Rhomboid/neck pain from HS/PE3

My assessment is that I overdid/strained the upper musculature of the back while on week 10/set 4 of 60s for the PE3.  I had just started the PE3 after PE2 mastery, going directly into week 9 of it.  I had intense muscle burning (the normal kind) which I hadn't ever felt in those muscles yet, but then tried bringing my body upright again after faltering.

The next week was very painful and stiff.  Manual therapy helped a bit.  When the muscle soreness left after about a week I retained a lot of the stiffness/soreness but in a more concentrated area.  The therapist found some big knots in the rhomboid area, which is likely why neck side movement brings more pain than the other.  All in all though I'm seeing slow but continual improvement.

After 3 weeks away from training I've started again, as I have seen in other body parts that the GB exercises are usually therapeutic.  Yes, there is a bit of acute pain when I activate those muscles for the initial leg lift-off in the PE3, but I'm able to execute week 5 of that exercise quite fine.  Do I keep training in this way as long as I see continual improvement in the soreness/stiffness, or is there reason for concern?

Additional rest is fine if the pain is more than moderate.

I would recommend beginning all the way back with Week 1 for PE3.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

You may well be experiencing some compression of the thoracic spine. Muscle soreness on activation is not normal after a week of rest, particularly as the rhomboids are not overly taxed in this position. Most likely as you contract the rhomboids the exert some pressure onto a tender underlying spinal segment.

Make sure you are pressing quite strongly through the forearms, shoulders up by your ears and not simply resting on your head and loading your spine.

HSps3 transitions form pe3 into having the upper arm vertical and opening the shoulder into flexion. Shrugging the shoulders and engaging the upper trapezius muscles is HUGELY important for developing a solid handstand :-D

Hi Wes, thanks for the answer (and coach Sommer as well!). If I understand you correctly I should probably try to put more weight on my forearms so it's almost like a triad effect? Right now I try to balance on my head so it is easier, but you might advocate more for a flexed core and back/shoulder area so that I am able to lean more into my forearms and engage them?

And so with the shoulder shrugging you're asking me to try and basically sink my head/neck into my shoulders so to speak, right? Thanks for detailing all of that and especially the difference between PE2 and PE3. That helps so much in the the mind/body connection for me, just to know the purpose of it all

As for my pain, I would say it is a bit broader in area than just right at the spine, although I don't doubt that it is spinal compression which has always given me problems. I have this pain now during the day too, it's just that upon executing the movement it intensifies for that quick moment.

Thanks again

Wes, I noticed today that my pain is likely more centered around the spine, specifically to the one side I would say, a vertebrae or two below the large one that protrudes at the bottom of the neck.  I hadn't noticed that yesterday because I was still sore from the weekend's workout.  

I feel the pain at its sharpest when I tilt my head back to the point where I'm looking straight above me.  Otherwise turning my head to that right side also hurts (although to the left some as well).  If this were in fact the thoracic compression, how does the tender part heal, or what do I need to do/not do for that?

geoguy said:

... If I understand you correctly I should probably try to put more weight on my forearms so it's almost like a triad effect? ... 

Yes, the weight should be shared equally between the three points of support.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Hi geoguy,

It does indeed sound like you have just compressed the area you describe a little too much form resting just on your head. Spread the weight from now on between the forearms and head as Coach Sommer points out :-D

C7 is known as the vertebtral prominens as it usually sticks out the most, so one or 2 below that would be T1/2 or T2/3. When you extend your neck you bring the facet joints closer together into a more compacted relation.

It will heal in time, but much better if you allow it to lengthen out and avoid compressing it further for a few weeks. You can perform a simple shoulder bridge and emphasise depressing the shoulders as far away as possible from the ears. This will help to decompress the upper thoracic and cervical spine. Then roll back down trying to lay each vertebra on the floor sequentially keeping a posterior pelvic tilt. Simple but affective.

Long term, build up the muscular support around the area, shoulder strength, rhomboids, trapezius (all portions). Foundations will help with this, as well as improving the mobility via the early mobility progressions in HS1. 

Great stuff guys!  Wes I will try the decompression movements several times a day.  

I find the mobility for the PE3 to be hard for me, although I am usually quite flexible.  I will try posting a video for the form check.

By the way, are there some strength exercises for said region that I could do on the side while resting from the PE3 the next few weeks?

Hi guys,

Just an update and resulting question.  I've been doing the decompression movements Wes mentioned as well as resting from the headstands for a while.  In addition I've been getting regular massages as I have a lot of old knots lining my scapula and in my upper traps.  Things have improved a lot!

However I've noticed that it is likely the mobility exercise that is giving me pain as opposed to the headstand.  I've seen a distinct return or intensification in the pain the day after performing the HS/PE3 iM.  This pain is like a concentrated muscle soreness and/or stiffness in rotating my head to the sides or down or up.  As I'm getting better this return in symptoms is less debilitating, but it brings me to the question, am I performing something wrong in the movement?  

The ROM seems very small, and maybe if I could hear what area in my back/shoulders I should be pushing/pulling with or at least make the mind-muscle connection with.  That might help me perform better.