Ask an Exercise Science major anything

[CaptainFalcon0]

[y0lked]

Below where I shaded in red is where the pain is (the deeper muscles) when I rotate.




My ribs around this area are also really tight and the muscles that run parallel to my spine either side are tight af
Massage of the area does not seem to relieve the issue though

Tight spinal erectors and probably tight quadratus lumborum. Could be anterior pelvic tilt. Have you notices your abs or the front of your ribs sticking out a little further than normal? Feel like you have too much arch in your lower back?

Do you have access to a reverse hyper machine or an inversion table?
I know what its like to be in your situation it almost feels like your back is broken and you physically feel like an 80 year old man, I know I did.

Im going to give you some stuff to try immediately that will help but may not get to the source of the tightness, regardless it will help.

1) lay down on the ground, get a lacrosse ball and put it on the spinal erector of one side, with your feel flat on the ground knees bent. Work the ball around in that position for a minute or two then whichever side you have the ball on, slowly bring your knee to your chest while keeping stable on the ball. Make sure you're not on any of the spiny protuberances of the spine.

2) Go on amazon and order a stim machine and get two large pads. Best $40 you've ever spent in your life, any time you have a tight muscle it will work it away!
https://www.amazon.com/TENS-Unit-Viv...+machine&psc=1

[CaptainFalcon0]

Tight spinal erectors and probably tight quadratus lumborum. Could be anterior pelvic tilt. Have you notices your abs or the front of your ribs sticking out a little further than normal? Feel like you have too much arch in your lower back?

Do you have access to a reverse hyper machine or an inversion table?
I know what its like to be in your situation it almost feels like your back is broken and you physically feel like an 80 year old man, I know I did.

Im going to give you some stuff to try immediately that will help but may not get to the source of the tightness, regardless it will help.

1) lay down on the ground, get a lacrosse ball and put it on the spinal erector of one side, with your feel flat on the ground knees bent. Work the ball around in that position for a minute or two then whichever side you have the ball on, slowly bring your knee to your chest while keeping stable on the ball. Make sure you're not on any of the spiny protuberances of the spine.

2) Go on amazon and order a stim machine and get two large pads. Best $40 you've ever spent in your life, any time you have a tight muscle it will work it away!
https://www.amazon.com/TENS-Unit-Viv...+machine&psc=1

I've been trying to loosen up the bottom of my QL muscles - I don't think my pelvic tilt is too extreme, it may be slightly tilted anteriorally actually.

I don't have a reverse hyper machine, can these exercises be done on any other form of bench?

What was wrong with your back - yah man it's super annoying getting out of bed feeling broken every morning haha

Thank you so much - are those pads on that stim machine reusable ? ill check it out

[y0lked]

I've been trying to loosen up the bottom of my QL muscles - I don't think my pelvic tilt is too extreme, it may be slightly tilted anteriorally actually.

I don't have a reverse hyper machine, can these exercises be done on any other form of bench?

What was wrong with your back - yah man it's super annoying getting out of bed feeling broken every morning haha

Thank you so much - are those pads on that stim machine reusable ? ill check it out

The QL muscles will get tight from a loss of stability in the lumber region, so getting the QL to loosen is great but if we dont address the main issue its not going to fix anything.

You can get a little bit of traction by hanging out on this machine in full spine flexion, just make sure you set your pelvis to neutral first and then get the proper spine flexion. You can also use the bottom rails of this machine to pull yourself further, also holding onto a weight will help.


After 5-10 minutes messing around on ^^ you should feel a little looseness in the spine and as you walk around you will notice QL and the hip flexors (especially psoas) tighten and put you further into APT. Thats ok, we will correct it.

Find a proper weight and do some contralateral SLDL with a neutral spine and neutral pelvis (youll have to engage the glutes). We want to turn spinal erectors, QL and Psoas off and turn ON Glute max, glute med, hamstrings and abs.


Do you use a hip circle? Do you go glute bridges/frog pumps/reverse hypers etc?

