Ladies -

Please allow me to introduce myself; my name is Mike Robertson, and I'm an author for T-Nation and Elite Fitness Systems. I've also done some freelance and random quotes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Prevention, and a host of other magazines/websites. The lovely Olesya had contacted me about writing some articles for MWA, so that's exactly what I plan to do in the coming months!

In the mean time, I figured I'd do my best to help you all out with your training. My "niche", if you will, is helping people fix their posture and alignment. When we do this, we not only decrease the likelihood of them getting injured, but we typically improve their performance as well!

Anyway, that's enough about me. If you have questions about exercise technique, program design, injuries, or just about anything else, please don't hesitate to ask. You can find out more about me at my website below:

www.robertsontrainingsystems.com

Take care and best of luck with your training!

MR

Mike,

It's fantastic to have you here! Thanks in advance for your time! I have a question about my hips... I was working out the other week and noticed that my left glute is NOT FIRING! I had noticed it a little before, so I have been doing hip warm-ups, glute activation work and lots of hip flexor stretching for over a month now (got all the exercises from an old T-Nation article)... but I haven't seen too much improvement.
I also get massages 3-4x a month and last week my therapist told me that she can tell that my right hip is anteriorally (not sure if that's a word) rotated... in other words, it is rotated forward, and this is likely causing my problems. Do you have any ideas about possible causes/suggestions, etc?

Thanks again!

Molly

P.S. I LOVE Elite! I train with Jim Laird often (he is Jim Wendler's old roommate) and I was just at a powerlifting meet in Columbus a couple of weeks ago and actually saw Wendler there! =D

Molly -

A couple of thoughts to help you out:

- You're doing the right things w/regards to the hip flexor stretching and glute activation work. You can try these pre-workout, during the workout (i.e. right before a set), or even throughout the day. Constantly focus on getting more length through the hip and better recruitment of the glute.

- Typically, you'll see a core instability or weakness on the side of the weak glute as well. Try doing more external oblique work on that side; I outlined a ton of exercises a while back in an article titled "Core Training for Smart Folks." I would highly recommend dead bugs in your case since they work on one side of the core at a time.

- Finally, when you're doing exercises like RDL's, pull thru's, etc., make sure to really focus on squeezing that left side. My right side used to be this was as well, so I know where you're coming from.

It sounds like you have a great crew to train with. Sorry you had to see Wendler, though; I wouldn't wish that on anyone ;)

Best
MR

Hi Mike!

I've had problems with my lower back for years now. It started back in high school (due to a few things), where my lower back will fall out of alignment, which of course ends up throwing off my hips and shoulders.

Back when that first started (and I was in a good deal of pain) I was going to chiropractor pretty often to get me back in line. After those first few sessions, I backed off to once every 6 months. Then it dropped to once a year. And admittedly, I haven't been in for an alignment in about 2 years now (but I do have an appointment later this week).

My questions are: How often would you recommend someone in my situation, with recurring problems of misalignment, to go in for routine adjustments?

And how often should someone that's never really had these problems go in for routine adjustments as a preventative measure?

Hi Mike,
Good to have you here. Right when I need you!
Here is my problem: I have pain in the butt! Yes, right where hamstring and glute meet.

It's been on and off for about a year. Started hurting when I was doing hams twice a week.

It was better for a while but some how got better now it's back again. Hurts on deadlifts, lying leg curls, step ups and I do cardio, like stepper or eliptical when leg goes straight.

Doesn't hurt on good mornings, or doing deads with out bending my knees. Lunges dont hurt going down just coming up. Bike it's pretty much only cardio I can do.

I went to a sports medicine doc. He said it's not a bone ( I thought it's ischial tuberosity pain syndrome)he said it's where muscles inserts to the bone. Gave me Celebrex and Licodaine patch.

I've been on it for 2 weeks and not much improvement. Patch is kind of annoying, doesn't stick well and hard to stay on this spot-my butt crease. I didn't stop working out, just one week I didn't go any hamstring.

