It seems every time I do freeweights I end up with an achy back. It's always the same area, between my shoulder blades and it feels like it extends down a little way. It's definitely muscular but I don't think the fact I spend at least 4 hours a day sat at a computer is going to help either. Is it normal to get aches like this whilst doing weights? I want to put some mass on but if I'm getting this in my early twenties, is continuing going to lead to back issues later on in life? Cheers for any insight.
One key thing that I see many people forget when training that leads to back aches... if you're using weights and dumbbells in a standing position... make sure you keep some bend in your knees. Just a slight bend. You want to avoid that lock out like you can do sometimes when you are standing. That bend in the knees will protect your lower back from trying to counterbalance the wait in most ranges of motion. I've yet to study it all that in depth but the bend in the knees seems to switch on the whole posterior chain I believe. Getting the glutes going and the hamstrings involved as well gives the body a way to disperse load and torque over a much larger structure - thereby saving the lower back from taking it all. Ok that out of the way... What does your current routine look like? What exercises does it include? It sounds like you may be suffering from an imbalance in your routine. Maybe too much pressing and pushing movement and very little or no pulling movement. Nine times out of ten when I ask people this they first off think they have a great program... but when you begin to really look at it... it will be most work in the saggital plane of motion. All your moves like bench press, bicep curls, leg extensions, sit ups etc. are movements that occur in the saggital plane of motion. Leg raises, forward and backward lunges are also in that saggital plane of motion. Any type of flexion - bending forward to touch your knees, dorsiflexing your foot so that you pull the toes up towards the ceiling is a type of flexion that happens in the saggital plane of motion. A hamstring stretch were you lean forward and bring your chest towards the top of your thigh... like runners do is a movement in the saggital plane of motion. Our society is saggital plane dominant. As humans we're designed to move very well with a pretty large range of motion in this plane. That our eyes are on the front of our head probably makes this movement all the more important. However... it doesn't mean we can ignore the other planes of motion when training. Not if we really want to be athletic. Martial artists would crazy to ignore the other planes of motion... you don't want to have all saggital plane movements and nothing else in your program. When you train seriously you need to begin to familiarize yourself with the different terms for movement of the human body. These terms help you to communicate with others who have a good understanding of how the body works. Once you understand the basics you can then apply these to your workouts. You will find you workouts are better balanced, more satisfying and you begin to develop better athleticism when you begin to move your body through multiple planes of motion. As an example here the planes of motion: 1 - Frontal Plane (left to right movements) Confusingly the frontal plane covers side to side movements. Moving laterally is moving in the frontal plane. So dumbbell raise with arms out to the side are movments in the frontal plane. Go figure. To further hammer the point home... side bends and jumping jacks take place in the front plane off motion. I've never thought this was a good term for this plane of motion but it is the way it is. 2 - Sagittal Plane (front to back movements) 3 - Transverse Plane (cross section movements and rotational movement) Ok... before I go too deep on that I'll wait for you to post up what your workout routine is like so maybe we can start to pinpoint where your backache is coming from.
Good post slip... my routine is here mate. Bodyweight Training Sit Ups 3 sets of 10 Press Ups 3 sets of 10 The Crab 2 sets of 5 Prone Bridge 3 sets of 30 seconds Burpees (with press) 3 sets of 10 Hindu Swoop 3 sets of 10 Hindu Squats 2 sets of 8 Tiger Press Ups 2 sets of 10 Tiger Swoop 2 sets of 5 Crunches 2 sets of 12 Piston Press 2 sets of 8 Freeweight Training Light Barbell Standing Tricep Extension 3 sets of 7 Static Lunge 3 sets of 7 (left and right) Medium Barbell Clean and Press 3 sets of 7 Upright Row 3 sets of 7 Bent Over Row 2 sets of 7 Heavy Barbell Weighted Squat 4 sets of 7 Deadlift 4 sets of 7 Weighted Press 4 sets of 7 Dumbbell Pull and Rotate 4 sets of 7 (also known as arnies) Wrist Rolls 5 sets of 7 ----------- Monday: Weights + Bagwork + Shadowboxing Tuesday: Bodyweight + Bagwork + Shadowboxing Wednesday: Weights + Bagwork + Shadowboxing Thursday: Bodyweight + Bagwork + Shadowboxing Friday: Bodyweight + Bagwork + Shadowboxing Saturday: Weights + Bagwork + Shadowboxing Sunday: Bagwork + Shadowboxing
It also could be because all 6 of your medium and heavy barbell exercises greatly involve the lower back, AFTER you've already done some bodyweight exercises that also stress the lower back. You're overworking it from the looks of it.
agreed - the workout is pretty much overtraining. Liquid steel you're not giving your body any time to recover. So you're basically tearing it down no end. That sort of schedule not even a competitive fighter goes through. It's a plan to end up with chronic fatigue of your central nervous system and end up with injuries I'll post a bit more as I get time... however I can say just from a quick glance unless you are professional fighter... you need two days a week off. Rest and recovery. Having bagwork every single day is a recipe for disaster. Give your body the time to recover.
