing the weaker side just a little bit more compared to the stronger side.

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Everything I've read during the last years about budybuilding and how to train reasonably in the gym told me not to do that. Just train both sides of your body and muscles the same way, eventually your imbalances will vanish automatically. And always train your whole body and not only parts of it to prevent getting new imbalances.

Archosaurus said:

Due to a variety of small muscle imbalances, my head is usually a little bit tilted to the right.

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Now we know what the central issue is! [emoji2]


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One of the risky things about what is going on here is, trying to give advice about back pain via the internet is a sort of risky business.

There are things in that TED video that are good and other things that are just strange generalizations.

We don't know if it is lower back pain, upper back pain, on one side, on both sides. It could be upper back because he mentioned his traps. But we don't really know.

What helps one person's back issues can make another person's back issues get worse. Most importantly, we don't know the underlying causes of the specific back pain. Is it just stress from the work of TT training. Is there something going on like a nerve being compressed as it exits a spinal foramen. Or a rib that has subluxated from one of its facet joints attachments.

Back pain can be from 100s of different causes. And, unfortunately, taking an course of action that worked for one person's back problem and using it for a different person without actually having a clue what your are doing could:

a) help
b) do nothing
or
c) MAKE THINGS WORSE

I think it is clear why the risk of the third outcome outweighs the the possible beneficial 1st outcome and the indifferent 2nd outcome.

However, it actually does seem like Booger has come up with a course of action that seems to help him.

And if it is associated with his right trapezius and not the back, then stretching it at intervals during training, or using that foam roller, should actually help.

And if it really is that, then weights in a gym may not be bad. And neither would a certain amount of shadow training lefty.

But prescribing over the internet, particularly when that is not really your area of expertise, can cause more problems than you can shake a stick at.


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Xylit said:

Everything I've read during the last years about budybuilding and how to train reasonably in the gym told me not to do that. Just train both sides of your body and muscles the same way, eventually your imbalances will vanish automatically. And always train your whole body and not only parts of it to prevent getting new imbalances.

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Yes, exactly. What I mean is, striving to perform the same with my non-dominant side as I do with my dominant side.

I DO NOT mean using more weight, more reps, or isolating the non-dominant side, or whatever. What I mean is pushing myself to do at least the same reps and not any less, and sticking to a weight that both my sides can handle.

In compound exercises, I just try to keep my form as even and strict as possible. No leaning over to one side or compensating with my other.


Is this correct?


@UpSideDownCarl

Who knows, blood flow could be a bit restricted at times.

It goes without saying of course proper stretching and nutrition reduces risks of injuries from intense training. Physicals (chiropractors in particular in my experience) can help identify physiological nuances that can become increasingly problematic with age and wear.

Something to be mindful of, are you possibly over-tensed during your training?

I'd listen to Carl on this one. As a professional yoga instructor, he probably has a bit more insight than all of us saying what you need to do


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Shuki said:

I'd listen to Carl on this one. As a professional yoga instructor, he probably has a bit more insight than all of us saying what you need to do.

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The tricky part with this is, Boogar's assessment of his own situation could be accurate and than it is more muscle pain than anything else. And then there are any number of things he could do to balance things out. But it also could be something to do with the spine. And you can't really assess stuff like that without doing tests on the person, and that would need to happen in person.



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The Infamous NSA Spy Phone from Manhattan said:

Back pain can be from 100s of different causes. And, unfortunately, taking an course of action that worked for one person's back problem and using it for a different person without actually having a clue what your are doing could:

a) help
b) do nothing
or
c) MAKE THINGS WORSE

Click to expand...

Yup, hundreds of things you never thought could cause back pain do.

- Sitting wrong
- Sitting too long
-Not getting up and moving
- Leaving Ur butt imprint on a couch
- Sitting down and spending too much time on TTD forum
- Putting a wallet in your back pocket and sitting down (This one reall makes some back pains for you)
- Not doing exercises that involve major muscle groups and do 3d motion - OK just to use body resistance
- IMPROPER FORM in your sports
- INEFFICIENT posture while standing, walking, running, playing sports
- IMPROPER BREATHING (Yes, you hurt yourself by breathing through mouth or off time before exertion)
- Overloading one side (Like all-out FH attacking maniac)
- SLEEPING WRONG
- SLEEPING with poor support (Your muscles are strained to keep your body form during sleep and are already weak and hurting
- SLEEPING with poor alignment (Particularly troublesome to military - barracks beds really suck, but one needs some bracing) (Koreans sleep on a hard bare floor no problem though - their neck is well supported)
- Not enough sleep
Poor Nutrition and hydration
- General muscle imbalance
- Blunt force trauma from Goon Squads while running away

These are a few right off the top of my head I have seen through time that trouble people and have direct affects on the back or chain reactions leading to it.

Yup, hard to know from my keyboard what applies to OP or anyone for that matter.

Yup, dangerous to say do this or do that.

Yup, Someone like Carl who knows Bio-Physics (and also Duke-Nuke-Em) can articulate very well on good form and cause/effect. They can eyeball some motion and detect inefficiencies almost right away.

It would take a little first-hand observation to better know, but what the heck, everyone should know their body and its feedback better than anyone.

fais said:

It goes without saying of course proper stretching and nutrition reduces risks of injuries from intense training. Physicals (chiropractors in particular in my experience) can help identify physiological nuances that can become increasingly problematic with age and wear.

Something to be mindful of, are you possibly over-tensed during your training?

Click to expand...

What is amazing is that the studies designed by exercise scientists and sports medicine specialists to address the question of whether stretching reduces iinuries in sports have not provided much support for the hypothesis. In fact static stretches can reduce performance without reducing iinjury. Some dynamic stretches may have some effect but it is small .

Chiropractors do almost nothing that is evidence-based and can hurt you. Don't let them "adjust" your spine!

Yep. And, again, to have back pain assessed, it should happen in person with someone who knows what he is doing.


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