the GAINS thread

[kaizersoze]

So after a little bit of an injury, or more awareness of said injury, it's pretty clear why my squats weren't going up in weight. Between muscle imbalances between the left and right side, a bulging disk in my back (two actually. One down at the lumbar and another closer to the top of the spine), and a problem with hip muscles on my right side (yeah my chiropractor waved their finger at me) I didn't really stand a chance at making gains.

I need to take a week or two off, but when I get back into it, what sort of exercises do y'all do for single leg focus to fix imbalances? I had started working reverse lunges and Bulgarian splitsquats, but I was curious if anyone else has any of their own favorites up their sleeves.

[Patriam1066]

Originally Posted by kaizersoze [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

So after a little bit of an injury, or more awareness of said injury, it's pretty clear why my squats weren't going up in weight. Between muscle imbalances between the left and right side, a bulging disk in my back (two actually. One down at the lumbar and another closer to the top of the spine), and a problem with hip muscles on my right side (yeah my chiropractor waved their finger at me) I didn't really stand a chance at making gains.

I need to take a week or two off, but when I get back into it, what sort of exercises do y'all do for single leg focus to fix imbalances? I had started working reverse lunges and Bulgarian splitsquats, but I was curious if anyone else has any of their own favorites up their sleeves.

You can use a leg press with one leg? I’m honestly not too familiar with what you’ll need to do. You can use the cable machine like women do when they strap one leg in and take their leg backwards to activate their glute and hamstring on one side

[pink grapefruit]

Originally Posted by kaizersoze [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

So after a little bit of an injury, or more awareness of said injury, it's pretty clear why my squats weren't going up in weight. Between muscle imbalances between the left and right side, a bulging disk in my back (two actually. One down at the lumbar and another closer to the top of the spine), and a problem with hip muscles on my right side (yeah my chiropractor waved their finger at me) I didn't really stand a chance at making gains.

I need to take a week or two off, but when I get back into it, what sort of exercises do y'all do for single leg focus to fix imbalances? I had started working reverse lunges and Bulgarian splitsquats, but I was curious if anyone else has any of their own favorites up their sleeves.

I wouldn't worry about an imbalance at all. Really doubt that's part why your squat isn't getting better.

If you can't squat rn because of injury I'd just do the leg press until you feel well enough to squat again.

[Ivah]

Originally Posted by pink grapefruit [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I wouldn't worry about an imbalance at all. Really doubt that's part why your squat isn't getting better.

If you can't squat rn because of injury I'd just do the leg press until you feel well enough to squat again.

Imbalances like he's talking about leads to pelvic sheering, which leads to things like hip replacement later down the road if you continue to to workout on it.

Kaiz you need to do some mobility tests find out where your problems are. Check for a hip impingement that shit can cause all types of nasty problem like the ones your refering too.

[pink grapefruit]

Originally Posted by Ivah [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Imbalances like he's talking about leads to pelvic sheering, which leads to things like hip replacement later down the road if you continue to to workout on it.

Kaiz you need to do some mobility tests find out where your problems are. Check for a hip impingement that shit can cause all types of nasty problem like the ones your refering too.

Citation?

Literally everyone has imbalances like this, and they're hardly ever as bad as people think they are. Something isn't a problem just because it seems like it should be.

If a person is able to squat without the pain becoming unbearable they should generally keep squatting. If the pain after squatting is unreasonable, they should lower the weight down to a point where it doesn't cause as much pain and slowly work up the muscles again as the body heals (as bodies tend to do- things hurt less over time if you keep training). If they still can't squat without a lot of pain even with the weight super low, they should reduce the range of motion by doing high box squats or leg press or something. And if they're still hurting at that point, it's time to get a legitimate physical therapist to address the issue.

General rule of thumb: do as much as possible as long as the pain doesn't affect your daily life. Some increase in pain is expected as the body heals, and should be accepted. If a medical professional tells you to "stop doing that if it hurts!" you should drop them and find a professional who knows how to help you recover and thrive in your exercise/sport.

