Glute Imbalance and Scapular Winging
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TavistockToad wrote: »You don't put your age, but I don't think 6 weeks of doing what your physio suggested is long enough to say it doesn't work if you've developed this imbalance over the last 20-30 years?
i'm 22, and after 6+ weeks of doing the exercises, i should be feeling at least some improvement, but I don't feel any different at all0 -
the more i learn, the more i realize that less is more
saw a chiropractor today (had doctor in his title and was also certified to prescribe orthotics)
he said that my muscles are simply too tight to be doing any strengthening exercises (such exercises are actually detrimental at this point, and will only make me tighter)
he prescribed 3 glute stretches for me, and told me to do them 3x a day, three 15 second holds for each side
he also told me not to do any more foam rolling, as doing so could actually aggravate my muscles more
he noted that if my leg discrepancy stays consistent, he will be prescribing an insole for me that actually works (unlike the cheap one that i'm wearing right now)1 -
im actually really looking forward to having a custom-prescribed insole
i've been noticing more and more lately that im actually constantly walking around with a hyper-extended left leg (always feels like its locked up)
i feel that an insole that takes into account my leg discrepancy, my in-toeing, and my semi-flat heels will finally be the cure that i've been waiting for for so long (along with constant stretching but no strengthening)0 -
things are finally starting to look bright for the first time in years
going in for a gait analysis next week to get custom orthotics prescribed
pretty stoked, because I also feel that the 'strictly stretching' routine is actually helping my body loosen up
my hamstrings aren't constantly tight like they used to be, and my left glute and scap actually get sore sometimes from doing all the stretching
hamstrings actually hurt one time after stretching them too much (maybe not a good thing?)
i think i just need to release the hip flexor / psoas muscle more now, in order to further free up that left glute
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still been stretching everyday
can still only feel my right glute when i walk, bend over, etc., but when I try to consciously flex my left glute, the hammies and hips work less to help it activate (mostly can only feel it in my hips now)
had a simple gait analysis on monday where I walked over this platform thing on the floor of the chiropractor's hallway
going in again on monday to get the results1 -
yesterday i had an appointment with my chiropractor to discuss the results of my gait analysis
he said that my right foot is pronated 30 degrees, while my left is pronated 20 degrees, meaning that i am putting a lot more pressure on my right foot, hence the glute imbalance
my orthotics are currently being made to target this problem (along with the leg length discrepancy)
they should be ready in two weeks and are going to cost $475, which sucks, so im talking to my health insurance company about possible plans, but if none of them are worth it, then im just going to suck it up and pay the $475 out of my pocket
finally feeling hopeful for the first time in years... so happy, you can't even begin to understand... i've been working at this for soooo long
the chiropractor says that along with the stretching, i can now add 30 reps (6 sets of 5 reps) of single leg squats (on the left leg) to the daily routine
however, because my hips tend to take over during the exercise, i can only go down so far until my knees are overtop of my toes (so very low ROM), focusing on pushing from my heels on the ascension4 -
orthotics are ordered and coming in two weeks, got health insurance to cover half the cost
one-legged squat on left leg is actually getting better. can feel both the glute and the hip activate now, instead of just the hip. it's good because i keep up with the stretching and it helps relieve and prevent soreness1 -
...left glutes are also feeling sore the day after hockey... something that rarely ever happens2
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Sounds like nonsense.
You are way overthinking. Get under some weight and lift it.
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Sounds like nonsense.
You are way overthinking. Get under some weight and lift it.
i was squatting my own body weight at one point before i realized that i was destroying my body with improper muscular activation (hips and back in particular were taking the brute of the force).
you are not me, so i don't expect you to understand how my body feels when i exercise.
anyways, orthotics are coming in soon, and i feel better for the first time in years, so it's only a matter of time before i can get back under the bar (i'm aiming for the new year).
just gotta keep stretching and working on my left legged squat till i hit proper ROM with solid glute activation, then i can try it with two legs... gonna play it by ear with my chiropractor, but i feel like i've been improved thus far.
very much looking forward to what the future holds!4 -
If this thread wasn’t so long in time and words I would swear it was a troll.
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Well, if you have better advice on how to activate a lazy glute, then I'm all ears. Until then, I'm just going to keep working with my chiropractor and doing whats helped so far.3 -
I for one am finding the OP's story pretty interesting.
For me, it's certainly way more interesting than people who have their own thread for their weight loss journey, because it's more relevant to issues I have.
So live and let live, and if you don't like it, don't read it?!6 -
Glad to hear you've finally found some treatment for your problem. Any serious lifter will know the importance of sound body mechanics. Imbalances will expose themselves as you push harder and go heavier. I've found a left lower back muscle over activation but so far I've managed it by adjusting my stance and grip when squatting and deadlifting.