I want to start my contest prep and I'm afraid that it's gonna get worse and stop me from competing.
My chiro said it's all from my pelvic shifting.


What do you say?

Thank you and sorry for a long post.

Jelena

Neely -

Did the chiro give you any exercises/stretches to help maintain the alignment? If not, that's definitely something I would ask about. When I worked in a chiro facility a few years ago we ALWAYS gave the patients stuff to do on their own at home.

If you're primarily interested in maintenance work, I'd suggest going in for an adjustment every 1-2 months. I'm a firm believer, however, that massage will do more for you since it works directly on the soft-tissues. With massage, I highly recommend that everyone get a good deep tissue massage 1-2x/month. This, in a lot of instances, kills two birds with one stone.

At some point in time if you post some posture pics (full length from the front, sides and back), and let me know more about your symptoms, I'll see if I can't help you out with some exercise recommendations. Good luck!

MR


Neely wrote:
Hi Mike!

I've had problems with my lower back for years now. It started back in high school (due to a few things), where my lower back will fall out of alignment, which of course ends up throwing off my hips and shoulders.

Back when that first started (and I was in a good deal of pain) I was going to chiropractor pretty often to get me back in line. After those first few sessions, I backed off to once every 6 months. Then it dropped to once a year. And admittedly, I haven't been in for an alignment in about 2 years now (but I do have an appointment later this week).

My questions are: How often would you recommend someone in my situation, with recurring problems of misalignment, to go in for routine adjustments?

And how often should someone that's never really had these problems go in for routine adjustments as a preventative measure?

Jelena -

Some thoughts/answers below...

Jelena Abbou wrote:
Hi Mike,
Good to have you here. Right when I need you!
Here is my problem: I have pain in the butt! Yes, right where hamstring and glute meet.

It's been on and off for about a year. Started hurting when I was doing hams twice a week.

It was better for a while but some how got better now it's back again. Hurts on deadlifts, lying leg curls, step ups and I do cardio, like stepper or eliptical when leg goes straight.

Doesn't hurt on good mornings, or doing deads with out bending my knees. Lunges dont hurt going down just coming up. Bike it's pretty much only cardio I can do.

MR: From this description, it sounds more like a gluteal issue than a hamstring issue. With *most* hamstring issues, the stretched position (like you would have in an RDL or good morning) would really bother it. Have you tried foam rolling your glutes at all?

I went to a sports medicine doc. He said it's not a bone ( I thought it's ischial tuberosity pain syndrome)he said it's where muscles inserts to the bone. Gave me Celebrex and Licodaine patch.

I've been on it for 2 weeks and not much improvement. Patch is kind of annoying, doesn't stick well and hard to stay on this spot-my butt crease. I didn't stop working out, just one week I didn't go any hamstring.

MR: If it's the sacrotuberous ligament (where your hamstrings connect to your hips), then some ART would definitely be in order. The Celebrex/Lidocaine would mask the pain and decrease the inflammation, but they won't address any scar tissue that's built up in there. The next question would be, what biomechanical issues do you have that caused the injury in the first place? That's what we really need to figure out.

I want to start my contest prep and I'm afraid that it's gonna get worse and stop me from competing.
My chiro said it's all from my pelvic shifting.

What do you say?

Thank you and sorry for a long post.

Jelena


I would start by foam rolling the glutes and seeing if you get anything out of that. If not, and if you can get access to ART or deep tissue massage, have them work on the hamstrings/sacrotuberous ligament and see if you don't have some scar tissue build-up in there as well.

Next, like I told Neely above, if you post full length posture shots we'll see if I can't pick up on something posturally that's skewed with you. Most hamstring issues occur on one side because the hip flexors are much tighter on that side, which causes the glute to become inactive and lazy. As well, it puts the hamstrings in a constant position of stretch, which leads to strains.

Think about this and let me know if it helps!

