What is Wrong with my Posture?

Training
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Thanks for the lengthy reply man! But now I’m going to cut the crap, get serious and tell the truth.

My family is currently broke, we are waiting on a loan which is meant to come next week, but that is always said and never happens so it most definitely will not be next week and will most likely be in a few months.

I have one pre-existing injury I neglected to mention, I had a 60kg barbell and I attempted to bring it to my upper chest so I could press it overhead. The motion in which I got it to my chest was very similar to an explosive forearm curl, and as you already may be thinking so far this is dangerous. So I got the bar to my upper chest and my lowerback bent inwards, I was slightly leaning back and it looked like I was going to fall over. I managed to bring myself to an upright position again and I put the bar down. What happened when I bent backwards was I heard a crunching/crackling/popping coming from deep in-side my body it felt “deep” I can not explain it. After that day I had back pain for 2 months which hurt when I leaned backwards and after two months it dissapated and now two months later the pain is still there. Very slight but I can still feel it there, occassionally it goes away and occassionally it comes back but it is not severe. When I am sitting down (this happens only sometimes) I rotate my torso to the left or right side and I hear that deep popping sound still.

After two months had passed from the injury I went to get an X-ray and reported back to my doctor he said my posture was “normal” and it is nothing to be worried about and the X-ray said my lowerback looks nothing out of the ordinary as did the doctor. (I completely disagree with this)

So basically the problem is I may or may not have a pre-existing back injury and I do not have access to a gym currently. ALTHOUGH What I have at my disposal is 45 kilos/100 pounds of weight plates, two dumbells, a barbell, a pullup bar, stretching, a PVC pipe, a foam roller (will get soon)

From your first Point, 1) Do you mean don’t use a foam roller and get a tennis ball or softball instead?

Some things I feel I need to say that might be relevant are:

When I PVC Pipe roll my IT Bands they are EXTREMELY painful to foam roll especially when I reach the lower portion of my IT Band it feels like the muscle is about to burst out of my skin it may be my quadricep I am rolling against though, it is bearable but still painful. The reason I feel I need to say this is because maybe my IT Bands are tight, I don’t know.

I have tried foam rolling my hamstrings and there seems to be no knots, tightness or anything in them there is no response I think they may just be that loose.

I have also tried foam rolling my glutes to see what would happen my glutes are having the same issue except when i foam roll them I am literally foam rolling my ass bones I have a bunch of fat on my ass and seemingly to me no muscle what-so-ever.

Man does it feel nice PVC Pipe rolling my calves though they are so tight and I just love pressing out those knots. (Quads and hip flexors too but calves especially)

Just a simple question though what exactly are knots? are they just areas of the muscle that are tight when you roll them?

@ Point 2) Yes I was having that same thought today because I realised the soreness in the muscles I PVC Pipe rolled faded away quickly so I will make sure I stretch them directly after.

@ Point 3) “Mobilize/therapeutic exercises for rotator cuff, rhomboids, rear delts, serratus anterior, low traps or legs/hips”

I don’t know any exercises I could do at home for those muscles you listed except:

I know one mobility/therapeutic exercise for the rotator cuff which is “The No Money Drill”

I know another for the serratus which is the pushup plus/scapula pushup, a pushup with locking out (I really feel the lockout pushups hitting the serratus at the top of the movement)

Although the problem with the scapula pushup is it really gives me a headache for some reason I do not know why the back of my head feels under pressure when my scapula retract.

When I get into a gym I will do your Main workout you listed on 4)

Will do 5)

As you said here:

“On lower body days only do lower body mobility/foam rolling/therapy in warm-ups. Splitting the body in two this way, the warm-up and therapy should only take about 15 minutes and you’ll be very warm for your training. Maybe a bit longer, but that’s probably only if you’re sandbagging on rest. If you try to do the whole body before every workout you will end up doing about 30 minutes of prehab work. That’s not generally needed.”