Basically I need to know what exercises for your spine/glutes you are already doing aside from the main lifts so we can bring up weak points. When we just do deadlifts and sqauts forever we are working in a very fixed position and not really developing the muscles that stabilize the spine in all planes. If you were an athlete in regular competition you would be working these muscles jointly while running, jumping and doing all of those things that require the body to work as an entire unit. Bodybuilding is a very very unique way of forcing the body to do TONS of work in a very very specific pattern which can cause uneven wear and tear on soft tissues and cause issues.

We will keep working on this.

[CaptainFalcon0]

The QL muscles will get tight from a loss of stability in the lumber region, so getting the QL to loosen is great but if we dont address the main issue its not going to fix anything.

You can get a little bit of traction by hanging out on this machine in full spine flexion, just make sure you set your pelvis to neutral first and then get the proper spine flexion. You can also use the bottom rails of this machine to pull yourself further, also holding onto a weight will help.


After 5-10 minutes messing around on ^^ you should feel a little looseness in the spine and as you walk around you will notice QL and the hip flexors (especially psoas) tighten and put you further into APT. Thats ok, we will correct it.

Find a proper weight and do some contralateral SLDL with a neutral spine and neutral pelvis (youll have to engage the glutes). We want to turn spinal erectors, QL and Psoas off and turn ON Glute max, glute med, hamstrings and abs.


Do you use a hip circle? Do you go glute bridges/frog pumps/reverse hypers etc?

Basically I need to know what exercises for your spine/glutes you are already doing aside from the main lifts so we can bring up weak points. When we just do deadlifts and sqauts forever we are working in a very fixed position and not really developing the muscles that stabilize the spine in all planes. If you were an athlete in regular competition you would be working these muscles jointly while running, jumping and doing all of those things that require the body to work as an entire unit. Bodybuilding is a very very unique way of forcing the body to do TONS of work in a very very specific pattern which can cause uneven wear and tear on soft tissues and cause issues.

We will keep working on this.

Thanks so much for your reply!

I will definitely do these exercises on my next leg day.

Prior to injuries, I was doing squats/front squats, stiff leg deadlifts, hamstring curls and normal hyper extensions. I will admit, my leg workouts have been lackluster as of late.
I've been doing workouts now that have minimal back loading - single legged leg press, hypers, leg ext., single leg glute bridges (which I find are quite helpful, although I can't fully engage the glutes just yet).
I also do a fair bit of running and muay thai multiple times per week.

Thanks again!

[y0lked]

Thanks so much for your reply!

I will definitely do these exercises on my next leg day.

Prior to injuries, I was doing squats/front squats, stiff leg deadlifts, hamstring curls and normal hyper extensions. I will admit, my leg workouts have been lackluster as of late.
I've been doing workouts now that have minimal back loading - single legged leg press, hypers, leg ext., single leg glute bridges (which I find are quite helpful, although I can't fully engage the glutes just yet).
I also do a fair bit of running and muay thai multiple times per week.

Thanks again!

No problem! I had a compressed/herniated disk in my l5/s1, Anterior Pelvic Tilt and muscle imbalances everywhere. I had pain even just holding an empty barbell over my legs. I couldnt do anything. So I dedicated four days a week to just back rehab. After about 30-45 mins of stretching, traction and getting abs/glutes to turn on my functionality went way up and I could do some cables and DB benching with my feet up.

2 months later I could do most exercises and went to 20 mins pre-workout rehab and then only 1 day of full rehab.
2 months of doing that I started squatting and deadlifting.
After about two years of building everything back up I broke all of my PRs and to this day still squat and deadlift heavy pain free.
Every once in a while ill have to get on the reverse hyper or do some CSLDLs but my back is 98% of normal

[WolfRose7]

Probably nothing,

But I woke up with a bit of soreness in and around my knees this morning after a heavy (relatively) Squat session yesterday.
My warm up routine is mostly just with the bar, so was wondering if there's anything advisable to run through before Squats? Hear mixed opinions from experienced people about stretching vs no streching pre lifting.

