My left side is weaker when put my shoulder blades together
Alright. There are tons of little moves that you can do to practice and build that shoulder blade squeeze together motion, if you think itās just a practice/technique thing.
And there are a lot of stretches that you can do to loosen up your lats/pec/upper traps and get things moving more freely if you think its a tightness issue.
You can do 1 arm pulldown and rows, and begin each move with scapula retraction, before you pull with your arm, if you think itās a strength issue.
Itās also possible that itās a breathing issue. Like your not really filling up that left side with air, so your ribs arenāt totally full and expanded. And that makes your shoulder blade on that side unstable.
Now I Think this may be an issue. You mentioned that when you tried to front squat, you couldnāt get set up because your lats were āimbalancedā or something. Was any of that happening on the same side as your bench issues?
Do you have any thoughts on what might be the cause? Before we get too deep, have you been doing any stupid shit like spending 10 hours a day on your phone, or wearing a heavy satchel over one shoulder? Or driving for hours with 1 arm out the window, or any other weird shit that you can just stop doing?
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The problem affects every movement Flats. Pull-ups, Squat, Bench, Strict Pressā¦. I always feel that unevenness.
If I had to take a guess I would think it would be because I deadlift with a mixed grip. Iām thinking there might be a muscle imbalance which is why I canāt really retract the left side like the right one
Alright man, that makes sense. Itās real common for the lats, bicep and pec minor ( the muscles that work opposite of your scap retractors) to get tight and short and cause problems.
So like in theory you could have a droppy, kinda pulled forward shoulder on one side. So it always feels ālooseā, like itās drifting away from your body in presses, chins, overhead, etc.
No more mixed grip!
This is a long one. but a good one.
At like 3 minutes in Coach guy has little dude on the foam roller, and heās explaining about keeping your abs tight. so your ribs and pelvis stay āstacked.ā Basically, heās teaching dude how to not over arch and over extend his back when heās got his arms over his head.
Pay attention to that part, keeping your ribs in position so your shoulder blades can move correctly is big. Especially in the overhead press and chin ups.
At like 6:30 Coach Sam shows dude an upper back stretch (thread the needle). But during the stretch heās coaching little guy to breathe into his upper back, and to take deep breathes to expand his ribs. And to really inflate the area under the shoulder blades so they have a stable foundation.
Really pay attention to that part. If youāre droopy and slumpy on that left side youāll need to get into the habit of expanding, inflating and filling up that side.
At around 9:00 minutes Sam shows a Lat stretch. If your lat is tight and restricting your scap, loosening up your lat may allow you to move your scap better. It can also teach you to keep control of your abs and rib position as your arm is moving over your head. So you can brace better in presses and chin ups. So pay attention.
At 11 Sam shows a stretch for the bicep and pec. If your bicep and pec are tight, and they limit your ability to retract your shoulder, a little stretch might loosen them up.
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These bros are way more technical with terms and anatomy and things. You may not need this level of depth and detail, but if you just donāt know how your shoulders are Supposed to move, they explain whatās supposed to happen.
Scap pushups and horizontal motion
Vertical motion.
Scaps in bench press.
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And here are just some meat head moves. Basically just squeezing the mid back and keeping it squeezed during accessory moves. This are pulldwons, but do rows like this too.
At 1:50 Matt shows a cool scapular retratcion vs a band. Just set up like your were gonna do a pulldown, and squeeze shoulders together and hold it.
Before that he shows how to do pulldowns, with a slow eccentric to keep tension on scap muscles. But he doesnāt mention Retracting them first. So retract the scaps, then do the pulldown, then lower it slow and controlled.
Last he shows pulldowns with pauses during the eccentric to practice keeping tension. But he doesnāt mention squeezing the shoulder blades first. So first squeeze and hold, then pulldown, then pause during the eccentric, with a focus on keeping your shoulders in position.
At 1:00 dude shows pulling the scaps down to start the pulldown.
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Another great one is to just get set up like a deadlift, lift the bar an inch or two off the ground, then use scap retraction to āshrugā the bar up. While your arms stay straight and you stay in the bottom deadlift position. Use a straight bar for overhand scap squeezes. Use a trap bar for neutral. Use a single dumbbell for 1 arms. Just never, never use a mixed grip.
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I donāt think I have the problem @tlgains describes, but thereās so much good stuff here, I almost wish I did! Thanks for taking the time to share all of that.
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Well, keep it in mind. Who knows what issues will pop up if you train long enough.
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Thank you so much for the videos you posted Flats. I suppose Iāll have to find a new grip to use for grips. I think Iāll try learning how to use a hook grip.
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Greetings Flats, are paused squats conjugate?
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You have to be doing this on purpose now, haha.
Hello Pwn, wdym?
You and I have discussed what conjugate means a few times now. Nothing is specifically conjugate. Any movement can be conjugate. You know that.
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If you just follow Louieās stuff, it seems like Only fast box squats are conjugate.
But like the man just said, you can use any move.
Pause squats are OK. Just one pause at the bottom. 4 pauses during the eccentric. Slow eccentric squats are OK too. My hero Matt Wenning says to rotate through the styles to keep challenging your technique and to keep your brain fresh.
Theoretically a pause or slow eccentric would make DE squatting better for gaining mass because youāre under the tension longer.
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Thank you for reminding me Pwn. I am too focused on the whole training your weaknesses thing even though anything can work.
That sounds awesome man, thereās a crap ton I can do if I play around with styles. The best part is that I know I canāt mess that up.
Thank you to the both of you! (letās just pretend that whiny post doesnāt exist, you didnāt see anything lol).
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Does Matt Wenning have an article or a YouTube video or a list of those slow eccentric and paused squat styles/variations.
Heres one.
Check out the āWenning Strengthā ewe-tube channel. I know there are a couple more on there somewhere.
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No extra workout today, have a cold. Just gonna do everything except for the extra workouts this week.
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