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Help?! Advice?! Keep pulling back muscles :(
I'm fairly new. This is second time I've injured my back muscle on left side when doing inverts. Any advice on preventing / injury care?!?!?….. Thanks…..
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22 Replies
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….also any one know of good workouts for this muscle group so that when my injury heals I don't have the same problem happen?
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Veena has a stretching series in her lessons that can be performed. I also just wrote a blog about BeSpun's Stretching and Conditioning DVDs:
Do lots of research, there is a lot of tools out there for stretching. The Valentino Brothers just released a DVD for Side Splits and Back Stretching which can be purchased from http://www.Badkittyexoticwear.com. I purchased mine but haven't recieved it yet for a review, however here is a link for the video trailor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX_c0w52cwM
The key to stretching is being patient. Increasing flexibility can be a slow but rewarding process. You just have to be perisistent and arm yourself with knowledge. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif
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Thank you! I will look into those things. I appreciate your help! 🙂 I probably should have stretched a lot more…..
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Also, pulling or straining back muscles can a sign that you're 1) not inverting correctly or 2) not quite physically strong enough to invert safely. I would say as far as preventive–take it slowly, slowly, slowly. I know of some great ball exercises for conditioning…will try to make a video this weekend and post it. I hate them, and I love them. They rock.
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Thank you polergirl! Yeah, I think I need to work out my back muscles. I agree. I would love to see examples of good work outs, I look forward to that. Thanks so much!
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I totally agree with polergirl….either you are inverting improperly or you do not have the strength to properly perform this move.
Flyes, rows and lat pulldowns are what I would suggest as strength moves. This article is also one of the best I have read. It talks about shoulders but there are some great moves in here and this really helped me rehab my right shoulder when I damaged it.
http://www.mindandmuscle.net/?q=articles/marc_mcdougal/posture_shoulder&page=0%2C0
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Thank you chemgoddess1. Do you ladies know what I might be doing wrong as far as proper form for that move? I did post a quick video of the move, although its a dark video hard to see. I read somewhere to have an arch in your back with chest up, maybe I wasn't doing that. But I also hurt my back just doing a regular invert one time a long time ago.
I haven't been working out my back, so it's probably mostly a strength thing. I will definitely start working out my back once I heal some!…
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absolutely you should have your chest up, shoulder blades pulled together, shoudlers down and away from your ears… this enables you to be engaged through your back and using your core and upper body, instead of relying on the relaxed muscles of your back to carry your weight. the pain is inbetween your shoulder blades? you're straining your rhomboids… check veena's lessons for basic inversion and this post on the forum:
https://www.studioveena.com/forums/view/Am_I_ready_for_an_inversion_2009-05-31_170937
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fyi, just generally regarding the chopper– i wouldn't teach this to students (generally) until they had been coming to class for at least 6 months. that being said, most of my students (i would say 75%) who have been with me for 6 months still aren't ready for it.
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sorry, can't go back and edit– but i meant to type 95%, not 75%!
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In combination of working on strengthening your back muscles it's also just as important to work on strengthening your abdominals. Rule of conditioning is to equalize your workout on both sides. Our abdominals are just the opposite side of our back. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif
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@Amy, what you said makes sense thanks! The pain is not between shoulder blades, it's my entire left side of back….
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Just watched your spinning chopper video. 🙂
As good as it feels to pull off new moves, I would gently suggest that you leave this one be for awhile. Work on your abs, and just the regular basic invert. You don't look like you're sagging in the shoulders too badly, but your hips are staying too low. You're probably hurting your back muscles because they are compensating for your abs. You need to be able to pull your hips up higher, and that requires ab strength.
One thing that might help you too is looking behind you when you invert. As you bring your legs up, instead of looking up towards your feet and the top of the pole, tip your head back and look behind you, this helps teeter-totter your body, lifting your hips.
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Thanks Dusbunny…. 🙂
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I have been having some shoulder blade / back issues as well. It started probably a month after I learned to invert, and I thought I was doing it improperly or wasn't strong enough. I rested for a few months but now when I work on my inverts for too long I feel that pain once again.
Last night I did some pole pull-ups and today I am sore in the same area that I was injured in. I have the feeling if yours is a similar injury then you might benefit by strengthening your back with some pull-ups (AFTER RECOVERY!). I definitely plan to put them in my routine!!
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Thanks Dyvo! 🙂
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I did want to add that Hannah made a good point on FB about warming up. You HAVE to make sure your body is warmed up properly…You Know I'm really strong, and even basic moves can make me pull a muscle or feel really sore If I'm dumb enough to skip a warm up. They're REALLY important 🙂
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Massage, foam roller, and if you can find it in a health food store or online: "Calm." Calm is simply a powdered magnessium which most people are deficient in. It helps muscles relax if your body holds a lot of tension. Take small amounts initially; you'll know when you've taken too much because it does soften stool.
You want strong muscles that are also pliable, not strong muscles with tight with tension. You also want to focus on symetry in the body; you don't want one side compensating for the other.
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haha, I do hold a lot of tention! Never thought of that being a factor. Thanks Jewelwolf… 🙂
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I'll be a certified massage therapist six years in May, and I work for a chiropractor. He works with the spine promoting a good foundation for everything else in the body. One of my teacher's favorite statistics is a fatigued muscle at rest recovers 20% after five minutes of rest, and up to 100% after five minutes of massage. Massage reduces trigger points, increases range of motion, improves performance as far as balance and posture, reduces the sorenes and fatigue etc. I have one every two weeks. If you're budget conscious, get massage from students from the massage schools in your area or at least pick up a foam roller for self massage. Muscle fibers that hold tension don't get the oxygenated blood they should.
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Sounds good! lol. I've never had a professional message, been wanting that anyway ;D
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The standard Swedish massage is more relaxation based, and a deep tissue massage is more involved with reducing trigger points, lengthening tight muscles, etc. The long muscles like the quads, calves tend to stick to bone and stick to other muscles. It's not so much the pressure as it is the techniques; you can have gentle pressure with great results. You also want to increase your water intake if you haven't already; it helps to flush out the toxins released in a massage.
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