Injuries will happen. They're hardly ever catastrophic, or reason to stop training.

If Kaiz is worried about his squat not going up, I'd be more interested in his current and previous programming, diet, sleep, etc. than in his long list of physiological issues as diagnosed by his chiro (muscle imbalance? really??). How much pain is he even in when he squats? He seemed to be more bothered by his lifts stagnating than he was the pain, prior to finding out about all these supposed issues. I bet he's in a lot more pain now that he's been told these scary things, like he has bulging disks. Nevermind all the people that have these physiological issues and report zero pain...

[Cecily]

Well I’ve managed to make my whole body sore this week. Ankles calves inner hip shoulders. Second run gave me bad delayed onset muscle soreness, so been resting, stretching, and figuring out how to injury other muscle groups the past few days.

Ankle was almost unbearable to walk on yesterday, which I believe is from my genious self landing on my heel from a 10-ft drop a couple years ago. Looked up some physical therapy exercises for strengthening ankle and gonna try to do those daily.

Think I figured out what I like to do: waking / running for cardio. Shadow boxing for upper body. Dancing / yoga / vacuums for core. Squats / lunges / frog pumps / donkey kicks for lower body.

Jab - cross - squat pretty fun workout. I don’t think I’m ever gonna get a gym membership, although I really would like some martial arts training, which would give me the figure I want, flexibility, and make me feel a little safer.

[Ivah]

Originally Posted by pink grapefruit [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Citation?

Literally everyone has imbalances like this, and they're hardly ever as bad as people think they are. Something isn't a problem just because it seems like it should be.

If a person is able to squat without the pain becoming unbearable they should generally keep squatting. If the pain after squatting is unreasonable, they should lower the weight down to a point where it doesn't cause as much pain and slowly work up the muscles again as the body heals (as bodies tend to do- things hurt less over time if you keep training). If they still can't squat without a lot of pain even with the weight super low, they should reduce the range of motion by doing high box squats or leg press or something. And if they're still hurting at that point, it's time to get a legitimate physical therapist to address the issue.

General rule of thumb: do as much as possible as long as the pain doesn't affect your daily life. Some increase in pain is expected as the body heals, and should be accepted. If a medical professional tells you to "stop doing that if it hurts!" you should drop them and find a professional who knows how to help you recover and thrive in your exercise/sport.

Injuries will happen. They're hardly ever catastrophic, or reason to stop training.

If Kaiz is worried about his squat not going up, I'd be more interested in his current and previous programming, diet, sleep, etc. than in his long list of physiological issues as diagnosed by his chiro (muscle imbalance? really??). How much pain is he even in when he squats? He seemed to be more bothered by his lifts stagnating than he was the pain, prior to finding out about all these supposed issues. I bet he's in a lot more pain now that he's been told these scary things, like he has bulging disks. Nevermind all the people that have these physiological issues and report zero pain...

Sure jeff cavalier could name dozens of others but I'll drop him here because he's a walking house of knowledge. You must not understand how the body properly operates if you think loading hundreds of pounds onto spine/hips without it working right is alright. Muscle imbalance in the hips is no joke and if he wants to push further then that max he needs his hips unglued and gliding right or his problems will most likely slowly get worse. His upcoming serious is just a matter of time with weight like that and being in pain or not has nothing to do with it. But yes he should be box squating if anything. I know how he's feeling a lot better then you do the weight he's stuck at and my problems 10 years ago are almost identical.

[kaizersoze]

A good chance to meet the ladies. Ask to work in, show them the booty, I like it.

[Patriam1066]

Why does my left shoulder hurt more than my right (right doesn’t hurt at all) when I bench heavy weight? It even happens when I do dumbbell overhead press! SAD!

[Mead]

Originally Posted by Patriam1066 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Why does my left shoulder hurt more than my right (right doesn’t hurt at all) when I bench heavy weight? It even happens when I do dumbbell overhead press! SAD!

It could be a labrum issue. You won't know for sure unless you get an MRI.