MR

Mike Robertson wrote:
Neely -

Did the chiro give you any exercises/stretches to help maintain the alignment? If not, that's definitely something I would ask about. When I worked in a chiro facility a few years ago we ALWAYS gave the patients stuff to do on their own at home.

If you're primarily interested in maintenance work, I'd suggest going in for an adjustment every 1-2 months. I'm a firm believer, however, that massage will do more for you since it works directly on the soft-tissues. With massage, I highly recommend that everyone get a good deep tissue massage 1-2x/month. This, in a lot of instances, kills two birds with one stone.

At some point in time if you post some posture pics (full length from the front, sides and back), and let me know more about your symptoms, I'll see if I can't help you out with some exercise recommendations. Good luck!

MR

The main guy I was going to when things first went south with my back gave me a few stretches to do, which are pretty much along the same lines of what I do when I do static stretching anyway. And I always do dynamics before and during my lifting sessions. So I think the combo of those things have been what's helped me from really *having* to hit the chiro more often (even though I know I shouldn't put it off like I do).

As far as my posture, the main thing that's been bugging me lately is my left shoulder is wanting to pull forward. I try to always make a conscious effort to maintain proper posture, but if I slack on that for a little bit, the muscles around my left scapula will get bothersome.

My hips aren't really giving me any trouble (which seems surprising). But I'm sure those are off line as well.

Thx Mike. I'm doing foam roll, but I should do it more. I'm gonna go for deep tissue massage to and let you know how that goes

Neely wrote:
The main guy I was going to when things first went south with my back gave me a few stretches to do, which are pretty much along the same lines of what I do when I do static stretching anyway. And I always do dynamics before and during my lifting sessions. So I think the combo of those things have been what's helped me from really *having* to hit the chiro more often (even though I know I shouldn't put it off like I do).

As far as my posture, the main thing that's been bugging me lately is my left shoulder is wanting to pull forward. I try to always make a conscious effort to maintain proper posture, but if I slack on that for a little bit, the muscles around my left scapula will get bothersome.

My hips aren't really giving me any trouble (which seems surprising). But I'm sure those are off line as well.

If your left shoulder is pulling forward, I'd really focus on stretching the pecs/lats on that side. As well, some thoracic spine mobilizations (with and without rotation) would probably help as well.

Sounds good about the hips, too. Staying healthy isn't a bad thing ;)

Let me know if you need anything else. Good luck!

MR

Jelena Abbou wrote:
Thx Mike. I'm doing foam roll, but I should do it more. I'm gonna go for deep tissue massage to and let you know how that goes

Sounds great Jelena - keep me posted!

MR

Hi Mike! Thank you so much for sharing your insight. Here's what's plaguing me... I have been experiencing some pain in my anterior and medial delt on the right side especially with overhead presses, dips, and push ups.

I thought originally it might be an injury but couldn't pin point when it occurred. More recently I have started to notice my right shoulder "drooping" for lack of a better description.

I get a lot of tightness that runs down my trap on the right side and all the way down to the infraspinatus. About two or three times in the last year I have woken up unable to turn my head. It takes a few days to work itself out.

I have a 24 lb. one year old little boy that spends much of the day riding around on my left hip. So, I am wondering if you think the pain

I'm experiencing could more of an alignment issue or tightness due to compensating for packing around a kiddo on my hip or if it's more likely that shoulder problems (pain and drooping) such as that would be more related to a single injury or overuse? Thanks!
Gin

Gin -

What does your training program look like? Often, we spend so much time building our chest/lats (both internal rotators), that we become imbalanced and drawn forward through the chest. This can cause nerve compression and some of the issues you described earlier. If nothing else, start religiously stretching your pecs and lats.

I'd als be interested to see if you don't have some issues in your neck/thoracic spine as well. Being unable to turn your neck is a bad thing, but it could be d/t how your sleeping.

