I'm All Jacked Up - Advice

MsEndomorph

Alright, I have a couple problems. I'm in sad shape. Seeing if there's any advice in this sea of knowledge.

1) I'm in an awkward phase with dumbbell military presses. 10lbs is too light after using them for a while, but I recently jacked my neck up trying to move up to 15lbs (which in retrospect is a huge % increase and not a great idea.) I'm laying off that particular part of NROL for now until my neck heals, but how am I supposed to increase slowly when the weights jump up in such big increments?

2) I cannot squat or lunge anymore. I think my hamstrings and quads are in a perma-tight state, despite stretching and foam rolling, and my range of motion is completely destroyed. I can't get to parallel, and not getting further down is killing my knees and only putting more pressure on my poor quads. Should I be doing some sort of extra stretching or massaging or something? Knocking 3 exercises out of my plan is kind of killing my work out.

I think that's it...there's probably more, but I won't remember until I hit "post."

Any help is appreciated!

Alphastate

Most weight sets have 12 lb dumbbells before they go into the 5 lb increment increase. Maybe trying 12 lb once your neck heals. Also you could try changing your grip. Instead of palms out, try palms facing each other. With tight hamstrings, stretch, stretch, stretch. Yoga may help also, if that is available to you.

MsEndomorph

Thank you! I swear I looked up and down for 12lb weights and none could be found. I'll definitely try switching up my grip.

I haven't done yoga in years, but I think it might be time to bust out the downward dog. I'm to the point where my knees are buckling when I walk. Not cute.

DavPul

on 1.) You have two options. Keep increasing the reps and sets @ 10 pounds (within reason, of course. not 12 sets of 28 reps) until you can handle 15 pounds well enough to do a respectable amount of reps with good form. Or look for 12.5 pounders. They have those at every gym I've been in at all the stores. They might be different; either shiny chrome thingies or colorful plastic thingies, but they exist.

on 2.) Well, this one pretty much answers itself. You're not flexible enough to squat (or walk?) properly, should you stretch more? I'm going to give my snark machine a rest and not answer this question.

MsEndomorph

Not should I stretch more...differently? Something in addition to? I'm obviously missing something if I'm stretching and still can't walk. That doesn't seem normal. I'm not even 100% sure it's a tight muscle issue...just a shot in the dark considering I went from uber flexible to not.

I was kind of hoping the solution would be a mandatory 90 minute massage?

DavPul

good deep tissue massage isn't a bad idea. i get them all the time. they aren't the end solution tho. if you aren't rolling start. if you are rolling, upgrade. either get a Rumble Roller Black and/or start using a tennis ball. Go after your glutes, hams and IT band especially.

And I would definitely start doing some yoga. I HATE stretching, and P90x yoga was pretty much the only way to get me to do any flexibility anything for longer than 45 secs

SaraA07

Are you over doing the lunges and squats? Maybe back off of them for a while and keep stretching, giving yourself a little break from it might help.

MsEndomorph

good deep tissue massage isn't a bad idea. i get them all the time. they aren't the end solution tho. if you aren't rolling start. if you are rolling, upgrade. either get a Rumble Roller Black and/or start using a tennis ball. Go after your glutes, hams and IT band especially.

And I would definitely start doing some yoga. I HATE stretching, and P90x yoga was pretty much the only way to get me to do any flexibility anything for longer than 45 secs

I just started rolling with the big black rollers at the gym...I'm going to start doing it more often on top of dedicating more time to stretching. I admit I was half-assing my way through it to get to the fun stuff and I'm paying the price now. What I thought was normal muscle soreness has apparently been abnormally tight muscles for god knows how long.

MsEndomorph

Are you over doing the lunges and squats? Maybe back off of them for a while and keep stretching, giving yourself a little break from it might help.

Thanks! Right now I'm lifting 3xs a week, doing A and B workouts, so I'm squatting 1-2xs a week and lunging on opposite days (plus deadlifting and step-ups.) I think I'm going to take the week off and spend it in yoga and a massage bed. I went to a yoga therapy class this morning and realized pretty much everything from my lower back down is tight and painful and it's pretty much impossible for me to use good form right now.

cwolfman13

In RE to #2, you might just need a rest week or at minimum, a de-load week. I de-load and/or take a rest week every 4th week and it really helps to keep you fresh. Also, maybe incorporate some yoga...and just more stretching/foam rolling. I get really tight with squatting as well, and doing some yoga a couple times per week has really helped.

Pinkranger626

My first thought on the squats and lunges issue is that your form may be off, as for the range of motion usse, massage could make a huge difference. With the issues that you're describing I would suggest that you find an orthapedic massage therpaist since they specialize in massage for injuries and range of motion problems. It could be that your iliopsoas is the culprit which you can't foam roll that muscle as it's deep and your pelvis is in the way.

Squat form, make sure that you sitting back into the heels and keeping your knees over the ankles and not coming over the toes with your knees. Also make sure not to pull the hips forward at the top of a squat as this can put a ton of stress on your lower back. Make sure you're not locking out your knees at the top either.

Lunges, keep the front knee over the ankle, back heel off the floor, and hips squared forward with the knees at a 90 degree angle to the floor in the bottom of the lunge.

MsEndomorph

My first thought on the squats and lunges issue is that your form may be off, as for the range of motion usse, massage could make a huge difference. With the issues that you're describing I would suggest that you find an orthapedic massage therpaist since they specialize in massage for injuries and range of motion problems. It could be that your iliopsoas is the culprit which you can't foam roll that muscle as it's deep and your pelvis is in the way.

Squat form, make sure that you sitting back into the heels and keeping your knees over the ankles and not coming over the toes with your knees. Also make sure not to pull the hips forward at the top of a squat as this can put a ton of stress on your lower back. Make sure you're not locking out your knees at the top either.

Lunges, keep the front knee over the ankle, back heel off the floor, and hips squared forward with the knees at a 90 degree angle to the floor in the bottom of the lunge.

Update: Got a massage, spoke to a physiatrist, went and saw my trainer. The problem seems to be hip flexor related - they're tight and I strained my left side - the pain was just kind of diffuse and masked by all the other aches and pains it caused. It was completely throwing my squat form off and tightening my IT band. The IT pain throws me forward as soon as get about 50% of the way down and it's been screwing with my quads and knees.

So now I'm grounded from squatting without my trainer for a while, but I have a free pass from my husband to get frequent massages, so all's well that ends well.

Thank you everyone for your help!

DrMAvDPhD

If 12# aren't available, you could increase your reps and do the 10# to muscle fatigue until you are strong enough to go to 15.

MoreBean13

Can you get the 15# up at all? Even for a couple reps? When I'm trying to get to the next increment weight in dumbbell OHP I alternate my sets back and forth with the heavier one for however many reps I can get and the lighter ones until I can get a full set. Also, sometimes I have to switch around the order of my exercises to prioritize making progress in something- it's much easier to make the progress at the beginning of a workout than the end.

Also, you can buy these magnetic 1 and 2# weights that you can stick on dumbbells. They're exorbitantly expensive for what they are, but they might be a better investment than 12# weights because you'll be able to keep using them as you progress, if you want to buy something.

MsEndomorph

I actually found the 12 pound dumbbells at the gym. Woo! They were hidden in the ladies area instead of being in the regular free weights section. But I'm still going to have to start jumping from 15-20, and 20-25lbs soon, so y'all's info is helpful. I was just doing the prescribed 3x10, so I wasn't getting any closer to progressing after a while. Never thought of alternating between the lower and higher weight, and I didn't know magnetic weights existed.

So much to learn...so much to learn.