Here's yesterdays Top set

[y0lked]

Probably nothing,

But I woke up with a bit of soreness in and around my knees this morning after a heavy (relatively) Squat session yesterday.
My warm up routine is mostly just with the bar, so was wondering if there's anything advisable to run through before Squats? Hear mixed opinions from experienced people about stretching vs no streching pre lifting.

Here's yesterdays Top set

Hey buddy! Knee soreness is common after doing some heavy training or at the end of a training block before a deload. Post your training schedule so I can see where your deload is.

Technique: Looks pretty damn good!! One thing I think you could get better at is the divebombing. Try not to just drop from the top and then try to catch yourself at the bottom of the squat and rebound up. If you continue at that tempo you will have a really really hard time going heavier and progress will stall. Focus on initiating the eccentric portion of the lift by pushing the but back and trying to keep your shins as vertical as possible until about half way down. Then you will need the knee flexion to engage the quads more but you wont have as much dorsiflexion in the ankle which will help put the knee in a much better position.

None of my athletes that I work with have ever complained about knee pain when squatting (during or after), and I attribute that to technique.

As for warm up, honestly just hop on the treadmill for about 5-10 minutes and do some easy interval runs. (6-8mph) for about 45-90 seconds and then go back to a walk. Great way to decrease the O2 deficit, initiate vasodilatation in the lower body and getting everything loosened up, especially hips.

Only static stretch a muscle AFTER you run/dynamic warm up. And ONLY stretch that muscle if it limits you from getting into a proper position. A muscle will respond when you ask it to do something. Running, warm up sets of squats and just general body temp increasing and blood flow should be plenty to get the muscles working in sync.

DO you have an overly tight muscle that prevents you from getting into a good position?

[WolfRose7]

DO you have an overly tight muscle that prevents you from getting into a good position?

Thanks for all the info!!

No muscle tightness/mobility is not a problem for Squats, so I will try out the treadmill warm up and then go into my usual squat sets (usually 2 sets with the bar, 2 with the next increment then triples, doubles, singles up to work set, so I get quite warmed up).
Will also work on slowing the descent a bit, and keeping the shins more vertical initially.

The Program does not have scheduled deloads, I was considering taking one week 8 or 9 (I just finished week 7) However I've been recovering pretty well from the Lighter pause day between heavy sessions.
I've also been using TRAC (RTS tool)to assess soreness and recovery and plan for potential deloads.
Example -

Spoiler!

Edit: Update.
Tried implementing your advice today, was a bit of a rough day all over but I think I tidied up the Squat a bit


Decided to deload the rest of this week anyway.

[y0lked]

^^ Looks good buddy. You still have some forward lean when in the hole, I would work in some box squats and glute bridges as accessory movements.

[KevinButtercup]

Today i did shoulders and arms, the routine completely drained me but i still did 5 sets of 25 curls for abs at the end i almost through up and had acid reflux for an hour afterwards. Is this dangerous?

[y0lked]

Today i did shoulders and arms, the routine completely drained me but i still did 5 sets of 25 curls for abs at the end i almost through up and had acid reflux for an hour afterwards. Is this dangerous?

You can get acid reflux from lying down if your esophogeal sphincter relaxes and stomach acid comes up. Did you eat anything before this workout?

Acid reflux is uncomfortable, but harmless for the most part as long as its not a chronic daily thing. You'll be fine.

[MyEgoProblem]

Sooo....
My pause bench is stronger than my tng.. Which is curious really? About 7% lower when most can Push 10% more by observation.

No difference in grip, barpath or setup. Im kinda torso dominant (big ribcage, thick back, crap/"lagging" arms ������)

My guess would be practice? Ive spent the last 3years doing mostly paused work (1-3ct pauses) or that im terrible at utilizing the myotatic reflex?

Occasionally use 2 different height benches (17" comp spec and 15" commercial crap) but the difference between those is about 5kg for paused and tng between benches

Your thoughts sir? I mean I'm not concerned just curious..

Good day! Keep up the good work.

