Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you for your time.
I have a form of thoracic kyphosis (my pic above- I wasn’t trying to show my kyphosis here but this is my natural posture), a doctor diagnosed me with Scheuermann’s Kyphosis (see http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/RadiografiaRXCifosisScheuermann70Grados.jpg/190px-RadiografiaRXCifosisScheuermann70Grados.jpg ) when I was 17, he said I’ve had this since I was born. I have a 60 degree curve in the spine at the thoracic vertebrae where the normal person is around 30 degrees. The doctor said that there was no need to correct it unless it got worse, because I have no real pain from it, but I never asked about lifting weights because I wasn’t at the time.
Now I’m 24, been lifting for about a year now. I’ve been deadlifting and squatting (trying) seriously for about 5 months. My deadlift is going along fine, 155kg/3, but my squat is not what I think it should be 75kg/5 (form questionable) I find it very difficult to arch my thoracic spine.
I started doing the normal squat, but about 6 weeks ago I had to move and switch my gym. The new gym has no squat rack, so I’ve started to do cleans and front squats. THIS is when I noticed the HUGE curve in the thoracic area. I now find it impossible to do front squats with a perfectly arched back, even when I think I’m good there’s still a tiny bit of rounding.
Should I be more careful than the normal-spined bodybuilder?
Do I have a future in bodybuilding or will my spine always hold me back?
Are there some exercises I can do to gain the thoracic arch that I need?
Foam roll the crap out of it and stretch your chest and lats frequently throughout the day. Do prone cobras, snatch grip deadlifts and reverse flyes. Sit up straight in your chair at all times. Lean back in your chair with your arms overhead and stretch your abs and chest if you’re sitting down for long periods of time. You could try going to the chiropractor too.
[quote]danian1 wrote:
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you for your time.
I have a form of thoracic kyphosis (my pic above- I wasn’t trying to show my kyphosis here but this is my natural posture), a doctor diagnosed me with Scheuermann’s Kyphosis (see http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/RadiografiaRXCifosisScheuermann70Grados.jpg/190px-RadiografiaRXCifosisScheuermann70Grados.jpg ) when I was 17, he said I’ve had this since I was born. I have a 60 degree curve in the spine at the thoracic vertebrae where the normal person is around 30 degrees. The doctor said that there was no need to correct it unless it got worse, because I have no real pain from it, but I never asked about lifting weights because I wasn’t at the time.
Now I’m 24, been lifting for about a year now. I’ve been deadlifting and squatting (trying) seriously for about 5 months. My deadlift is going along fine, 155kg/3, but my squat is not what I think it should be 75kg/5 (form questionable) I find it very difficult to arch my thoracic spine.
[/quote]
Hey man,
I have similar postural l issues as you and for a time always wondered if it SK that was not diagnosed; which type of doctor do i need to go to get this checked out?
I feel like in an attempt to stand up “straight” i end up just arching my lower back a ton and having my chest unnaturally sticking out (which i think messes with my breathing a bit, actually).
Also, the poster above is dead on with the exercise selection to help with the “slouch”, although, i always wondered what the actual how much it ultimately helps when something like this structural verses muscular.
