Having good form

gymnastics is the only thing i have ever been very passionate about in my life. Its the only thing that i have liked so much i want to keep doing iteven when i am past the point of exhaustion (even tho when i get to that point i do stop) and i also i want to do it if i am very sore.

But sadly i am running into a few problems. The first of which is joint problems. My right elbow and right shoulder both still get annoying pains in them, even though i stretch them before i do my training. I am wondering if it might be something to worry about. I don't know anything about bones but it seems to be at the point where the joint conencts on my shoulder. My elbow usually ends up being fine the next day.

The second problem i run into is I don't have a trainer. I dont have any close friends to spot me and my wife certianly cannot hold me up if i am attempting to do a front lever or back lever. I find i have to reaserch videos and photos to a point where the image is engraved in my brain, then tell my wife what i need to look like for the end result. I know front lever pull ups are a great conditioning exercise, but i have no one to show me form, or help me when i am doing the exersice. I don't have money to go get the right training right now. I am lost. CAN ANYONE HELP ME?

Do you have the book? It will show you how to scale most things so you don't need a spotter.

i can't afford the book

4 bucks a week for 11 weeks!

You are probably not following the list of pre-requisites, which you can find here. If you actually want to make progress and not get hurt, you will need to pick up the book. There is no substitute.

IJL, I sent you a PM. If you are interested, let me know.

IJL said:

gymnastics is the only thing i have ever been very passionate about in my life. Its the only thing that i have liked so much i want to keep doing iteven when i am past the point of exhaustion (even tho when i get to that point i do stop) and i also i want to do it if i am very sore.

But sadly i am running into a few problems. The first of which is joint problems. My right elbow and right shoulder both still get annoying pains in them, even though i stretch them before i do my training. I am wondering if it might be something to worry about. I don't know anything about bones but it seems to be at the point where the joint conencts on my shoulder. My elbow usually ends up being fine the next day.

YES!! It IS something you should worry about. I am like you, almost addicted to exercise. But it's for your own good, for better health, and especially, for better progress (something I took too long to figure) that you don't overdo yourself, that you respect your limits, follow the progressions and do tons of prehab. AND listen to your body and always try to avoid any joint pain. For that you need to know which exercises are harder on joints and go easy on these, go according yo your limit, being conservative. Doing those things, like being able to hold 60s a progressions before go training on the next.

Putting things simple. Buy the book. Read everything on this forum (take your time), and change your mentality.

Edit: this site http://medicalmassage-edu.com/main.html has a lot of info and the guy is very experienced in injury treatment. If I can keep only one thing that I saw from his free videos, it would be: "Severe injury is often the result of minor injuries who did not receive attention or correct treatment."

"Severe injury is often the result of minor injuries who did not receive attention or correct treatment."

This needs to be on the ceiling, walls, and floor of every gym.

That site looks neat! I was just going to suggest that he learn about SMR and active release technique, or at least how to do SMR (self myofascial release) and active release stretches if nothing else. Enormous self-management power there! It is amazing how many problems something as simple as unbalanced tension in the body can create!

Yeah, I like that site a lot! I even posted a topic on joint prep recomending it. I'm trying to convince myself to buy one or two of his dvds.

Besides that, I already tried the hot stone massage and I think it's really effective. I'm not expert, but I think It ressembles the graston technique, combined with heat. I tried that using antiinflamatory ointment instead of ordinary lubrification. Three effective things combined in one single thing. My elbows are thanking me =D

Another intresting quote from him: " No pain no gain is absolutely more pain and no gain" lol

Sounds like a combination of doing too much and not doing the proper progressions. Both problems can be solved by following the wods and getting the book.

slizzardman said:

"Severe injury is often the result of minor injuries who did not receive attention or correct treatment."

This needs to be on the ceiling, walls, and floor of every gym.

That site looks neat! I was just going to suggest that he learn about SMR and active release technique, or at least how to do SMR (self myofascial release) and active release stretches if nothing else. Enormous self-management power there! It is amazing how many problems something as simple as unbalanced tension in the body can create!

Quote of the week!

IJL wrote:

gymnastics is the only thing i have ever been very passionate about in my life. Its the only thing that i have liked so much i want to keep doing iteven when i am past the point of exhaustion (even tho when i get to that point i do stop) and i also i want to do it if i am very sore.

But sadly i am running into a few problems. The first of which is joint problems. My right elbow and right shoulder both still get annoying pains in them, even though i stretch them before i do my training. I am wondering if it might be something to worry about. I don't know anything about bones but it seems to be at the point where the joint conencts on my shoulder. My elbow usually ends up being fine the next day.

The second problem i run into is I don't have a trainer. I dont have any close friends to spot me and my wife certianly cannot hold me up if i am attempting to do a front lever or back lever. I find i have to reaserch videos and photos to a point where the image is engraved in my brain, then tell my wife what i need to look like for the end result. I know front lever pull ups are a great conditioning exercise, but i have no one to show me form, or help me when i am doing the exersice. I don't have money to go get the right training right now. I am lost. CAN ANYONE HELP ME?

I think that right now is better to put away any work on front lever, back lever end other gymnastics specificity. You are not prepare body enough for that at the moment. But there is a word of consolation for you. I have similiar injuries before, so to heal them, I first rest for some time, and then start again but very slowly, almost like when baby start to walk. You must avoid any movement that couse the pain.I was doing basic pushups even on the wall first to heal shoulders, stretching bands, planks, reverse planks, etc, every morning just a couple of them with dynamic stretching for legs. When I feel better, I include pull ups, also just a couple every morning. The key rule : no fatigue, no pushing, no hard work, no multiple sets, just easy play and enjoy in them. After a while, you know what, I was more stronger then before. Harder exercises that I struggle with, suddenly becomes much easier, despite the fact I wasnt work on them. Then, I start to include almost daily work with 50% of max of everything I do, and retest every two or three weeks to establish new 50%. This work so good for me, and now I enjoy every morning, injury free, and very fast progress. I am sure that you will find new and stronger motivation after you heal wounds, so there is no reason for sadness. Trainer is always good idea, but you dont need a spoter at this time. When your level at gymnastics rise up, your strength also, and you start to look at the details, then think about spoter. Why you need a spoter for front lever and risk injury, if maybe you have problems for example to perform hollow rocks for 1 min, or HLL 10 reps, or 360 tuck pulls.

Mr Brady said:

slizzardman said:

"Severe injury is often the result of minor injuries who did not receive attention or correct treatment."

This needs to be on the ceiling, walls, and floor of every gym.

That site looks neat! I was just going to suggest that he learn about SMR and active release technique, or at least how to do SMR (self myofascial release) and active release stretches if nothing else. Enormous self-management power there! It is amazing how many problems something as simple as unbalanced tension in the body can create!

Quote of the week!

Quote of the century! Bad handstand form, over time, built up and put me out with elbow tendinitis for 2 months! I'm on the back end now (still likely another month until I'm truly for sure 100% again though) and I know I'll be stronger and smarter because of it, but everyone should be able to avoid what I went through!