HS/PE2>iM cramping/tightness under scapula

Hi all,

When I perform the standing weighted shoulder extensions, I sometimes feel some 'tightness' around/under the medial border of my right scapula. I think it might be worse towards the inferior angle, but it's generally just all along that inside portion of my back.

Two things I've found to help:

 - really focusing on pushing the bar backwards as my arms reach the horizontal position; and

 - widening my grip, since I think I was being a bit too aggressively to get to a narrow grip.

I'm just curious whether this is something that I will adapt to by doing the exercise, or whether I'm actually doing something wrong, which needs to be fixed before I will see any improvements.

I do know that in some respects, my right shoulder is somewhat more stiff than the the left, and it also has more muscle mass in that area, or so my physio has observed.

Additionally, I've also been doing more frequent trigger point work with a tennis ball around those areas, and hoping that might help.  It sure is a tight area for me.

I've been doing that iM about as long as HS/PE1>iM and it's been a tricky one. i haven't gotten any cramping but i discovered recently that i haven't been doing it properly. what you're feeling is probably your muscles recruiting to actually make the movement happen. 

as long as it isn't a sharp pain, it's all good under the hood. 

in my case with HS/PE1>iM, one day my trapz just had a momentary spaz attack, they stayed...."stuck" or an adhering feeling for about 2-3 motions with some upward shrugs and it was gone from that point on the iM just sky rocketed progress. 

vs

clearly, something changed drastically. you can see how weak the recruitment is in the first video compared to the second and that's only a months difference after finding the right way for me to wake up my trapz in that ROM. 

I'm also thinking this might be a really wierd position to "get into" since the times i have practiced behind the back movements have been either done very quickly or lying down. have you tried getting galvanic stimulation in the area? or explaining to your physio the recruitment issue? (or is that something a physio can even take care of?)

something I forgot to ask, how long has it been since it started cramping? and is it something that happens from the beginning of your H1 session or close to the end when you're fatigued?

I'll have to wait until later to check those Youtube videos, but yes, I have been considering that it might be just that my muscles are really unused to performing what I'm asking of them, and so they'd freak out.

I experienced the pain after I'd moved my hands in closer than before.  The first couple of sets, it felt quite tight, but not really bad, and then in a later set, the sensation became quite intense.

My next H1 session a few days later, I made sure to use a wider grip and it didn't occur.  I think it could start from the first set, though, if I tried moving my hands closer together.

thanners said:

I'll have to wait until later to check those Youtube videos, but yes, I have been considering that it might be just that my muscles are really unused to performing what I'm asking of them, and so they'd freak out.

 

I experienced the pain after I'd moved my hands in closer than before.  The first couple of sets, it felt quite tight, but not really bad, and then in a later set, the sensation became quite intense.

 

My next H1 session a few days later, I made sure to use a wider grip and it didn't occur.  I think it could start from the first set, though, if I tried moving my hands closer together.

yeah, the only way I can make it happen is with a wider grip and even then, achieving completely horizontal with chest open and scapula fully retracted, while lifting the 6lbs is pretty challenging to me.

Thanners, 

how's it been going with iM2?

Heya Keilani, thanks for asking.

It's been going.. uhh, slowly. (c: I actually backed away from it for a while, going back to PE1's iM and just trying to improve that one.

Now that I've gone back to training PE2 again in earnest, (while trying to keep improving on PE1's weight), it's feeling okay. I actually used a slightly higher weight (2.5kg, previously was only using 1.25kg), with a fairly wide grip, but it feels like it's working properly now, somehow. Hopefully over time I can start seeing improvements in ROM, and I'll report back.

Have you used video or a mirror set up to check if ur scaps are moving symetrically? I had similar tightness to what u described on my left side, but figured it must have been a muscle imbalance, as my scaps were moving symetrically. Over the last month the tightness has disappeared.