Hi, I’m new to this site but not new to compound lifts or bodybuilding. I started lifting when I joined a local gym and fell into the bodybuilding ideal. Since then and over the years I started moving towards basic lifts and compound movements. I’m 30 and in the last three years have been have bouts with joint pain. shoulders, back, elbows whatever.
My question is to those who have dealt with this and how to over come. How can I continue to utilize those lifts such as squat, deads, pwr cleans if they bang my freaking joints. I dont want to stop these lifts but sometimes have to not lift or pick something else because my joints will hurt. I take effort in performing good form and technique with these and dont think it’s that. Any suggestions? Any supplements, legal and illegal that help?
tried glucosamine, makes me dizzy after a while. is there anything else. hey doug, how do i post videos. took some yesterday on my cell. ill have to give it a try
[quote]Doug Adams wrote:
If you have the means to do so, post videos of your lifts so we can be sure your form is correct.[/quote]
ok here are two vids i took yesterday. they dont show much just wanted to get some in. to explain. one is of incline. i did 6sets of 3 and then did a rest pause of 225 which the first ten are the video. rest pause is doing a set of ten, 10sec rest, set again, 10 sec, set again. the other vid is of pull ups.
I know these dont show anything but like i said I just wanted to get some in for as a quick reponse to your post. I will be putting bench and deads and squat in here in the upcoming week. looking forward to your critique.
It’s hard for anyone to say exactly, but do you take fish oils? I find that they help keep some of my joint stiffness at bay.
Also, you may want to look into ART (Active Recovery Technique) therapy. I’m still recovering from a compound spiral fracture of the humerous that I had last February, and in two ART sessions, my shoulder cuff and elbow have made more progress than in the three months before.
Oh, and I just saw that your videos are posted…You may want to try to keep your elbows closer to your sides when you do any sort of bench variation. The closer in they are, the easier it will be on your shoulder joint/cuff.
[quote]Doug Adams wrote:
If you have the means to do so, post videos of your lifts so we can be sure your form is correct.[/quote]
two more here from today. deads and squat. Now, I think that my form needs improvement here and I putting about 80% on the fact that I have not done either of these movements in about 3months. I’m just coming back with these.
[quote]sptcigars wrote:
Doug Adams wrote:
If you have the means to do so, post videos of your lifts so we can be sure your form is correct.
two more here from today. deads and squat. Now, I think that my form needs improvement here and I putting about 80% on the fact that I have not done either of these movements in about 3months. I’m just coming back with these.
It’s hard to tell if there is anything going wrong with your deadlift, as your pants move around a lot in that video. Your squat is Ok, except that your body seems to shift forward when you near the bottom. It seems like your knees are going forward, and taking everything else with them. Work more on sitting back into your squat, and trying to keep your knees in one place, and pushed out (though the later doesn’t look like too much of a problem for you).
yeah, thanks vulcan. not squatting in a while has thrown my form off alot. i cant find that comfortable spot and looking at the video i see that forward lean too.
I know the feeling; ever since my injury, I find that my knees wander inward when I’m squatting anything 225+. Hooray for band work…
Just take it slow, keep the weight light, and concentrate on your form until it feels like it’s on rails again before you increase the load. It’s frustrating as all high hell, I know, but important for safety, and your soft tissue.
Not to be repetitive, but ART really seems fabulous, and oils like omega 3s help with joint lubrication. Neither will be a quick fix, but they should help.
You might want to consider puffing your chest out more when you squat. You look slightly hunched over which is probably causing some stress on your neck, back, and spine. Also consider going deeper in your squat for better knee health. You don’t have to go ATG, but anything parallel or below is better than a half-squat.
Thread Starter: IMHO, (and maybe I just didn’t see right on the recordings), you don’t perform your movements with full ranges of motion. Your deadlifts don’t seem to touch the ground, squats are parallel or above, your chin doesn’t go above the bar in pull-ups (though you have a pretty wide grip, so this might not be a good idea). I also think (though, once again, it’s hard to tell from the vid) that your bench for inclines might be placed too far forward, making you strain to pick up the barbell overhead.
Bettering your form will probably alleviate some of the pain, especially for squats (ass to grass really helped me ease the pressure on my own knees). Also, as others have mentioned, fish oil will be of help. Finally, some warm up sets might do you a world of good.
Less volume. More recovery time between workouts. Stretch after your workouts. I am 30 as well and has found that reducing the volume pretty much solved the joint pain. Marathon lifting sessions with tons of sets are for young guys.
You would probably get better responses if you asked this question in the over 35 lifter section.
There is nothing you can put in your mouth that magically undoes the mechanical damage from bad form, overloading, or overusing your joints.
Your squat is killing your back. So is your deadlift.
Spinal compression can affect your arms and shoulders too. For example, I have a disc herniation at C8/T1 that causes elbow pain.
In your squat, you’re recruiting your back, not your glutes. Underactive glutes are a prescription for disaster. And, with the limited ROM, you’re barely even using your legs.
In your deadlift, you’re using lumbar extension instead of hip extension to lock out. That excessive movement of your lumbar spine is gonna kill you. Once again, underactive glutes, overactive lower back.
For all movements, too much weight, poor ROM. Loading really matters. You must use light weight to learn perfect form. The thing about bad form is that not only does it overly stress the joints, it under-recruits the muscles. So you get subpar muscular development while slamming your joints. Not good.
For your upper body, I can’t tell, but you probably need scapular retraction/stability and thoracic extension.
Here are some things that will help:
HIP MOBILITY. Get the DVD.
read relevant articles on this site by Eric Cressey, Mike Robertson, and Mike Boyle (go to Testosterone Home, then click Authors, start reading)
stop deadlifting
work on perfect squat form. Ian King’s leg video is helpful for learning some details of form of different types of squats. Focus on NOT MOVING your lumbar spine during the whole ROM. Start neutral, and stay neutral throughout.
Drop the belt for both squat and deadlift unless going for 1rm max. Like earlier look at the hip mobility aricale. Also, try doing some push up holds in the middle of the pushup. This has helped with my shoulders.