When you say you're "drooping" does that mean the right shoulder is lower than the other? Or is it more "rolled" forward? If it's rolled, we'll need to give you some exercises to focus on mobilizing the thoracic spine and getting it back in alignment.

Let me know what you think and we'll figure this out!

Best
MR

Hi Mike,

Hoping you can help me!

About a year and a half ago I injured my left rhomboid (my massage therapist said this is the muscle I injured) I was cracking my neck - i know I shouldn't be doing that - but i was turning my head to the right and felt something insanely painful near my shoulder blade on my left side. It was like someone stabbed me and I was unable to move my neck for almost 2 weeks. I went to massage 2-3 times a week for 4 weeks which dramatically helped. Ever since then I have had way more ROM in my left shoulder blade and can almost make it looked winged when I push it out and up - something I can't do with my right shoulder blade.

Sometimes when I do bb rows I still feel a pulling on my left side. And always get shooting pains down the back of both arms when I do dips.

Last week I was doing overhead squats and when I put the weight down I had a shooting pain from my left shoulder blade up into the base of my skull - I had to lay down as I thought I was going to throw up. Now, I feel constant pulling in my left shoulder blad and the top of my left shoulder is teneder and I constantly feel like I have to pop my shoulder. I pull my left shoulder away from my ear and actually hear a pop sometimes near my clavicle. I'm not sure if this is all related but was wondering your thoughts as to what I'm dealing with. I've been suffering from headaches ever since.

Side note - my RMT also mentioned that my pecs are overdeveloped which is causing my shoulders to roll forward whcih may be accounting for my headaches. This all makes sense to me and I have been trying to develop m back more to stop this.

Oh..and I'm working with Jen Heath right now in preparation for my wedding in august - things are going great but i'm scared to lift in case i re-injure my left side again.

Any help is MUCH appreciated....so sorry for the long post :)

Thanks!!!

Kari

Mike Robertson wrote:
Gin -

What does your training program look like? Often, we spend so much time building our chest/lats (both internal rotators), that we become imbalanced and drawn forward through the chest. This can cause nerve compression and some of the issues you described earlier. If nothing else, start religiously stretching your pecs and lats.

I'd als be interested to see if you don't have some issues in your neck/thoracic spine as well. Being unable to turn your neck is a bad thing, but it could be d/t how your sleeping.

When you say you're "drooping" does that mean the right shoulder is lower than the other? Or is it more "rolled" forward? If it's rolled, we'll need to give you some exercises to focus on mobilizing the thoracic spine and getting it back in alignment.

Let me know what you think and we'll figure this out!

Best
MR

Thank you so much! I train lats and delts pretty religiously--hitting it hard once a week. I only work chest and arms directly every two weeks.

I would characterize the drooping as rolled forward. As it relates to sleeping...I can only tell you that my sleep is pretty bad. My kiddo doesn't sleep through the night and I have a restless partner, so I do tend to sleep in fits and starts in odd positions.

Any suggestions you have for exercises to straighten me out would be much appreciated!

Gin

Hi Mike,

I have 2 issues I'd like help with. First, my left trap looks shorter and bunched up, and it looks like it has raised my shoulder as well. I was injured as a teen when a horse reared over backwards with me. There is a slight click when I pull my shoulder back, but it doesn't really bother me so long as I workout. I think you can see it pretty well in the full back shot on this thread: http://www.musclewithattitude....

I do occasionally get tight in my neck on that side and even get sharp pulls there when I am speaking. I'm experiencing that right now, in fact.

Second, I have always had very tight hamstrings and don't know how to release them. Foam rolling seems to help me keep from getting as sore after a leg workout, but now I have pain at the top of my right hamstring (which has always been the tighter one.) The pain is the worst when I bend far at the waist. I can not push on it and feel it, it's only during movement that it seems to occur. It feels like it is just below my seatbone. Turning my toes out some while squatting/deadlifting/romanian deadlifts avoids it somewhat. I think my butt tends to spread when I bend over rather than stay tight. I feel like it may be a lack of my glutes firing, but I don't have the experience to be sure.

