Numbness, tingling down left arm after squats

[Camaro72]

First I'd like to say I thoroughly enjoyed your books.

Now onto the problem. I went to do a warm up set of squats with 135. Shoulders. Racked the weight after 5 and had my left arm was numb. I didn't lose mobility or strength, it was just numb. I finished my sets, although in hindsight I shouldn't have, and continued on with the workout. I had no problem with overhead presses or power cleans. The numbness had subsided a little by the time I got home and was hoping it would be gone after I had slept.

Once I woke up, the numbness was still there. It's numb only on the outside of my arm, starting at the bottom of my deltoid and extending to my thumb.

I have no pain in my neck or arm, just a slight tingling feeling. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Definitely not normal. Quit typing and go to a neurologist. Do not go to a GP unless your insurance requires it.

[kako]

I used to have a hard time figuring out an anatomically efficient and comfortable way to get into the low bar position due to shoulder flexibility(especially left). As a result I had a very similar numb / pain feeling down my left arm. It would start at the left shoulder and later during the workout, it would be my whole arm. The pain would eventually reach a point and then a numbness feeling would develop.

[Drewfasa]

Until recently, my arms/hands went numb every workout almost.

[TravisRussellDC]

It's a strong possibility that you have some issues with your lower cervical spine, upper thoracic spine and first ribs. When you pull your shoulders back to hold a barbell for a squat, you might be interfering with the brachial plexus running from your cervical/thoracic junction down into the upper extremity. The pec minor, first rib and lower cervical spine can all interfere with the normal nerve transmission resulting in numbness and tingling in the arm and hand.

When I do 20 rep squats, my hands are usually numb by the end. But I've got lingering lower cervical issues left over from playing high school football and my first ribs give me some trouble because of the heavy farmers' carries, dead lifts, holds, etc. that I do regularly.

Obviously I'm a bit biased, but I might suggest finding a local Chiropractor with a good reputation and positive outcome measures. Ask around, don't just pick someone out of a phone book or newspaper ad.

[Baldr]

Actually my right hand gets numb from squats. Completely numb.

[Mark Rippetoe]

It's a rather common problem, as you can see. But get it looked at anyway, so nobody can accuse me of glossing over the situation if you die.

You won't die. Just kidding.