I also have been wearing orthotics which have helped my pronation and knee stability. Now I have a left bicep that's giving me trouble!4 -
Chiropractic is non-science quackery.
It's nonsense.
There's one of your problems.
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Well, if you have better advice on how to activate a lazy glute, then I'm all ears. Until then, I'm just going to keep working with my chiropractor and doing whats helped so far.
Do barbell low bar squats and deadlifts with good form, the glutes will activate just fine.
Also don't listen to a chiropractor, they don't have the proper understanding of strength training or how the body adapts.4 -
If you do a squat with proper form you have to activate your glute. Touchy feely stuff aside if your muscle contracts then it activated. Lazy glute stuff that I can find on the internet approaches Doc Oz in its quakery. Not one peer-reviewed article that actually makes sense.
The leg length imbalance could cause you issues but not sure how much. I had surgery on my ankle and my gait is different from that surgery. It doesn't affect me much and if it was more extreme I'd just get a shoe repair place to shim my squat shoes the difference in length.
Going to a chiropractor stimulates the economy and might make you feel better in the short term but I doubt it has any long-term change in your body.0 -
I've obviously already tried squatting and deadlifting with good form. I used to lift, but I had to stop because I wasn't feeling right. I can't even squat properly with zero added weight. My body tends to lean towards the right as I descend, and I can only feel my right glute activate. I attached some videos below so you can see what I mean.
When I bench press, I feel a lot of stress on my left biceps, rather than on the pecs. The result is a faint pain in my left arm. I know I have scapular winging in my left side, so I'm trying to release the scap so that I can do basic Y's, T's, and V's to strengthen it, resulting in a stronger pinch of the shoulder blades during the bench.
Also, I've been doing one-legged squats on the left leg almost everyday with proper form (I just have an extremely low range of motion right now, because I'm only descending until my knees are overtop of my toes). I feel more glute activation than before (although I'm still getting some hip activation which is bothering me a bit). Nevertheless, I know and feel that I'm improving.
Lastly, regarding the shoe modifications. A physio once gave me a half inch insole raise to put in my shoe, and I was wearing it for awhile, and squatting in it, but I wasn't feeling that it was helping. The orthotics is going to target the leg length discrepancy along with the pronation, which is causing me to walk inwards and put more pressure on my right foot as a result.
Email from my chiro: The orthotics are required for your leg length discrepancy which in part has a role in your muscular imbalances. They are required to balance your legs and pelvis to prevent further problems in your kinetic chain.0 -
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Do barbell low bar squats and deadlifts with good form, the glutes will activate just fine.
These are high bar squats, known to use quads more than glutes.
Do a low bar squat with weight where your form is good but challenging and your glutes will have to fire.
Vid from side AND back and post afterwards.
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How do I low-bar squat without hurting my wrists?
I remember doing low-bar squats back in the spring of 2015 with my trainer then, but I had to stop because of how much it was straining my arms and wrists, not to mention it felt like the bar was going to fall off my back at any given time because of how low it was.
I tried in the gym today with a 20lb bar, but it caused pain in my left wrist and sent a fuzzy feeling down my arm (result of scapular winging, maybe?). Experimented with different grips, but to no avail.
Tried squatting high-bar, and glutes felt ok. Fired evenly for the most part, except for a few reps where I could still feel the right glute working harder than the left. But overall, I am pretty satisfied with how far I've come. I find I can't go ATG or else I start to get butt wink. Gonna try going heavier next time in order to see if my imbalance will become accentuated as a result.
Also, I have the orthotics in my low-top converse now, and they make walking feel very weird. Definitely going to take some time getting used to. Feels like there's an arch in my left heel as I walk and stand. I think it's making a difference though.
Last but not least, my left-single-legged squat is improving daily. Low ROM still, but I can definitely feel the left glute activate, especially when I'm focusing on pushing from the heel. Doing 30+ reps a day using a chair or pole for balance, and then trying to do some without any balance at all. Once I can do a ton comfortable without any support (like I can do on my right), I think my two-legged squat will become incredibly balanced as a result.0 -
Using a thumb over bar grip will help with wrist pain. Though there are several causes of wrist pain that might show if you post a vid like I prevIusly requested. The vid will show much more than what you think is happening and is more time efficient for all of us.
If the bar felt like it was going to fall off back, then I would first look at your bar placement along with how tight your upper back was.
ATG squats actually utilize less glutes because it shortens the tension on the hamstrings. You will be better off going to or just below parallel with the low bar.
Your wasting your time with single legs. If you want to get better at back squats, then practice back squats not a lesser unefficient movement.
