Recently I've been getting back into lifting weights. It's been a couple weeks now that I've been going at it. Four or five years ago, I lifted pretty hard, probably for eight months or a year. Then I just stopped (got tired of it I guess).
Anyway, I like to do a lot of full body work outs: Power cleans, squats, and deadlifts. Then I also do the usual bench press, incline bench press, a variety of arm exercises, a couple back exercises, and some abdominal exercises.
But recently I've been getting some pain in my chest, but not muscle soreness. It's more of an internal pain. I've been to my doctor before I've started lifting, and I'm perfectly healthy.
Has anyone else experienced this kind of thing before? I'm not overly concerned about it, but I'm definitely going to cut back on the amount of days I lift.
Also, please feel free to talk about anything that concerns weight lifting: exercises you like, exercises that can be done without going to a gym, exercises you find to be effective, etc. Also, feel free to talk about your routine, how you find your motivation, etc.
I'm curious to hear what other people have to say about lifting weights, as I'm sort of just getting back into the game, and none of my current friends lift weights.
Torn cartilage may be the culprit, as could a stress fracture around your sternum, ribs, or clavicle. But it also may be overtraining. If you took that much time off and started working out 3-4 days a week or more, especially trying to do what you did before, maybe with just less weight, you may be overtraining. Try going to the gym every 3rd day and don't look at your work schedule as a weekly regime, but as a cycle of 4-6 weeks. Besides, the more you miss on a tight schedule, the more apt you are to quit. When people fail to achieve what appears to be simple goals, they tend to give up--look at a wider body of work.
My suggestion is to focus on the 7 major compound lifts, and do them every work out: traditional deadlift, squat, military press, bench, dip, row, and pull up/chins. Don't even bother with isolating biceps and delts--these movements are proven to activate more muscle groups simultaneously than any other exercises. For instance, if you do bent over barbell rows with your palms facing up and do them with proper form, it works your lats, your posterior chain, traps and also biceps. Same with chin ups if you hold for a 2 count at the top of the movement--it works your bi's to hold you up. Biceps only account for 2% of your muscle mass, so why spend a lot of time on them? Lifting heavy weights and lesser weight with proper form will make your bi's grow.
If your chest still hurts from benching, try a wider grip which will activate your front delts more, or simply start doing perfect form push ups, which can be affective as benching with weights.
Warm up properly (not just jogging on the treadmill or on the bike), by doing dynamic warmups--light weight, short intervals that make you sweat, get your heart rate up, and prepare your muscle for what you are about to do.
Need help putting a workout together? I'll be glad to offer some suggestions.
Good luck, and listen to your body! Don't try to push through it--you know the difference between muscle soreness/fatigue and pain.
I just got done doing deadlifts and squats. I did light weight. But, especially on the deadlifts, I feel a dull ache in my lower back when I'm done with the exercise. I try to keep my back straight, and I'm not straining myself with weight that's beyond my strength level. Is it normal for your lower back to ache after doing deadlifts? And for how long does it usually last? My back usually doesn't return to normal for probably 4-5 days after completing the exercise. My lower back tends to ache without working out sometimes, but I just don't want to injure myself. I used to workout, but deadlifts are still new territory for me (I never did them previously). Thanks for your help!
Sounds like DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). Some people call it muscle fever and it can peak for a few days before gradually subsiding. I read through the other posts and I agree with most of the responses--check out some trainging videos on youtube, and ask a trainer at the gym to check your form. I am not a powerlifter, but I do routinely deadlift fairly heavy weight (365 for sets) on my heavy days. It takes a couple days for my back, glutes and hamstrings to recover, as well as my traps (for having to hold that weight). There's been a couple times that I've had some soreness for longer than usual, and it's usually because my form slipped. The deadlift form is similar to a golf swing--there's several checkpoints to go through during and while our performing a lift that eventually becomes second nature. The times I "tweaked" my back were usually do to the following reasons: I broke the vertical plane, or I didn't drop my butt/hips low enough.
What I mean by the vertical plane is, when you deadlift, the bar should go in pretty much a straight line that's perpendicular to the floor. That plane shouldn't change, your body conforms to keep the weights along it. Watch a video and you'll see the person's legs at a 45 degree, arms locked and straight, shoulders over the bar with the bar directly over the middle of his feet. As you initiate the lift, you bend your legs a bit which makes your shins touch the bar, drop your hips and pull with your legs, driving your heels into the floor as your knees straighten. All the while your back is in a natural arc, your shoulders back--at this part the weight is at your knees, your upperbody is at a 45, and now you need to thrust your hips forward while squeezing your glutes to get in the final "lock out"position (don't lean your upper body backwards, that is a bad mistake people make that can herniate a disc). Then you follow the same path down to the starting position.
What I do wrong from time to time is line up a bit too far behind the bar (sometimes I lean back b in preparation for the lift, bringing my shoulder back towards, or even worse, behind the bar before the lift), and that puts all the pressure on my back to lift the weight, instead of my legs/hips.
Here and there, when I'm tired I lose focus and don't drop my butt down enough to keep my lower back straight. (rounding of the back doesn't only happen in the middle of your back, it can happen right around the top of our pelvis). That also puts unwanted emphasis on your lower back and can lead to injury.
Also, if you are tall or have shorter arms, your natural position might force your back to be rounding. You can try doing deadlifts in a squat rack with the safety bars set up at the mid-shin level or just below the knees. This will help you to start at a position with your back straight, and will shorten the motion which may help you adjust your form.
Whenever in doubt--stop. Don't let an inanimate object destroy your back--ask a trainer. Hope this helps.
Topic: Anyone on Celticsblog lift weights? (Read 15846 times)