Rocknbody started this discussion ·
I'm in very good shape and train very hard at pole. My inverted Venus looks very good and smooth with no momentum but my upper back hurts so much that I can't hold it for long and coming out of it nice and slow hurts it more. What can I do? Why is it hurting? Who can I see? Help me !
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I am unsure what an inverted venus is. If it is a chopper (inverted V) that is one of the moves that lots of people screw up their backs and shoulders on. This is not a beginner move and requires a LOT of back strength, especially coming out of it.
Yep, what chemgoddess said. You can put serious strain on your rhomboids doing this move--especially when coming out. And from my own experience (*le sigh*) they can take a long time to heal, but you have to let them heal FULLY before you go back to traditional inverted work.
amy ·
if it's an inverted V http://heartofpole.nethttps://pub-a085b59791bc4c1a94b0a223a67a37d6.r2.dev/wp-uploads/2010/05/invertedV.jpg-- when you are upside down you are supposed to be squeezing your shoulder blades together and keeping your chest forward, shoulders down and away from your ears; your back should be neutral or almost arched, not rounded. if you are just hanging from the arms and not engaged through the back and shoulders then you will injure your rhomboids, as the posters above have said.
amy ·
thank you so much ladies I can totally visualize that I'm I never thought about what I was doing with my back I was focusing on using my core I forgot about my back thank you so much
The exact same thing happened to me 2 weeks ago. When not engaged, I can feel a constant pinch between my right shoulder blade and the spine, it's almost impossible for me to invert as the pain increases and extends to the whole right side. I was unable to use my right arm to lift up stuff like a pack of dog food for a week and I could feel the pain down to the rib cage. I'm so pissed at my instructor for not preparing us correctly and NEVER telling us about how to place our back!! Another instructor of mine learned us the chopper the next week and insisted on that particular fact, she actually told us that it could take 6 months to heal completely 😮!!!!!!! I don't know if she was exagerating it or if it will actually take that long to heal, I hope not! I've been to a sports doctor/ostheopathe, he gave me pain killers and muscle relaxants, it does seem to give me some releif but I think I'm going to keep away from inverts for a while... 🙁 I'm going to see another ostheopathe tomorrow for an hour of massage I hope I'll feel better cause this is really getting me down...
vamp79 ·
I injured my back attempting the inverted V about 6 months ago and it took a full 4 months to heal to the point where I could try the move again. Even now 6 months later, I still feel a weird little pain when I invert too many times in a row.
Oh no!!!! So what did you do for 4 months? Did you stop poling or just inverting? How did you heal? Did you see a doctor or just rest your back?
vamp79 ·
I did not go to a doctor even though it would have been a good idea. Instead I stopped inverting for almost 3 months. During that time I kept poling only using my right side since my injury was more toward the left. After about three months, when I could't feel the pain anymore while doing simple spins I started inverting but no chooper attempts. The few times that I did try the pain just came back so I decided it was safer to give it a rest. It wasnt until recently that I started trying the tuck invert and I am going very slow. You really do have to listen to your body, back injuries can take a while to heal. Oh, and I also looked up upper back stretches that seemed to help. I will try to post links for you when I get home today.
vamp79 ·
I am posting from my crappy phone so excuse the lack of punctuation and structure in my post : )
Thanks Vamp! That would be great! I hope I'll have the patience not to invert until I heal! Unfortunately I was injuried on the right side which is my good side, I can't really do anything on the left side so that's going to be another challenge...
vamp79 ·
I feel your pain....maybe you can take this time to work on spins that you already know but on your left. Its always a good idea to use both sides.
Yes! That and strength and flexibility. I'm so sad! But mostly really mad at my instructor for not giving us enough info. I discovered that the girls who teach us have only been poling for a year... I guess it's fine for teaching begginers but as soon as you reach an intermediate level I really doubt that's enough experience.