Extra, likely irrelevant info in spoiler. But i like to be thorough.

Spoiler!

Current prs:
110kg x1 @9.5 paused bench
67.5kgx1 @9.9 strict ohp
170kg x2 @9~ squat no belt
205kg x4 @9 conventional dead no belt

Fat (2+ stone heavier) all time prs:
240kg x1 @9 Squat w belt
255kg x1 @8 sumo w belt

injury history: ac separation, 20 years ago, no surgery, leading to artheritis in said shoulder.
With occasional Pec minor tightness and supraspinatus tendonitis flare ups.

Weekly/fortnightly sports Therapy massages.
Previous physio sessions.
Daily band pullapart variations and light dynamic stretching.

Current program + gpp work
http://articles.reactivetrainingsyst...e-tuchscherer/

LP > 531 > rpe based programming history.

[y0lked]

Sooo....
My pause bench is stronger than my tng.. Which is curious really? About 7% lower when most can Push 10% more by observation.

No difference in grip, barpath or setup. Im kinda torso dominant (big ribcage, thick back, crap/"lagging" arms ������)

My guess would be practice? Ive spent the last 3years doing mostly paused work (1-3ct pauses) or that im terrible at utilizing the myotatic reflex?

Occasionally use 2 different height benches (17" comp spec and 15" commercial crap) but the difference between those is about 5kg for paused and tng between benches

Your thoughts sir? I mean I'm not concerned just curious..

Good day! Keep up the good work.

Extra, likely irrelevant info in spoiler. But i like to be thorough.

Spoiler!

Current prs:
110kg x1 @9.5 paused bench
67.5kgx1 @9.9 strict ohp
170kg x2 @9~ squat no belt
205kg x4 @9 conventional dead no belt

Fat (2+ stone heavier) all time prs:
240kg x1 @9 Squat w belt
255kg x1 @8 sumo w belt

injury history: ac separation, 20 years ago, no surgery, leading to artheritis in said shoulder.
With occasional Pec minor tightness and supraspinatus tendonitis flare ups.

Weekly/fortnightly sports Therapy massages.
Previous physio sessions.
Daily band pullapart variations and light dynamic stretching.

Current program + gpp work
http://articles.reactivetrainingsyst...e-tuchscherer/

LP > 531 > rpe based programming history.

That right there is the definition of training specificity. A touch and go should be stronger because of less time under tension and also the stretch reflex of the tendons and muscle fascia. Just goes to show that how you train dictates the outcome. Very nice!

Cant believe your PR differences! Crazy! Do you have pretty bad laxity in the shoulder? Sounds like you got a nice plan there to take care of it. Just remember, blood= good.

Ive never been a fan of the GPP method for the general public, but if you're an advanced powerlifter and looking to take your 1rms up, it probably works pretty good.

[MyEgoProblem]

That right there is the definition of training specificity. A touch and go should be stronger because of less time under tension and also the stretch reflex of the tendons and muscle fascia. Just goes to show that how you train dictates the outcome. Very nice!

Cant believe your PR differences! Crazy! Do you have pretty bad laxity in the shoulder? Sounds like you got a nice plan there to take care of it. Just remember, blood= good.

Ive never been a fan of the GPP method for the general public, but if you're an advanced powerlifter and looking to take your 1rms up, it probably works pretty good.

Pretty much as expected... If yoy don't do it, you can't get better at the skill.

Yeah man, the difference in upper and lower strength is a little awkward when someone sees me squat or pull and ask "how much ya bench then?" I guess i am the guy on the forum who's legs are bigger and stronger and has a lagging upper body (except I don't make excuses to skip my strong points lol)

Laxity, i get the occasional subluxation if i sleep awkwardly on it and im unlucky but ive had that gir decades... It doesn't feel as stable and my internal and external rotation isn't upto par.

Bulking up the rear delts with a LOT of daily volume helped immensely with the above issues. Blood definitely is good!

