Other/Mixed Dealing with Sore Traps

[Smile-n-Nod]

I've been doing S&S since January. I've been dealing with sore trapezius muscles for a couple months, so I took a few weeks away from kettlebells to give those muscles a rest. To my surprise, my traps are still sore. I've come to the conclusion that the pain is probably stress related, in part because I realized today at work that I shrug my shoulders a lot while working at my computer.

What can I do to use exercise, stretches, posture, chair, desk, etc. to deal with my sore traps?

 

[Antti]

Are you sure it's pain, as in pain, instead of discomfort? Are the muscles sore from use or are they tight? These are important distinctions. If the muscles are sore and painful from overexercise for months on end, it can be something worse and it could be a good idea to see a medical professional. If they're just tight because your working position etc. there's a lot you can do for them.

When it comes to exercise, I find loaded carries are the best thing to help with tight traps. Some rows also work beautifully. With both you should feel the difference after five minutes of exercise. I rarely get my traps/shoulders/neck in discomfort, but whenever in the past I got any kind of discomfort, I asked my then boss for a chance to do some logistics that day. No matter how intense the discomfort was, after a half an hour or so of heavy carrying it was mostly gone and all gone by the end of the day. The kind of carries I recommend is the suitcase one, on both or either hand, and something to carry on your shoulder. Like a heavy log or a bag of gypsum or whatever.

When it comes to dealing with the reasons for the tightness instead of the aftermath, posture and ergonomics are key. Keep your keyboard, mice and monitor below you. Have the input devices near you so you don't have to reach for them. Sit straight and have your chest out a bit and shoulders down. Get up as much and as often as possible. When it comes to having to do something unergonomic, as in for example reaching for something in a bad position, avoid staying staticly in the position.

 

[dc]

If you think it's stress related then stress less. Pay attention to your body & catch yourself when you start shrugging & consciously let them go. It's not easy if you're not accustomed to it but mental stress is a decision, you can decide not to stress. Often stressing doesn't help the situation you're stressing about. Practice being mindful & aware of what your body is doing & what state it is in.

 

[Anna C]

I would suggest to monitor your breathing. Put one hand on your chest and one on your belly. Which one moves? If it's mostly the one on your chest, you may be a chest breather and that can overuse a lot of upper torso muscles including traps.

Also check your breathing when you are exercising. Do your shoulders elevate when you are breathing heavily? Same thing, overusing the emergency breathing muscles and underusing the diaphragm. To quote my NASM-CPT textbook, about anxiety breathing pattern: "The breathing pattern becomes more shallow, using the secondary respiratory muscles more predominantly than the diaphragm. This shallow, upper-chest breathing pattern becomes habitual, causing overuse to the secondary respiratory muscles such as the scalenes, sternocleidomastoid, levator scapulae, and upper trapezius."

If this sounds at all likely, I'd suggest to read and practice the straw breathing in S&S as a way to get started with changing the pattern.

 

[Steve Freides]

What can I do to use exercise, stretches, posture, chair, desk, etc. to deal with my sore traps?

Stop using them. Unless you're shrugging your shoulders for a particular reason, which it sounds like you're not doing.

The classic way of relaxing a muscle is tensing it first, so I'd try shrugging your shoulder up high, holding that for a few seconds, then trying to really relax your shoulder downwards. Try it standing, maybe do it some in front of a mirror at first, and later try it sitting - it will feel different sitting but I think you'll find it easier to get a handle on this one when you're standing.

-S-

 

[Matts]

If you haven't already, obviously a doctor is logical first step so you don't do any permanent or structural damage to the shoulder. Lots of people have what Janda called "upper crossed syndrome"- you might want to look into that some and see if it might be an issue. Also, if someone were to move into heavier weights in S&S before the forms were down pat (despite the admonitions in the book), and they did have something like upper crossed syndrome, it could aggravate it quite a bit, as the least appropriate shoulder muscles would be performing a lot of work that's less than ideal for them. Good form serves a purpose of shifting heavier work to larger muscles, and letting smaller ones stabilize and assist. Rest and get well!

 

[Smile-n-Nod]

Thanks, everyone. I've been really trying to work on my posture, especially while sitting.

I've learned that while sitting at my computer, driving a car, and even sitting in a sofa or comfy chair, my shoulders tend to be up and forward, and my head tends to lean forward. After two days of working on my posture, I think my shoulders are starting to feel a little better.

 

[Smile-n-Nod]

Random thought. I wonder if rucking (walking with a weighted backpack) would help to pull the shoulders back....

 

[Steve Freides]

Read "Treat Your Own Neck" by Robin McKenzie.

-S-

 

[Matts]

@Smile-n-Nod rucking's great, but if you have something like upper crossed syndrome, your bodies had "poor wiring" become the norm, and your muscles operate that way by default, and for many, it happens through years of repetition, without realization. The only way to fix it is rewiring through some mobility system that works for you, and with lighter weights, easy movements. The more stressful something is, the more it triggers the problem instead of a solution. If you didn't exercise with proper movement and worked at a desk or table, watched tv or sat at a computer at home, it's perfectly normal, unfortunately, in our culture. Dead hangs from a bar, light arm bars, and light rows might help, but it can take a lot of light repetitions to counteract the years of leaning forward and using your traps. I really don't know anything about FMS or Original Strength, etc., but I think those types of programs are designed to help with these problems. Solve the movement problem, though, if that's what it is, first, or you're just reinforcing it.