upper back and neck pain

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.

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.

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.