Any ideas/help?

Thanks!
CiiVii

Mike, I went to ART guy who spent hour and a half with me. This is what he found. My left trap in higher then the right, hips are even but right rotates forward, my periformis and hip flexors and very tight, more on the right side. He did ART on right side of my abs pushing down and he said it's like I have rocks there. Was pretty painful. Pain that I have he thinks it's adductor not glute or hamstring.

Honestly after one session I felt better.
He also used some device, I don't know what is called it's like a little weight hanging of the string and he hold is against my back and measures 2-4-6. You probably know what that means. I understood 2 means my head is forward, 4 is for back and 6 is lumbar (big curve)

Kari -

I've inserted some thoughts/ideas in here; let me know what you think!

krew wrote:
Hi Mike,

Hoping you can help me!

About a year and a half ago I injured my left rhomboid (my massage therapist said this is the muscle I injured) I was cracking my neck - i know I shouldn't be doing that - but i was turning my head to the right and felt something insanely painful near my shoulder blade on my left side. It was like someone stabbed me and I was unable to move my neck for almost 2 weeks. I went to massage 2-3 times a week for 4 weeks which dramatically helped. Ever since then I have had way more ROM in my left shoulder blade and can almost make it looked winged when I push it out and up - something I can't do with my right shoulder blade.

Hmmm...it could be your rhomboids, but a lot of what you describe below is similar to a levator scapulae injury. They could easily be confused.

Sometimes when I do bb rows I still feel a pulling on my left side. And always get shooting pains down the back of both arms when I do dips.

This is a big red flag here - any type of neurological issue should be checked out. Can you get in with a PT or ortho just to rule out anything major?

It's probably nothing, but radicular or shooting pains are nothing to mess around with.

Last week I was doing overhead squats and when I put the weight down I had a shooting pain from my left shoulder blade up into the base of my skull - I had to lay down as I thought I was going to throw up. Now, I feel constant pulling in my left shoulder blad and the top of my left shoulder is teneder and I constantly feel like I have to pop my shoulder. I pull my left shoulder away from my ear and actually hear a pop sometimes near my clavicle. I'm not sure if this is all related but was wondering your thoughts as to what I'm dealing with. I've been suffering from headaches ever since.

The pain from the scapulae-->skull definitely sounds like levator scapulae is an issue. ART or deep tissue massage would really help. As well, I wrote an article w/Bill Hartman a while back for T-Nation called "Push-ups, Face Pulls and Shrugs" that should be right up your alley. If you're having issues with your downward rotators (i.e. rhomboids and levator scapulae) then we generally need to train your upward rotators (i.e. serratus, upper and lower traps).

Check the article out, as it may allow you to do some upper body training in the interim.

Side note - my RMT also mentioned that my pecs are overdeveloped which is causing my shoulders to roll forward whcih may be accounting for my headaches. This all makes sense to me and I have been trying to develop m back more to stop this.

Like the poster above, try stretching your pecs/lats more frequently. Again, the exercises in the above article should help, too.

Oh..and I'm working with Jen Heath right now in preparation for my wedding in august - things are going great but i'm scared to lift in case i re-injure my left side again.

Any help is MUCH appreciated....so sorry for the long post :)

Thanks!!!

Kari


I remember reading your posts a while back; best of luck with your wedding prep. Jen is great as well, so keep me posted on how things are feeling.

GOOD LUCK!!!!

MR

Gin wrote:

Thank you so much! I train lats and delts pretty religiously--hitting it hard once a week. I only work chest and arms directly every two weeks.

I would characterize the drooping as rolled forward. As it relates to sleeping...I can only tell you that my sleep is pretty bad. My kiddo doesn't sleep through the night and I have a restless partner, so I do tend to sleep in fits and starts in odd positions.

