i've been told to stop doing pushups/pullups/handstands/dips..

Hi!

A sport therapist told me my middle trapezius muscles are too weak and are not stabilizing the scapula enough. He said I should stop doing any "close kinetic chain" exercises like pushpus/pullups/handstands/etc.. and only do the following exercise every day: every 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzItAuPX7_w

until I can do 5 x 15 iterations with 6-7kg at least.

He also said he generally don't recommend doing such "close kinetic chain" exercises at all even if I'm strong enough - according to him - these are not healthy exercises for the arms. Only the legs, he says, are meant to take "close kinetic chain" efforts.

What do you say guys? Let's say I do have asymmetry in the muscles around the scapula as he says, does he have a point that I'm only strengthening the already-strong muscles and neglecting the weaker muscles and I should cherry pick exercise as he recommends, in order to strengthen the weak muslces?

Thanks !

Find another sports therapist?

Find a new physio.

Get a second opinion on your specific issues. Get a non-idiotic opinion on closed chain being unsafe as a general matter for upper body.

Just out of interest, why did you see a sports therapist in the first place? Are you injured?

It's true that the middle traps are important for shoulder health and it's entirely possible to further strengthen bad movement patterns but I think my physical therapist would disagree with everything else he said.

I work at a PT clinic as an Aide and am a CSCS (not that that really means anything). It always amazes me when I talk to a PT and they seem to think weird things like "full range of motion in your knee is dangerous", "your foot needs a raised heel shoe with maximum support" or "your arms aren't supposed to go straight overhead".

Yeah, maybe if your data comes from a sedentary population sitting in school and wearing foot casts since they were two.

My boss evaluated my shoulder this past week ( I had it torn out of socket 4 years back in a Jiu-jitsu tournament) and said "that gymnastics stuff seems dangerous. Your shoulder is hypermobile (because i could extend them overhead without trouble) but doesn't seem to be unstable."

I would find a new therapist. Not the one I work for. Therapists that were/are elite athletes/coaches tend to know better.

Sorry for the rant!

I think Coach knows what he's doing here.  Look at HBP/PE's 2 & 3, RC/PE1, SL/PE1, HS/PE-im's 1-4, and HS/PE's 5 & 6.  He's specifically addressing pushups, pullups, and handstands in these progressions and IM's.  Foundation and Handstand will surely do much much more than that one exercise.

In my experience, the only good therapists for gymnastic related injuries, are those who used to be gymnasts of who work closely with them.  Otherwise they just play it safe.  When I was 15 I got told from a Sports Doctor that due to a growth spurt, I would have to give up gymnastics training forever to remain paid free (lumbar pain).  (I grew a foot in 18months!).  12 months later, the rest of my body caught up and it was no longer a problem.

Stick to the progressions you can handle and im sure you'll be fine. (Unless you have a serious biomechanical dysfunction/muscle tear etc)

I went to see him because I had some pain in the biceps which is probably a result of a trigger point or myofascial pain in the shoulder. No tear or anything like that. Message seems to solve the issue.

So this guy analyzed me and said I have a strong asymmetry in the muscles around the scapula and that it results in certain muscles almost not working while others working much harder than they should, and that I need to strengthen the weak muscles first (specifically the middle trapezius muscles). He also said that because of this, my scapula is somewhat rotated because of stronger muscles on one and weak muscles on the other end.

I certainly don't want to stop foundation as I do see huge progress in my performance, so I wonder if there might be merit in doing specific exercises targeting specific muscles rather than keep doing functional all-body exercises as we have in foundation.

It's very hard to find a good therapist who knows what he's talking about.. :/

Your therapist is an idiot. Move on.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

lol

I really don't understand these PTs when they say things like that. When you look at an active kid who heard nothing about this stuff at all, he does handstands, pulls himself up to every place possible, crawls, does cartwheels etc. because it feels natural for him.
Now when you look at the recommendations of some PTs, they are trying to create an artifical environment and tells us that it is only natural to move like a pensioner because that is what the human body is made for. Seriously...

obc said:

 

He also said he generally don't recommend doing such "close kinetic chain" exercises at all even if I'm strong enough - according to him - these are not healthy exercises for the arms. Only the legs, he says, are meant to take "close kinetic chain" efforts. !

What sort of sports therapist?

Closed chain exercises are integral for anyone with an unstable shoulder girdle. I have my post op surgery patients regularly do scapula shrugs against a wall progressing to the incline and then to the floor. Today I had a patient with a rotator cuff strain and the first exercise I gave her was 3x3 incline push ups.

If you want mid traps work your way through RC progressions and get H1.

Mark Collins said:

What sort of sports therapist?

Closed chain exercises are integral for anyone with an unstable shoulder girdle. I have my post op surgery patients regularly do scapula shrugs against a wall progressing to the incline and then to the floor. Today I had a patient with a rotator cuff strain and the first exercise I gave her was 3x3 incline push ups.

If you want mid traps work your way through RC progressions and get H1.

x1000