I think I am rolling too much because this morning I went for one and a half hours I tried to get every single muscle knot out, was sweating a waterfall when it was all over.

So I really only need 15 minutes? I was thinking I needed more, this may seem to be a REALLY FUCKING DUMB question but if I was to do it for 15 minutes how many times a day should I do the 15 minute foam rolling sessions? 1 time a day, 3 times a day?

On rest days I will do exactly as you said. Just need to say again scapula pushups give me an odd pressuring headache.

I’ve looked into Westside before and considered doing Westside or PHAT, I’ll leave the decision for later though I’ll focus on my posture now this is more important to me.

Again Thank you for helping me and I am sorry if my long worn out post is boring you

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My post earlier was a guideline, meant as a rule-of-thumb.

  1. Foam roller your lower body and back. It is easier to dig into the shoulders and pecs with a tennis ball though. so use BOTH.

  2. lots of pain is normal. Yes it means you are very tight and yes it means you need to do more rolling. especially on the IT band. No feeling or pain in a muscle usually means it is fine (hamstrings/glutes)

  3. yes you really only need 15 minutes of foam rolling. You might go up to 30 minutes, but AS A WARM UP for your normal weight workouts it should be done in 20 minutes or less–10 minutes of rolling and 10 minutes of prehab exercises like “no moneys” and other things. Foam rolling on its own can go longer, but not when it is the prelude to a workout–the whole point is to loosen you up without spending ALL YOUR ENERGY on it before you get to weights. On your off days you can do more but I would not suggest more than 30 minutes).

  4. You have a lower back issue. I don’t know if it is serious or not, but I am not a professional doctor so I cannot comment on it. Try and see is the only advice I can give you

  5. You have a bar, weights, plates, and a dumbbell. You should be training somehow even if you can’t get to a gym because of your family’s situation. That is literally all you need to start progressing in your personal situation. Waiting for a gym is an excuse.

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Edit: I realised why my lowerback hurts again it is because when I fix my posture and sit up straight, I think my lowerback is just tight every day after my lowerback feels pained. Just to be sure though I’ll be sure to investigate it, see another doc maybe he sees something or can refer me to someone else.

Alright ill grab a tennis ball and I’ll take your advice on 3)

  1. Forgot to say I don’t have a barbell the rings on either side are different one has come in closer, the bar is 5 years old and I use that bar for pullups I put it on top of two very old rusted metal step ladders.

I think I can do one legged dumbell lunges and some other exercises for legs. I’ll start training the abdominals too, seems all I need is a foam roller and a tennisball/softball. I like you :wink: I commend you for being so blunt and honest with me, I could not see it but I’m making excuses and I just need to work.

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[quote]Watermelon26 wrote:
Edit: I realised why my lowerback hurts again it is because when I fix my posture and sit up straight, I think my lowerback is just tight every day after my lowerback feels pained. Just to be sure though I’ll be sure to investigate it, see another doc maybe he sees something or can refer me to someone else.

Alright ill grab a tennis ball and I’ll take your advice on 3)

  1. Forgot to say I don’t have a barbell the rings on either side are different one has come in closer, the bar is 5 years old and I use that bar for pullups I put it on top of two very old rusted metal step ladders.

I think I can do one legged dumbell lunges and some other exercises for legs. I’ll start training the abdominals too, seems all I need is a foam roller and a tennisball/softball. I like you :wink: I commend you for being so blunt and honest with me, I could not see it but I’m making excuses and I just need to work. [/quote]

It’s ok. As long as you actually get to work now, I won’t be upset lol. Everybody needs a course correction from time to time, even myself and seasoned pros. As for abs, definitely start training them as strong abs help with low back problems and hip alignment issues.