Any suggestions you have for exercises to straighten me out would be much appreciated!

Gin

Gin -

Here's the pictures of an exericse I want you to add in to your warm-up and throughout the day. It's called a step up with rotation, and it's featured in a video I created a while back called "Inside-Out: The Ultimate Upper Body Warm-up."

Essentially, we want to improve your ability to rotate the thoracic spine. Place a broomstick over your shoulders and place your right leg up on a bench. Brace your core, and fire your left glute - this should keep you tight in the midsection. From there, rotate to the right - you should feel this in/around your shoulder blades. If you feel it lower, you're not doing it correctly. Perform 2 sets of 10 on the affected side, and one set of 10 on the good side.

As well, focus on stretching those pecs/lats whenever possible; again, if you're imbalanced, perform twice as many on the affected side.

Try this out and let me know what you think!

Best
MR

Mike Robertson wrote:
Gin wrote:

Thank you so much! I train lats and delts pretty religiously--hitting it hard once a week. I only work chest and arms directly every two weeks.

I would characterize the drooping as rolled forward. As it relates to sleeping...I can only tell you that my sleep is pretty bad. My kiddo doesn't sleep through the night and I have a restless partner, so I do tend to sleep in fits and starts in odd positions.

Any suggestions you have for exercises to straighten me out would be much appreciated!

Gin

Gin -

Here's the pictures of an exericse I want you to add in to your warm-up and throughout the day. It's called a step up with rotation, and it's featured in a video I created a while back called "Inside-Out: The Ultimate Upper Body Warm-up."

Essentially, we want to improve your ability to rotate the thoracic spine. Place a broomstick over your shoulders and place your right leg up on a bench. Brace your core, and fire your left glute - this should keep you tight in the midsection. From there, rotate to the right - you should feel this in/around your shoulder blades. If you feel it lower, you're not doing it correctly. Perform 2 sets of 10 on the affected side, and one set of 10 on the good side.

As well, focus on stretching those pecs/lats whenever possible; again, if you're imbalanced, perform twice as many on the affected side.

Try this out and let me know what you think!

Best
MR

You're the best! I'll do it starting today. Thank you for your help.

CiiVii wrote:
Hi Mike,

I have 2 issues I'd like help with. First, my left trap looks shorter and bunched up, and it looks like it has raised my shoulder as well. I was injured as a teen when a horse reared over backwards with me. There is a slight click when I pull my shoulder back, but it doesn't really bother me so long as I workout. I think you can see it pretty well in the full back shot on this thread: http://www.musclewithattitude....

I do occasionally get tight in my neck on that side and even get sharp pulls there when I am speaking. I'm experiencing that right now, in fact.

It does appear to be a little hypertonic when compared to the opposite side. When the 2nd part of my stretching article comes out this week, there should be several stretches included in there that will help. Be sure to do twice as many stretches on the tight side.

As well, be sure to include exercises for your lower traps (like lat pulldowns with a hard SQUEEZE at the top) and your serratus anterior (like push-ups) into your programming. These muscles work together to help move your scapulae efficiently.

Second, I have always had very tight hamstrings and don't know how to release them. Foam rolling seems to help me keep from getting as sore after a leg workout, but now I have pain at the top of my right hamstring (which has always been the tighter one.) The pain is the worst when I bend far at the waist. I can not push on it and feel it, it's only during movement that it seems to occur. It feels like it is just below my seatbone. Turning my toes out some while squatting/deadlifting/romanian deadlifts avoids it somewhat. I think my butt tends to spread when I bend over rather than stay tight. I feel like it may be a lack of my glutes firing, but I don't have the experience to be sure.

Any ideas/help?

Thanks!
CiiVii

If you have actually pulled/strained the hammy, I would highly recommend getting some ART/deep tissue massage done like Jelena did. From there, understand that most hamstring issues are due to a few things:

1 - A week anterior core (rectus abdominus and external obliques)
2 - Weak/underactive glutes
3 - Too much tension in the hip flexors

Start by incorporating dedicated hip flexor stretching into your program, as well as throughout the day. Glute bridging is also a good idea to make sure those glutes are firing before lifting.

