I keep injuring myself

[Floods7]

Ive been lifting for about 4 years now, the first 2 years went smoothly then I noticed a pain in my knee and a pain in my shoulder. Both on the right side of my body, which is my dominate side. I got over the knee pain with therapy but it still acts up occasionally. As for my shoulder, I just got it scoped. For those of you that don't know that is a surgical procedure where they go in and clean it out, I dont know what they clean out but they did something. I start therapy on Friday and hope to eventually bench again.

How can I avoid these problems in the future. I usually start with a warm up of running a few laps if im doing legs then stretches. But if I'm doing upper body I do the arm wheel machine for a few minutes, then some stretches.

I just cant seem to go a month without something acting up.

Last week I was doing squats 225lbs and my lower back acted up so I stopped and did some stretches and went home.

What would be a good warm up for someone like my who enjoys to lift heavy and push MY limits? Also, what are good chance of injury reducing exercises
(if there are any) ?


Im 23, 5 11' 170lbs and play college hockey, so Im no stranger to the gym or exercising, im just sick of these problems slowing my progress.

 

[bjg]

to start with:
1-take some vitamins + drink water well during the day
2-warm up well and do the exercise with light weight for about 20 reps each set for 3 sets then increase your weight gradually until you can do it 12 reps so basically no really heavy weights. for squats warm up with a stationary bike at least 5 minutes then do leg extensions before squating and again keep your weights down.
3-Keep your weights down for a couple of months so you can build strength in your muscles and tendons gradually and with no injury. Then as you get used to your weights after 2 months you can increase your weights
4- Very important: NEVER start a movement with jerking the weight ..any jerking or snatching or any sudden lift will put too much stress and impact force on your tendons and will lead to injury. You have to be smooth when you workout

 

[Thresh]

Stop stretching. Stretching causes injuries, sounds crazy but just google it. Warm up doing the actual exercise you are going to do.

If you are trying to lift heavy all the time then you need to do partial reps to lower the risk of injury.


5"10
200lbs
BF = around 15% (guess)
600mg Tren E, 325mg Test Cyp week

 

[hypo_glycemic]

Ive been lifting for about 4 years now, the first 2 years went smoothly then I noticed a pain in my knee and a pain in my shoulder. Both on the right side of my body, which is my dominate side. I got over the knee pain with therapy but it still acts up occasionally. As for my shoulder, I just got it scoped. For those of you that don't know that is a surgical procedure where they go in and clean it out, I dont know what they clean out but they did something. I start therapy on Friday and hope to eventually bench again.

How can I avoid these problems in the future. I usually start with a warm up of running a few laps if im doing legs then stretches. But if I'm doing upper body I do the arm wheel machine for a few minutes, then some stretches.

I just cant seem to go a month without something acting up.

Last week I was doing squats 225lbs and my lower back acted up so I stopped and did some stretches and went home.

What would be a good warm up for someone like my who enjoys to lift heavy and push MY limits? Also, what are good chance of injury reducing exercises
(if there are any) ?


Im 23, 5 11' 170lbs and play college hockey, so Im no stranger to the gym or exercising, im just sick of these problems slowing my progress.

It's simple, don't do those exercises that trigger those injuries! Especially when you get older.

Diet and supplementation is very important as well. Time off and rest is a key component to over all body composition and might allow some of those informalities to rest and heal.

 

[Floods7]

Well the exercise that has triggered the problems was squats, deadlifts and bench. 2 out of 3 of my favorite exercise

Ive heard that no stretching thing before but still had the same problem.

When I say I was stretching Im doing a warm up then stretching, and really my stretching isnt completely static, I warm up the muscles, then do some static and dynamic stretches and usually do at one warm up set.

bjg, ive been doing these lifts for 3-4 years, my body is used to it, I feel like what you are suggesting is more for someone who has never lifted? true?

My body is already used to it, should I still do a month or so of high rep low weight?

 

[Thresh]

Well the exercise that has triggered the problems was squats, deadlifts and bench. 2 out of 3 of my favorite exercise

Ive heard that no stretching thing before but still had the same problem.

When I say I was stretching Im doing a warm up then stretching, and really my stretching isnt completely static, I warm up the muscles, then do some static and dynamic stretches and usually do at one warm up set.

bjg, ive been doing these lifts for 3-4 years, my body is used to it, I feel like what you are suggesting is more for someone who has never lifted? true?

My body is already used to it, should I still do a month or so of high rep low weight?

I've been back in the weight again for almost a year. Hurt the tendons I'm my left bicep and forearm. I tried doing light weights and it just wouldn't go away. All in all, ended up doing no curling with my left arm. Sucks but after a month injury gone.

It sucks but if it is injury it might just be best to leave it alone and let it fully heal. Fully healed being the key point.


5"10
200lbs
BF = around 15% (guess)
600mg Tren E, 325mg Test Cyp week

 

[bjg]

Well the exercise that has triggered the problems was squats, deadlifts and bench. 2 out of 3 of my favorite exercise

Ive heard that no stretching thing before but still had the same problem.

When I say I was stretching Im doing a warm up then stretching, and really my stretching isnt completely static, I warm up the muscles, then do some static and dynamic stretches and usually do at one warm up set.

bjg, ive been doing these lifts for 3-4 years, my body is used to it, I feel like what you are suggesting is more for someone who has never lifted? true?

My body is already used to it, should I still do a month or so of high rep low weight?

not at all this is not for someone new...it is rather for someone who just recovered from injury and wanting to get those tendons stronger and getting ready for the next phase. so don't go above 20 reps in warming up and not below 10 in lifting : in short not too many reps and not too heavy.
Unfortunately injury could be due to physiological reasons like a lack of elasticity in your tendons or rubbing of the tendon on a rough bone surfaces and/or lack of lubrication between bones and tendons, all the above reasons cannot be avoided by warming up. lack of water and being too dry with no water and body fat can cause dry tendons and injuries.