As mentioned previously you will get full glute activation by low bar squatting.1 -
Your wasting your time with single legs. If you want to get better at back squats, then practice back squats not a lesser unefficient movement.
fwiw i have found isolation work to be useful in more than one situation where a specific muscle has shut down and will not fire appropriately within the overall context of a more compound movement. the longer a dysfunctional pattern has been going on, the more crafty my nervous system gets at recruiting compensators and disguising the fact from both outside eyes and my own perceptions.
to me unilateral work is just another version of isolating something in order to coax it to get back online. i don't think it is inefficient necessarily. it depends on what you're trying to accomplish and what your starting conditions are.3 -
canadianlbs wrote: »Your wasting your time with single legs. If you want to get better at back squats, then practice back squats not a lesser unefficient movement.
fwiw i have found isolation work to be useful in more than one situation where a specific muscle has shut down and will not fire appropriately within the overall context of a more compound movement. the longer a dysfunctional pattern has been going on, the more crafty my nervous system gets at recruiting compensators and disguising the fact from both outside eyes and my own perceptions.
to me unilateral work is just another version of isolating something in order to coax it to get back online. i don't think it is inefficient necessarily. it depends on what you're trying to accomplish and what your starting conditions are.
So you theory of what you think isolation work has done for you will make the OP a better squatter with glute activation than actually doing the proven barbell movement that 100% of the time when done properly will activate the glutes in a more efficient manner?
Isolation movements take at least the same amount of time as a compound movements yet works less muscles and is less effective of causing stress to drive adaptation to progress for strength. That is the definition of inefficiency.
No. Let's start from square one and see if what is wrong with the movement first before we step backwards. So far we know the OP doesn't know how to execute a low bar correctly. Let's see what is wrong, and make adjustments...not do a different exercise and then assess.
One can get parallel with good form low bar squatting in ten minutes with a competent coach/trainer in person.
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So you theory of what you think isolation work has done for you will make the OP a better squatter with glute activation than actually doing the proven barbell movement that 100% of the time when done properly will activate the glutes in a more efficient manner?
i'm actually trying to avoid writing prescriptions for the op, a person i've never met and really don't have any business dictating things for. i mentioned my own experience personally; and as far as that goes it isn't theory. it's been, well . . . experience.2 -
canadianlbs wrote: »So you theory of what you think isolation work has done for you will make the OP a better squatter with glute activation than actually doing the proven barbell movement that 100% of the time when done properly will activate the glutes in a more efficient manner?
i'm actually trying to avoid writing prescriptions for the op, a person i've never met and really don't have any business dictating things for. i mentioned my own experience personally; and as far as that goes it isn't theory. it's been, well . . . experience.
How might I ask that you determined on more than one occasion that your "muscle shut down and was not firing." ?canadianlbs wrote: »fwiw i have found isolation work to be useful in more than one situation where a specific muscle has shut down and will not fire appropriately within the overall context of a more compound movement.
That sounds like a very specific diagnosis that might spew from a random gym trainer, physical therapist without barbell experience, or the likes of a chiropractor.
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[How might I ask that you determined on more than one occasion that your "muscle shut down and was not firing." ?
That sounds like a very specific diagnosis that might spew from a random gym trainer, physical therapist without barbell experience, or the likes of a chiropractor.
sigh. you can ask if you like, but i'm not invested enough in arguing with your doctrinaire attitude about 'just lift and it will fix everything' that i'll feel much like answering. to be honest, i doubt if there's anything i could say that you wouldn't keep challenging and demanding i re-justify, and my life just isn't empty enough to make that appealing to me.
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My left single-legged squat is gradually improving and I can now do them without holding on to anything for balance. It is still harder to do it than on my right side, but at least I can feel the glute activating now.
However, I tried squatting 10-12 reps of 20 and 30 lbs the other day with two legs and the day after, I felt a burning sensation running down my left leg. Had to stretch to relieve the faint nagging pain.
During the weighted two-legged squat, I felt ok. Some reps were off because I focused too much on my left glute, and thus, could only feel it firing. Some reps I felt only the right firing. When I focused on pushing from my heels, that's when I got the best results (both glutes firing evenly).
Probably not gonna exceed 10 lbs when doing the two-legged squats.
I also need new shoes. I'm squatting right now with low-top Chuck Taylor's, and the orthotics makes it feel like my feet are gonna pop out of the shoe (because of the heel lift).
Chiropractor recommended I get running shoes to wear with the orthotics, but after doing some research, I feel like lifting shoes would be a better investment. Just emailed him inquiring more, and his response to me was this:
"1. Because of the biomechanics of your feet I suggested if you are doing squats wear an athletic shoe with the orthotics in it...as opposed to bare feet.
2. As such a good running shoe in which you can place the orthotics is the best universal option.
3. If you care to purchase squatting shoes that is up to you but they are not the best for other daily activities."
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMzLXUWtP7I
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