Sadly, these types of injuries happen a lot.............especially in sports that for sense and purpose--are still in an infancy stage. This is why I am super happy to see the beginnings of governing bodies for pole. 🥂 It will take awhile still to work out most of the bugs, and it will continue to change all the time. What was considered a "safe" trick today.....may be deemed completely detrimental and dangerous tomorrow. I know as an ex gymnast, turned gym & tramp coach(then Personal Trainer)----the tricks are constantly evolving and being re-evaluated. When I competed...long time ago....We had belly beats and whip wraps in our uneven bar routines. Well, after several gymnasts worldwide were showing irreversible trauma to lower spine(real nasty stuff) those tricks were all removed. As for time put in experience wise in order to teach certain levels...... Negligence is negligence...don't get me wrong, but I am sure most pole studio owners have wonderful practicum/training/workshops/mentorship for their staff. Realistically,instructors should be better trained by their studio managers/owners. As an gymnastics coach later in life, I certainly couldn't complete the higher end tricks I had to get the girls through. However, having an excellent understanding of the trick, the biomechanics of it, being able to break it down into simpler progressions......that is really the key to teaching without causing injury. Participating in workshops and seminars to further my knowledge and safety precautions was and still is a high priority for me. Now, as a certified personal trainer, group fit instructor, pole instructor, third age(the list goes on) I still constantly upgrade my skills, look into better options for safety, and keep abreast of what is happening in the fitness and medical fields, sports med in particular. I see it as part of my job description. I am currently training one of my students to teach lower level pole. She has a certified sports med degree. She still needs tons of guidance as Pole is a very specialized type of sport. I rate it right up there high on the list for potential serious injury. We all must grow together as a pole community to be the best possible sport. Wow.....ended up longer than I thought.....lol hugs reenie
vamp79 ·
pinkbubbles - here is the link. I added the first stretch called "the egyptian" in this page to the other common upper back and shoulder stretches to my daily routine and I felt that they helped. I used to do this stretch throughout the day at work and before going to bed. http://www.fitness-training-at-home.com/upper-back-stretch.html ;
Chicken RoadChicken Road Demo 🎖️ Graj w Chicken Road 2 OnlineOdkryj Chicken Road 2 demo i przetestuj grę online. Sprawdź zasady, tempo rozgrywki oraz rosnące mnożniki przed rozpoczęciem gry na pieniądze.That's also called Eagle Pose in Yoga. The website instructs you to raise your arms in that position, but I would also add bringing them back down while drawing your shoulders down & engaging the lats. It's a great stretch.
Thanks for the link! I went to the ostheopethe yesterday, he did some pretty heavy massages, it really hurt, I'm not sure that I'm feeling that much better today but I'll try to rest a bit and hopefully the pain will go soon. I love stretching so I'm definetly adding this one to my routine! Thanks again!
Ekinkah ·
I have been having similar upper back pain, but I only assumed it was nothing to worry about and kept going - it's been hurting on and off for about 3 months now, but I can't afford physio or anything like that! It only just occurs to me now, reading your posts, that the pain started when I was doing this same inverted V! I do not recall any specific back positioning instructions in my class either, my focus was just on getting into the move and holding it! It is very frustrating - if you touch the vertebra bump on my spine it feels like I am being punched there, instead of gently touched! Now it hurts (on and off) when I pull my shoulders back and down (as I should be doing), and it flares up after inverts!!
Veena ·
You need to REST Ekinkah! Sounds like you were not strong enough to be doing inverted Vs yet. I have some great lessons for strengthening if you interested. They include proper positioning for your shoulders to help prevent issues like this. Feel better soon.
Veena ·
Oh one more thing....be careful of squeezing the shoulder blades TOO much, this is a common mistake!! You want the shoulders in an engaged position, but if you are over doing the squeezing you can also cause problems!!! 🙁
Ekinkah ·
That would explain the pain I get sometimes when I squeeze them back! =D Thanks for the tip! I will get straight onto those strengthening lessons. So glad I signed up!
Veena ·
Ekinkah or anyone else 🌸 Here is the lesson that will really help you get a feel for neutral Scapula which is what you want when you invert. https://www.studioveena.com/lessons/view/0225276c-b90a-11df-856f-001b214581be
I too have suffered from this injury. It's definately a problem that pole teachers need to be aware of, because the studio where I injured myself only had inexperienced teachers who were 'natural' at pole techniques, ie, they already had good upper body strength, but no awareness of their bodies. I was brushed off when I told them about the problem. Since, I have talked to a lot of women, and it is a very common problem, basically due to a lack of upper body strength and inverting too early. I inverted 'too early' because I am fit and strong-looking and advanced quickly in other pole techniques.But because I am tall and have narrow shoulders, they were too weak to safely invert. I got treatment from a physiotheropist for it, and rather than stretching it which aggravated the symtoms, we worked on strenthening the area - through arm weight exercises, and most importantly, getting those muscles between the lower shoulder blades and spine to actually do some work by pulling back and holding the entire shouder blade using them (and trying not to use the shoulder itself.)! To begin with I could not even 'twitch' these muscles, but now after months of practise isolating them, they are nice and strong and the pinching pain has gone. To reiterate, for me it wasn't about resting the injury, it was about exercising and strenthening it correctly while continuing to pole.
The other thing that I found really helpfull while working on strengthing my upper back, was to start inverting on my left side as well. (You need to start carefully with this, using the correct engagement of your shoulders otherwise the same thing will happen on this side as well.) Now I invert equally on each side every class. It not only strenthens your body evenly, but it gives your sore side a rest from inverting over and over!
It's great to read this, It's not until you read things like this that you realise you are not the only one! My back was strong enough to cope with the forces put on it while doing the inverted V but I am now suffering the same type of pain while trying to do the pole split. Because I am not able to do the splits I am so far away from the pole to hang on that it is really over extending my upper back. Sounds like the same type of problem that many are having. However, mine is so much about flexibilty -it bugs me that although I do lots of stretching I just seem to maintain the status quo rather than make any gains on my splits. No doubt there is a thread on here about this...I had better search!