My 'gpp' tends to cover upper back work, rows, chins, arm& ham curls, core, conditioning... Basically everything that isn't big 3 variations ( +ohp)

[improbablywrong]

i was doing back squats and i got a weird elictrical shock feeling, its hard to explain it was like bubbles or if youve ever stuck a 9v battery on your tong feeling in my upper left pectoral. this dose not hurt at all and it only happens about halfway through the squat coming up and going down, it also dosnt last after the rep. also im not just blowing on my pec and their in nothing physically touching it. i know this is weird but just thought id ask

[y0lked]

i was doing back squats and i got a weird elictrical shock feeling, its hard to explain it was like bubbles or if youve ever stuck a 9v battery on your tong feeling in my upper left pectoral. this dose not hurt at all and it only happens about halfway through the squat coming up and going down, it also dosnt last after the rep. also im not just blowing on my pec and their in nothing physically touching it. i know this is weird but just thought id ask

In your chest? Weird. That feeling is definitely neurological. Does it only happen on squats?

[MyEgoProblem]

Update on tng vs pause bench.. I think i got an "apple to the head" revelation...

Paying attention to my log, i always tng after squat... And pause bench first or after deads.

I need to stretch pecs n shoulders to low bar..
(Dislocates, door stretch, band stretches, gradually go set lower in warmups ect)

How much would this affect the myotatic reflex? ...

Good day sir

[y0lked]

Update on tng vs pause bench.. I think i got an "apple to the head" revelation...

Paying attention to my log, i always tng after squat... And pause bench first or after deads.

I need to stretch pecs n shoulders to low bar..
(Dislocates, door stretch, band stretches, gradually go set lower in warmups ect)

How much would this affect the myotatic reflex? ...

Good day sir

The stretch reflex is a reaction of the muscle spindles that causes muscle contraction. The muscle spindles regulate muscle length. Stretching decreases the sensitivity of the spindles to length so thus stretching decreases the reflex and can make the muscle less reactive.

Also, stretching moves the muscle away from optimal length and you will have less crossover at the zline.....

Do your benching before any squat/deadlift to avoid any problems lol

[HeMB]

Do low bar squats, box squats done with wide stance work gluteus medius muscles? And what about the conventional deadlift?


P.S. please check your PM if you have some time

[y0lked]

Do low bar squats, box squats done with wide stance work gluteus medius muscles? And what about the conventional deadlift?


P.S. please check your PM if you have some time

YES! Anything done with a wide stance is going to recruit more glute medius. That is because the glute med is an abductor which means it brings the femur away from the midline of the body.

Therefore, sumo deadlfts would recruit more glute medius than conventional deads.

Will do, but i dont think i have any unread messages... ill check

[eljefe420]

I've been trying to train ring dips but I keep injuring myself, specifically straining my rhomboid. I'm strong enough to do at least 5 with solid form, can do ring support hold for at least 60 sec, and can do ring turned out hold for at least 40 sec. I try going slow with the ring dips but I keep reinjuring myself.

Any tips?

[WolfRose7]

I've been trying to train ring dips but I keep injuring myself, specifically straining my rhomboid. I'm strong enough to do at least 5 with solid form, can do ring support hold for at least 60 sec, and can do ring turned out hold for at least 40 sec. I try going slow with the ring dips but I keep reinjuring myself.

Any tips?

Just jumping in in case y0lked doesn't see this for a bit.

Do not continue doing an exercise which is causing repeated injuries unless you are certain that injury is healed and you've fixed the form issue (if that was the issue).
If it's not a form issue, just stop doing that exercise. I can't do dips safely either.

Plenty of replacement options man, unless you are training for some gymnastic competition they just aren't neccessary

[y0lked]

I've been trying to train ring dips but I keep injuring myself, specifically straining my rhomboid. I'm strong enough to do at least 5 with solid form, can do ring support hold for at least 60 sec, and can do ring turned out hold for at least 40 sec. I try going slow with the ring dips but I keep reinjuring myself.

Any tips?