 

[Gazhole]

What has your program been, give or take, for the last few years? Could be your injuries are simply stemming from bad programming.

 

[Spaullba]

I like the idea BJG had above about going really light for a month to give your body a rest and to build up some complimentary muscles. If you play college hockey and are in the gym a lot you could be over training and putting too much stress on your body. I would maybe try something where you go 1 month of heavy lifting, and then 1-2 weeks of lower weights/less stressful lifts. It doesn't have to be that exact set up, but basically just try to give your body more rest than you have been. If you are lifting heavy throughout hockey season that may not be the best idea. I would stay with medium to light weights primarily and then only lift heavy every other week just to make sure those motor units do not go unused completely.

Second, I would take a really close look at your form on your lifts. Make sure your knees are moving in the right plane in deadlifts and squats(knees should be over your toes or even outside of them, never inside of your toes), make sure you are not locking/over extending at the shoulder on the bench. Also, you say your pain is on your dominant side. Maybe your dominant side is having to overcompensate for some weakness on the other side of your body which would definitely lead to discomfort. Be cognizant of that possibility, and if you notice that this may be the case, do some work on the left side of your body to bring both sides in line.

Third, strengthen your core. Keeping a strong and tight core is very important while performing big lifts like squats, deadlifts, bench etc. Maybe incorporate some core workouts into your routine. This could also be beneficial since if you dedicate a day to core training this would be one less day of heavy strain on your joints from heavy lifting (see my first point about rest).

Lastly, maybe consider some dietary supplements for tendon and ligament strength. Manganese, glucosamine, cissus etc. Some such supplements are Animal Flex, USP Labs Super Cissus Rx, and BCS Elastiflex (and more...). There are a lot out there... http://www.jointsupplementsreviewed.com/joint-supplement-reviews/animal-flex-review/http://www.jointsupplementsreviewed.com/

Those are the main things that popped into my head. I dont have a medical degree though, so if you are really concerned about your pain, maybe you should talk to someone who does.

 

[bjg]

like Spaullba said also be careful about over-extending your shoulders and about the form when squating and deadlifting
So in short a month with light weight and proper form could be very beneficial + supplements and water.
Sometimes I go for heavy duty training for a while then take 2-3 weeks of light training and i noticed that when i take it easy for a while i see myself getting in a better shape and growing ...my explanation would be that my body needed this rest in order to grow after a long period of heavy duty training.

 

[Ezskanken]

If your in season, and at a colligate level, your strength and conditioning coach should have you guys on a pretty solid gym routine to maintain till the season is done.

Or maybe you just need to start all over and re-evaluate your form/technique through each movement with much lighter weight or no weight at all.

 

[CaptainNapalm]

It seems to me like this is more of a genetic or arthritic condition rather than you doing something wrong and injuring yourself. Having said that there is not much advice I can give you except for go visit a rheumatologist and an orthopedist to see if they can link even a minor chronic illness and then treat the condition if found. If you need joint support I would recommend going on fish oil for a while to see if it helps. Also, I'm not sure if this is your issue but overtraining can also cause your symptoms. If you're training hard more than 4 times a week I would increase your rest days to 3 a week or more as needed. Also, I found from experience that taking a week or two off for every three months of training did wonders for my body and overall recovery. Wish you luck man.

 

[ciulloboe]

good luck,man.

 

[sassy69]

Yep, hard giving advice not knowing the details, except to give the usual very broad stuff.

FWIW, I also had my right shoulder scoped in 2008. Luckily no repair - just cleanup. I did the rehab work and was very strong for 2 yrs. I screwed it again lifting too heavy Arnold presses a week before a show (depleted). It hasn't been the same since - its been about 14 months since then & I took most of last year off to drop some size for a different competition category. I thought the time off would help, but its really just the same. I probably need to get it re-MRI'd. The pain isn't that sharp that it feels like something is really messed up - but it gets tired very quickly and I can't lift anywhere near what I used to. (I'm also twice your age w/ 7 more years than you're on the planet spent in the gym.)

I also have tweaky knees - never had any real injury to them, but from previous MRI I know the patellas don't track perfectly over the joint so there's some wear & tear that causes occasional bursitis.

So I do a couple different sequences of warmups. For leg day or when I feel tight (age thing) I do Joe DeFranco's Agile 8:

DeFranco's Training ..:: The Ultimate Way To Become A Better Athlete ::..

And for upper body days, I do warmups similar to what you'll be doing for rehab - shoulder inside / outside & light front / side raises.

Also diet-wise, to support your joints, include at least 4 grams of EFAs ( I use 6 daily) and I've found MSM helps - I typically use 2-3 g / day as well.

If you don't have an inherent structural problem, then I might look at overtraining if you're also doing collegiate hockey. Your coach may be a good source of advice as well.

And while we're at it, have you had a hormone panel done? Are your natural T levels ok?

 

[brazey]

All good advice. IMO overtraining, poor program structure and improper form are the top causes for repeated injuries.

 

[triplstep]

So I do a couple different sequences of warmups. For leg day or when I feel tight (age thing) I do Joe DeFranco's Agile 8:

DeFranco's Training ..:: The Ultimate Way To Become A Better Athlete ::..

QUOTE]

I can't stress the importance of this link. I think it was sassy69 that posted it in the past. I bookmarked it, tried it, loved what it did for me, and now the Agile 8 has become part of my routine. Start foam rolling at the least, give it some time for results.


Have you looked into massage therapy?

Good luck bro