upper back and neck pain

ali_baba_400

Currently experiencing some pain in my upper back between the shoulder blades and it often cracks when I change posture. I barbell squat quite regularly and think it could be the cause. Should I rest it for a bit or just lower the weight?

DaddieCat

From my perspective, anytime I use the word pain to describe something that's going on in my body... that's about time to head to the doctor to see what's up.

11Templars

My Advice is to go see a Dr.... Stop the squats if it aggravates the issue. Perhaps try to doing front squats.

But again... Go to the Dr. dude.. WTF do we know...

ali_baba_400

Cheers ill give front squats a try

Mycophilia

Front squats put more load on your thoracic spine and erectors, so probably not the best idea if that's where the pain is IMO.

canadianlbs

i had a recurring issue with my t4 vertebra, and surprise . . . turns out that's where the bar was crossing my spine for squats. i made various minor tweaks and position/form changes, and dropped the weight considerably while i was waiting for the existing problem to resolve itself.

it hasn't come back, but i'd be lying if i said i can recall exactly what the key was. but here's a few of the pennies that dropped in my case:

- wasn't retracting my shoulderblades or seriously bracing anything in the area of my back that was supporting the bar. started doing that far more seriously.
- wasn't 'tucking' my chin to make a neutral cervical spine. i'd gotten into the habit of letting my head poke forward. no surprise that t4 was complaining because it was like i was pinning my spine at that bone (with the bar) and then adding two different stresses above and below.
- just because it's called 'low bar' doesn't mean the bar has to be as low as i was carrying it i shifted it up probably no more than 1/2 inch, and that made a major difference.

good luck.

edit: oh yeah, and i also realised over the course of all this that my levator scapula on the left shoulder was **kitten**. so a few things there too.

- a lot and a lot of lower-trap activation and strengthening so that the work of shoulderblade stabilization was getting shared more fairly.
- pec stretches and trigger work (major and minor), plus anything else that encouraged the chest to open up and take strain off my upper back
- i started doing pretty assertive band pulls between squat sets, just to keep my upper back muscles active after a set under the bar.

ali_baba_400

Thanks mate really helpful

Packerjohn

Do you sit over a computer for hours at work or school? Can be more of an issue for the neck and shoulders than lifting.

In any case a doctor visit is most likely in order. Best of luck.

vikinglander

DOCTOR!! Or a chiropractor...