A rhomboid injury sometimes can be a pinched nerve in that area. Very common when the scapula protracts in combination with elevation and flexion of the shoulder.

aka: presses, dips, sometimes pullups. If you took a video of yourself doing those exercises without a shirt on you would most likely see the scapula working to a fault to compensate for a weakness on that side.

Most common faults are rear delt weakness, mid and upper traps weakness and also tightness in the pec minor.

Take a video or use the shotgun approach to fix the issue. Let me know if you need further help

[StillbornSoul]

How much strength can be recovered through muscle memory on a calorie deficit for someome coming off a surgery related layoff?

[SomeDudeAtHome]

The stretch reflex is a reaction of the muscle spindles that causes muscle contraction. The muscle spindles regulate muscle length. Stretching decreases the sensitivity of the spindles to length so thus stretching decreases the reflex and can make the muscle less reactive.

Also, stretching moves the muscle away from optimal length and you will have less crossover at the zline.....

Do your benching before any squat/deadlift to avoid any problems lol

If I'm understanding you correctly you're saying that stretching makes it hard to get out of "the hole"? So no stretching is better or just not stretching so much I could join the circus?

I work a desk job and my calves and lower back can feel stiff so I stretch. Sometimes it's at night sometimes it's before my lower day if I'm feeling tight. I still warm up other ways but will stretch some for mobility and roll some. Would you say that's doing more harm than good?

[y0lked]

How much strength can be recovered through muscle memory on a calorie deficit for someome coming off a surgery related layoff?

Lots! Muscle memory is a slang term but a very real topic. If you are expecting to recover your strength coming off surgery you will need to be in positive caloric balance once you start training again.

For the time during recovery, focus on recovery. Dont be in a deficit, you will hamper your recovery and loose even more gains. The body will be under lots of stress and will pull protein from muscle if caloric intake isnt sufficient.

[y0lked]

If I'm understanding you correctly you're saying that stretching makes it hard to get out of "the hole"? So no stretching is better or just not stretching so much I could join the circus?

I work a desk job and my calves and lower back can feel stiff so I stretch. Sometimes it's at night sometimes it's before my lower day if I'm feeling tight. I still warm up other ways but will stretch some for mobility and roll some. Would you say that's doing more harm than good?

The stretch reflex is a tool to increase power output. If you stretch before lifitng you will reduce that reflex's efficiency.

Stretching is only necessary if a muscle is too tight that it limits ROM. I have been lifting for 10 years and still to this day never stretch before lifting. I only do some light warm up sets after getting core temperature up on a treadmill. My old professor used to tell us every single day that stretching reduces performance. Unless of course your hammie is about to cramp up before running the 100m or something.

If your back and calves are tight from a desk job then you are an exception. You should look into a stand up desk. or put a box on your desk so that you can work 20 min standing, 20 mins seated etc. There are tons of dynamic mobility stretches on youtube for lower back and calves, I suggest stretching for 2 mins every hour if you are working a desk job.

[StillbornSoul]

I dreamer bulked and am overdue a 5 month long cut. Gonna overload protein daily, but I cant just keep getting fatter. :/

[SomeDudeAtHome]

The stretch reflex is a tool to increase power output. If you stretch before lifitng you will reduce that reflex's efficiency.

Stretching is only necessary if a muscle is too tight that it limits ROM. I have been lifting for 10 years and still to this day never stretch before lifting. I only do some light warm up sets after getting core temperature up on a treadmill. My old professor used to tell us every single day that stretching reduces performance. Unless of course your hammie is about to cramp up before running the 100m or something.

If your back and calves are tight from a desk job then you are an exception. You should look into a stand up desk. or put a box on your desk so that you can work 20 min standing, 20 mins seated etc. There are tons of dynamic mobility stretches on youtube for lower back and calves, I suggest stretching for 2 mins every hour if you are working a desk job.

Stand up desks are starting to pop up in the office but take a doctors note and time (going through HR) to get. I'll look into it more though for sure I'd love to have one. I try to get up at least once an hour and walk somewhere. Does using a roller before working out have the same effect as stretching?