I'm actually going to write several exclusive articles for MWA that covers these topics in depth. Stay tuned!

Best
MR

Jelena Abbou wrote:
Mike, I went to ART guy who spent hour and a half with me. This is what he found. My left trap in higher then the right, hips are even but right rotates forward, my periformis and hip flexors and very tight, more on the right side. He did ART on right side of my abs pushing down and he said it's like I have rocks there. Was pretty painful. Pain that I have he thinks it's adductor not glute or hamstring.

Honestly after one session I felt better.
He also used some device, I don't know what is called it's like a little weight hanging of the string and he hold is against my back and measures 2-4-6. You probably know what that means. I understood 2 means my head is forward, 4 is for back and 6 is lumbar (big curve)

Half an hour huh? He must like you ;)

Your symptoms sound familiar though - quite often when someone is in a high degree of anterior pelvic tilt and the glutes can't do there job, the hamstrings/low back/adductors take over.

I'd highly recommend including some hip flexor stretching and glute activation work into your programming. This will take some of the stress of the hammies/adductors and allow them to heal.

I guess I need to get on those articles now, huh? ;)

Keep me posted on your progress!

MR

Ladies -

Just wanted to apologize for the delay in getting back with everyone! Unfortunately, with my life, this happens from time to time.

We had a huge seminar in Indy this past weekend, so that took up a good portion of my time.

On top of that, Bill Hartman and I just signed the lease on our new gym, so we're prepping to open that as well!

Don't worry, I won't forget about you guys - just understand that things get hairy from time to time and I'll do my best to respond quickly.

Keep up the good work - you're all doing great!

Best
MR

Mike Robertson wrote:
Jelena -

Some thoughts/answers below...

Jelena Abbou wrote:
Hi Mike,
Good to have you here. Right when I need you!
Here is my problem: I have pain in the butt! Yes, right where hamstring and glute meet.

It's been on and off for about a year. Started hurting when I was doing hams twice a week.

It was better for a while but some how got better now it's back again. Hurts on deadlifts, lying leg curls, step ups and I do cardio, like stepper or eliptical when leg goes straight.

Doesn't hurt on good mornings, or doing deads with out bending my knees. Lunges dont hurt going down just coming up. Bike it's pretty much only cardio I can do.

MR: From this description, it sounds more like a gluteal issue than a hamstring issue. With *most* hamstring issues, the stretched position (like you would have in an RDL or good morning) would really bother it. Have you tried foam rolling your glutes at all?

I went to a sports medicine doc. He said it's not a bone ( I thought it's ischial tuberosity pain syndrome)he said it's where muscles inserts to the bone. Gave me Celebrex and Licodaine patch.

I've been on it for 2 weeks and not much improvement. Patch is kind of annoying, doesn't stick well and hard to stay on this spot-my butt crease. I didn't stop working out, just one week I didn't go any hamstring.

MR: If it's the sacrotuberous ligament (where your hamstrings connect to your hips), then some ART would definitely be in order. The Celebrex/Lidocaine would mask the pain and decrease the inflammation, but they won't address any scar tissue that's built up in there.

The next question would be, what biomechanical issues do you have that caused the injury in the first place? That's what we really need to figure out.

I want to start my contest prep and I'm afraid that it's gonna get worse and stop me from competing.

My chiro said it's all from my pelvic shifting.

What do you say?

Thank you and sorry for a long post.

Jelena


I would start by foam rolling the glutes and seeing if you get anything out of that. If not, and if you can get access to ART or deep tissue massage, have them work on the hamstrings/sacrotuberous ligament and see if you don't have some scar tissue build-up in there as well.