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I need to say something very important and I at this point am not sure what to do, I had a scheduled appointment at a new doctor because my current doctor was crap and yesterday this happened:

In the morning my lowerback was hurting and I could not urinate

He told me I am on the verge of death and any exercise will be of no benefit to me and muscular exercise will actually be of negative effect to me. The reason why I am on the verge of death is because:

While I thought that was my “lowerback” in pain… I told him it felt like it was deep, he asked me some questions and when I told him I had trouble urinating he stared at me and after that told me… I more than likely am experiencing kidney failure. This is very likely I have had 2 people in my family with this issue.

He told me I had a weak immune system, a low red blood count hemaglobin or something like that and an abnormal amount of white blood cells fighting my frequent infections and the likes because of my weak immune system.

The reason for the low red blood count is most likely my kidneys and he said a contributing factor was an iron deficiency although not the sole reason, it was not that severe. I have to have an examination with my kidneys.

He told me I needed my tonsils removed, I was born with odd tonsils to say the least I almost died the following minutes after I was born and when I was 5 years old I think… a doctor told me that I NEEDED to have my tonsils removed but my parents denied it. My tonsils have severely blocked my airway and are totally swollen and mis-shapen and have been for every day of my life for years, amazing how I never noticed this before! I frequently had food bits stuck in my throat but I never thought it was my tonsils.

He examined my ear and stood back in shock when he saw my ear and said he had never seen an infection of the likes, that explains my horrible hearing.

He examined my nasal passages after I complained that I felt I could not breathe properly and he said they are extremely tight.

So after all of this the symptoms were, reading comprehension issues, lack of concentration, low energy, me thinking I had brain damage but it was a lack of oxygen, shakiness in arms and legs, extreme uncoordination, stuttering, horrible hearing and a list of some others.

I’m a walking wreck -.-

The only thing that worries me are my kidneys and low blood count because the tonsils can be removed, I can have nasal surgery and the ear infection can be fixed.

I still want to try and fix my posture what would be my options? Would foam rolling still work in my situation? Considering I am not working my muscles I am just stretching them… I know my options are limited but would this still have some effect?

Anyway, thanks in advance.

Edit: I’m thinking I could also stretch my neck because when I retract my scapula there is always pressure at the back of the neck and a sort of fizzing sound like when you drink soft drink

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I really hope you can get your health problems fixed up. You have a serious need right now, and it’s all in the health department. I would not worry about anything except getting healthy. foam rolling is usually a good option for posture, or at least working out knots. Just don’t go extreme with it… no super long sessions.

All the best man, I really hope you can get your body back to health :frowning:

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Thanks man, ill get back to foam rolling then, I’m not able to do any kind of muscle gaining exercise so all glute, hamstring and back strengthening is out of question at the moment. If I were to foam roll and stretch would that give some benefit to fixing posture? even though im not strengthening weak spots like hamstrings and glutes?

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"I would not worry about anything except getting healthy. foam rolling is usually a good option for posture, or at least working out knots. Just don’t go extreme with it… no super long sessions. "

Oh sorry I misunderstood you, reading comprehension issues again -.-

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WAKE UP STOP SITTING sell your computer sitting is not good for you

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Hey guys bit of a bump I have recently been to the doctor plenty of times and can not continue any further till this holiday season is over, I will be back to visit the doc in January 2.

I just had some questions I wanted to ask :

I have been researching into foam rolling because T nation told me to start from the top of the muscle and go all the way down spot by spot and build pressure and I can’t do it. To put it bluntly apparently building pressure towards the bottom of the muscle is dangerous I was rolling towards my knees and I had nerve jolts going down my legs when I was rolling which I neglected and this may have resulted in a severe injury.

The person who said that foam rolling like this is bad is “MyFoamRoller” on youtube and he seems to have good information, he says to roll over the whole muscle slowly up and down all the way, so my question is:

HOW DO I FOAM ROLL?

Should I perform myofascial release on my shoulders? is it necessary?

Should I foam roll my feet? Is it necessary?

Should I perform myofascial release on my upper traps?

Thanks, I’ll make a seperate post for this as-well.