rvaldrich
Level 5 Valued Member
So I recently succumbed to not just injuries but the need to get some help. Shoulder problems just weren't resolving themselves with rest and care. Despite a long history of bad experiences with physical therapists, I went to see one. I am glad I did.
She identified that I basically didn't know how to use my back. My lats have basically never activated, nor have my mid- or lower-traps (obviously I'm exaggerating...but only a little). In a lifetime of lifting and calisthenics and all of it, I've basically been carrying everything on my rotator cuff and shoulders.
This has also left my upper-traps permanently semi-flexed so they've constricted my shoulder to the point of interfering with movement (hence the occasional pain with overhead presses).
In a word: yikes.
She gave me a rehab program that I've been using and it has very slowly been helping.
I just tried to press a kettlebell...and I couldn't. Try to understand how humbling this is. I was working with the 44kg bell last time I did Rite of Passage. Now, I had to backtrack to my dad's 25lb bell. Not 24kg bell; 25lbs. That's how weak I am: I HAD TO LEAVE THE METRIC SYSTEM!
It's just become very critically clear to me to distinguish between moving a weight and completing a lift. I can get the 44kg bell over my head still. But I can't correctly press it. If I press it properly? I get truly tight, including the scapula and locking the last and all that? Nope. The 25lb bell is a struggle.
Sheesh.
Gonna be long way back to pressing the 44.
She identified that I basically didn't know how to use my back. My lats have basically never activated, nor have my mid- or lower-traps (obviously I'm exaggerating...but only a little). In a lifetime of lifting and calisthenics and all of it, I've basically been carrying everything on my rotator cuff and shoulders.
This has also left my upper-traps permanently semi-flexed so they've constricted my shoulder to the point of interfering with movement (hence the occasional pain with overhead presses).
In a word: yikes.
She gave me a rehab program that I've been using and it has very slowly been helping.
I just tried to press a kettlebell...and I couldn't. Try to understand how humbling this is. I was working with the 44kg bell last time I did Rite of Passage. Now, I had to backtrack to my dad's 25lb bell. Not 24kg bell; 25lbs. That's how weak I am: I HAD TO LEAVE THE METRIC SYSTEM!
It's just become very critically clear to me to distinguish between moving a weight and completing a lift. I can get the 44kg bell over my head still. But I can't correctly press it. If I press it properly? I get truly tight, including the scapula and locking the last and all that? Nope. The 25lb bell is a struggle.
Sheesh.
Gonna be long way back to pressing the 44.