FL/PE7 acute upper thoracic pain

Hi there, would love some help on this one.

So I spent the last year steadily working my way through FL PE's 1-6. All good.

I started FL/PE7 and felt like my arms weren't up to the challenge, but OK in my abs.

A month in, I experienced sharp, acute upper thoracic pain from this exercise. A couple of chiro treatments later I was better but as soon as I started FL/PE7 again, the same pain returned. I've stopped doing the exercise because the pain was bad and now i'm scared.

So why is this happening?

Are my arms not strong enough for this exercise? Is the candlestick position tough on the thoracic area? (I tried more padding under my neck/back). Anyone else had this problem?

Thank you

Sarah

Sarah,

Where are you in the rest of your foundation training?

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Also what did the Chiro say was the problem? What follow up exercises did he give you for the thoracic spine?

Is your body weight evenly distributed across the shoulders?  As compared to the neck bearing the load?  Are you cranking on your neck?  I am curious as to the comment about arm strength being deficient.  Could it be that the arms are being used too much?  

Thanks guys

My foundation progress is

Fl pe 7

Hbp pe2

Spl pe5

Rc pe5

Mn pe6

Sls se3

Sl pe1 (haha)

The chiro told me I jammed/sprained by right T2-4. Unfortunately he told me not to do the exercise, which obviously was not a solution I was happy about.

I feel like my neck does crank a little while I'm doing it but it does feel symmetrical. I might be using my arms too much... It fels like my arms aren't strong enough to hold the long lever of my body

Thanks for helping

Step back on your FL training and get your RC and HBP strength caught up!

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Great, thanks for the advice. I will do weeks 9-12 of FL/PE6.

Love the program, the first year has been an amazing and challenging journey. Thank you.

I've been meaning to post a follow-up, in case it might be helpful to someone else.

So as per instructions, I've been working hard on HBP and RC.

Two useful discoveries to share.

Firstly, I spent 4 months mastering FL PE6 with an 8lb dumbell held above my head. Completely and utterly horrible... but I think minics the position and force required in FL PE7.

Secondly due to my suboptimal straddle flexibility, I experimented with FL PE8 compared to PE7. It turns out FL PE 8 is much easier for me than PE7 so I'm going to master them in reverse order.

So now I'm happily chipping away at FL PE8 and it feels totally different and much more solid.

Thanks.

Just because a later progression is easier does not mean you can change the order. You have address your weaknesses as they come up in the program. It is hard to do this initially but you will progress better through the whole program when you correct your weaknesses as the program dictates.

Mark Collins said:

Just because a later progression is easier does not mean you can change the order. You have address your weaknesses as they come up in the program. It is hard to do this initially but you will progress better through the whole program when you correct your weaknesses as the program dictates.

This. Otherwise you are going to be playing to your strengths, glossing over your weaknesses and losing out on the strength of the progression system

Jon Douglas said:

This. Otherwise you are going to be playing to your strengths, glossing over your weaknesses and losing out on the strength of the progression system

Completely agree. I also have drunk the GB Kool-aid.

I did not communicate my point well at all.

In this particular instance, reversing the order of FL PE7/8 is not about "glossing over weaknesses"... it is about preventing the reoccurance of a painful and expensive injury, that ironically, was sustained twice while adhering to the advice given by Mark and Jon... following the program to the letter.

More accurately I should have written : It turns out, in the opinion of my treating health professional, FL PE8 is SAFER for me (given its reduced leverage and my history of this injury) than FL PE7.

In this instance I am willing to forgo the benefit of mastering the elements in their correct order to prevent a reoccurrance of this injury.

I am battling every week with RC PE6 and HBP PE2 knowing the subsequent progressions are going to be breeze in comparison, just as I did with SL PE1/2 before they were changed. I understand the difference.

Thank you Mark and Jon for your contributions to this forum, I enjoy and appreciate your insightful comments. I expect that you don't agree with my point here but I am very motivated not to experience that pain again.

Yours, in sticking to the program,

Sarah

That makes sense why you switched the order.

In order to reduce leverage and not upset your injury I would recommend that you do PE7 in a partial ROM. That way you are still training the exercise but at a level that is safe. Alot of people are currently doing this that have injuries. I would then finish with a set of Hollow rocks for 60+ reps to keep the conditioning up.

I have had to do this with many exercises and it has really motivated me to correct nad rehab injuries.

I wonder if the contribution to the upper back pain is in the weight distribution by how hard you pull with each hand on the bar, effectively putting pressure on your right or left side.

what do you guys think? have you filmed yourself doing FL PE7, Sarah?

i had something similar when i first did the body levers.  crazy strain on the upper back.  i ended up just doing 1 set of a couple reps once a week to test it then when i didnt feel any discomfort from that i gradually added in more reps then more sets then twice a week.  kept HBR in there as well jst to keep the strength in that position.