Really?! But it doesn't seem that bad tbh... I don't feel tired. I shadowbox for fun while I'm watching doucmentaries or a film then the bagwork is just practicing muay thai from the DVD sets I've got rather than a hardcore sweatfest session... though sometimes I will put some DnB or Metal on and then I can't help myself! I get a little sweaty and that's it. I don't think I need a pure rest day, I have friday and sunday as easy days but a pure lazy day of nothing? If I do nothing all day I feel like my legs are starting to waste away. I get a little DOMS but you're really making it sound rather dramatic. I think I'll maybe reduce the number of clean and presses as they seem the most intense on my back and perhaps make a slightly easier bodyweight schedule... other than that it's all gravy. I think it may be because my bagwork has left my back slightly overdeveloped after all these years so when I do freeweights I end up using my back too much as it's stronger than the rest of my upper body... but that's just a hack theory. I've no idea why you think doing bagwork virtually everyday is going to do me damage, i've been doing that for ages. The only injuries I have are from sitting at a computer, the classic shoulder ache if I'm there for too long. That's it. I only started getting the back ache on the odd occasion once I got into free weights so that must be where the problem lies. I don't think I do overtrain... I have my classes in around this schedule and I promise you, if I feel tired and perpetually hungry I know I need to rest. I can assure you I am not destroying myself! I'm 24, I'm in good shape and I want to train the best I can. I could be a lot harder on myself, you don't see me up at 6am going for long old jogs for example. I'm lucky in that I don't have to work so I can space it all out over the day. But my lower back is fine... it's the point between my shoulder blades that gets a little achey?
That's also the same point hit by virtually ever single free weight exercise you do, and the back is ultimately tied together. If you're working your lower back hard enough to where it's exhausted, other parts of your back that shouldn't be helping try to and then start getting hurt. You're doing way too much. Take my last workout as an example of "less is more." I did military presses, squats, chin-ups, dips, and a few ab exercises. That was it, in and out in about an hour. I felt good enough later in the day to train some intense padwork, and today I have virtually no soreness and plan on running a bit in addition to some light skill training. If you crush yourself every single day, you're only constantly breaking your body down but never letting it build back up.
slipthejab i have some interest in this too because i still have pains same as Liquid Steel between the shoulder blades, would be great if you have a strenghtening program well structured as an exemple. Starting the gym again and don't want to get injured again. Liquid Steel what slipjab says is true for me too, i do a lot of pressing movement and they cause a lot of pressure on the upper back, worst i do them standing. And from the exercise exemple he gave they are all in my list too. I recently went to an osteopath and she told me that my work could be another issue causing pains, i am a server operator and sit at my desk for nearly 12 hours 3 times per week, the chairs at my job are not the best to sit on either. Combined with stress and also grossely overtraining, used to train 6 times per week on weights alone. Last time i trained i did so much back exercises, pulls ups, bent rows and so much more i am still stiff and its been like 4 days now. Just joined a new gym now and might concentrate more on cardio and light training, my body just can't handle heavyweights anymore. Don't want to hijack the tread either so just going to stop there. Good luck and hope you can be painfree soon, been living with chronic pain for 9 years but it as gotten better with prolotherapy. treatments.
Kuma you basically do a HIT type of training, i used to do this, sadly got injured doing squats and deadlifts. Can't do them anymore either. Not sure if that workout would be good tought for Liquid Steel since i have the same pain as he does and squatting puts a lot of pressure on the neck and upper back. Standing military press as well, maybe seated would better. I love chins might work on them, there is a chin up machine at the new gym.
Liquid Steel a physio gave me that program for rehab a long time ago around 2004, not sure if it would be good for you or not and what others think about it. You do it 2-3 times per week using a 3 x 10 reps scheme and you dont have to go to failure either just pump blood in the muscle. Great for me because there is no squat nor deadlifts. Leg press Leg extension Leg curls Bench press (can be with machine) Chin up (can be with machine) lot easier Shoulder press (again with machine or weights) Triceps machine Bicep machine Superman (upper and lower back exercise) abs Might give it a try next week along with cardio. Also great neck exercise is you put the back of your head against a wall and you push for 5 seconds do it 5 times and up to 3 times per day.
HIT is usually one set of heavy weights for as many reps as you can get. I typically stick with the 5x5 system (two warm up sets of 5, then three work sets of 5). Occasionally I'll do some variation but I usually stick to right around 5x5 or lower. I'm not saying he has to do my routine. I'm saying more isn't always better in strength training. You can work out hard, or you can work out long, but you can't do both. You can quadruple super duper set your legs with four different exercises, or you can work the squat hard enough to where you drop to the floor and it takes a supreme effort to get back up. If your back gives you problems and you can't squat or deadlift normally, the trap bar deadlift gives you good parts of both worlds and is very forgiving on a bad back.
Thanks but for now i will play it safe, i got a huge fall back, and that damn back pain came soaring 2 weeks ago. I just started doing cardio in the gym and will keep it that way for now, i will do some weight training but wont over do it, man i used to train 6 times per week and shoot for 20 sets for big muscles and 10 for small ones. Now i just switched to chest, shoulders and triceps, where i do very moderate training, 9 sets for chest on hammer machines, 6 sets of shoulders again on hammer and 3 for tricpes. I take a day off between each training sessions, then do back and biceps, 9 sets for back and 6 for biceps, and again a full day off and i do legs. I decided to work legs a bit lighter since i am doing around 30 minutes of elliptical trainer and stair master for 15 minutes, the legs get bashed pertty good. Both exercises do wonders for the lower back. So far so good lets hope for the best, and everyone b careful when lifting heavy, i got injured that way and there is not a single day that i dont regret it.
If the pain is between the shoulder blades then it's likely your shoulders are rounded. Especialy if you spen a lot of time in front of a computer. Stretch your pecs and abs and work on your erectors and rhomboids for a while. Back ups and reverse flys. With the reverse flys it's important you do them slowly and hold for a second at full contraction. This means you may have to use a light weight and do lots of reps.