Next, like I told Neely above, if you post full length posture shots we'll see if I can't pick up on something posturally that's skewed with you. Most hamstring issues occur on one side because the hip flexors are much tighter on that side, which causes the glute to become inactive and lazy. As well, it puts the hamstrings in a constant position of stretch, which leads to strains.

Think about this and let me know if it helps!

MR


Hi Mike-

Thanks for your thread! I have almost the SAME issue - pains in my glute/ham tie in, but for me it is only with straight leg type things - I think it is the adductor connection perhaps.

I am seeing an art therapist, which seems to be helping a bit, but I am wondering what you recommend in terms of being able to train - when injured like this do you cease all leg work? That doesn't seem to help either! Can I work with a BIT Of pain? What is best for tendon issues?

Thanks!

Mike Robertson wrote:
Kari -

I've inserted some thoughts/ideas in here; let me know what you think!

krew wrote:
Hi Mike,

Hoping you can help me!

About a year and a half ago I injured my left rhomboid (my massage therapist said this is the muscle I injured) I was cracking my neck - i know I shouldn't be doing that - but i was turning my head to the right and felt something insanely painful near my shoulder blade on my left side.

It was like someone stabbed me and I was unable to move my neck for almost 2 weeks. I went to massage 2-3 times a week for 4 weeks which dramatically helped. Ever since then I have had way more ROM in my left shoulder blade and can almost make it looked winged when I push it out and up - something I can't do with my right shoulder blade.

Hmmm...it could be your rhomboids, but a lot of what you describe below is similar to a levator scapulae injury. They could easily be confused.

Sometimes when I do bb rows I still feel a pulling on my left side. And always get shooting pains down the back of both arms when I do dips.

This is a big red flag here - any type of neurological issue should be checked out. Can you get in with a PT or ortho just to rule out anything major?

It's probably nothing, but radicular or shooting pains are nothing to mess around with.

Last week I was doing overhead squats and when I put the weight down I had a shooting pain from my left shoulder blade up into the base of my skull - I had to lay down as I thought I was going to throw up.

Now, I feel constant pulling in my left shoulder blad and the top of my left shoulder is teneder and I constantly feel like I have to pop my shoulder. I pull my left shoulder away from my ear and actually hear a pop sometimes near my clavicle. I'm not sure if this is all related but was wondering your thoughts as to what I'm dealing with. I've been suffering from headaches ever since.

The pain from the scapulae-->skull definitely sounds like levator scapulae is an issue. ART or deep tissue massage would really help. As well, I wrote an article w/Bill Hartman a while back for T-Nation called "Push-ups, Face Pulls and Shrugs" that should be right up your alley.

If you're having issues with your downward rotators (i.e. rhomboids and levator scapulae) then we generally need to train your upward rotators (i.e. serratus, upper and lower traps).

Check the article out, as it may allow you to do some upper body training in the interim.

Side note - my RMT also mentioned that my pecs are overdeveloped which is causing my shoulders to roll forward whcih may be accounting for my headaches. This all makes sense to me and I have been trying to develop m back more to stop this.

Like the poster above, try stretching your pecs/lats more frequently. Again, the exercises in the above article should help, too.

Oh..and I'm working with Jen Heath right now in preparation for my wedding in august - things are going great but i'm scared to lift in case i re-injure my left side again.

Any help is MUCH appreciated....so sorry for the long post :)

Thanks!!!

Kari


I remember reading your posts a while back; best of luck with your wedding prep. Jen is great as well, so keep me posted on how things are feeling.

GOOD LUCK!!!!

MR


Thanks so much Mike!

I'm not experiencing pain while I'm working out - the only motion that kills my shoulder is if push it away from my left ear and then do a front raise - serious pulling sensation. Also - still getting the feeling like I need to pop my clavicle/shoulder area in the front. Is this related to the possible levator scapulae injury?

I'm going to read your article tonight and make an appointment to see a PT tomorrow....

thanks for all your help - I really appreciate it!

K :)