Proper warm ups before every workout...some dull "nerve'ish" pain in left bicep

[grand666]

Hi guys,

I don't know how to describe it. It's a dull, annoying "nerve'ish" pain in my left arm running from the top of my bicep down "through the muscle" to just past my elbow joint. It doesn't prevent me from lifting nor does it happen every workout. Today I only got 4 reps on my last set for bench because the dull pain gets in the way. I have no idea what this is and my lifting buddy experiences this in his right arm, the same thing.

I was wondering if this can be related to not being warmed up all the way or something. I have no idea. The dull pain is gone now.

Throw me bone this is annoying when I lift.

Thank you guys,
Cheers

[grand666]

Google 'supraspinatus rotator cuff impingement' and see if the signs & symptoms marry up

What lifts seem to worsen it

What else do you do with the arm/s that don't make it worse

I don't know what worsens it. It just started today for some reason during benching. I deadlifted after and now it's gone.

I can' overhead press perfectly fine. I'm kinda "wide" so I have to take a very wide grip on the bar when squat. I squeeze in and after the set my shoulders (both) feel tender. LIke I'm overstretching it. But with the wide grip I take (fingers touching the rotating part of the bar next to the plates) it almost feels already like the widest I can go. But the pain is not the same then. today however it was kind of worse and no pain before or after the workout.

[ecj]

Hi guys,

I don't know how to describe it. It's a dull, annoying "nerve'ish" pain in my left arm running from the top of my bicep down "through the muscle" to just past my elbow joint. It doesn't prevent me from lifting nor does it happen every workout. Today I only got 4 reps on my last set for bench because the dull pain gets in the way. I have no idea what this is and my lifting buddy experiences this in his right arm, the same thing.

I was wondering if this can be related to not being warmed up all the way or something. I have no idea. The dull pain is gone now.

Throw me bone this is annoying when I lift.

Thank you guys,
Cheers

Gotta be the squat grip. Sounds like the infamous biceps pain from having the bar weight shift onto the hands. Fix it WHILE THERE'S STILL TIME!

Seriously, it sucks if you let it go.

[grand666]

bench video? How do you bench, what 'cues' do you use and where are your elbows, where does the bar touch etc

I'll take a bench video monday and upload for a form check. I thinkg everything is fine as far as grip width and touching my chest. One problem (not related to the pain) is that I'm unstable. I try to squeeze my feet into the ground and push up towards the bar but it's heavy and I still don't feel stable. A form check is in order.

Gotta be the squat grip. Sounds like the infamous biceps pain from having the bar weight shift onto the hands. Fix it WHILE THERE'S STILL TIME!

Seriously, it sucks if you let it go.

Weird thing is man that it didn't happen while squatting. Wednesday was bench and deadlift, bench first. (I'm on GSLP). I could deadlift fine, dull pain just started while benching.

Or the grip width and elbow positioning in the squat, but that could be the same thing

I'll post another form check for my squat. I have one up from when I reached three wheels if you want to see my width. I would appreciate a form comment if you want to

Three Wheel Squat

[ecj]

I'll post another form check for my squat. I have one up from when I reached three wheels if you want to see my width. I would appreciate a form comment if you want to

Three Wheel Squat

Congrats on the 3 wheels, man!

Your grip is insanely wide. I mean ridiculously so. I can't even understand how you can get your back tight with your grip that wide.

I would almost 100% guarantee you that your issues are being caused by your squat grip. I say this because I went through the horrible, horrible biceps pain that a ton of people on this forum have gotten last summer. It sucks ass, and it will just get worse and worse and worse. Don't let it happen to you. After lower-back stuff it appears to me to be the most common injury on the forum.

I realized for myself that part of my problem was that my grip was too wide after re-reading SS (my index fingers were on the rings in the knurl). If your hands are wide, your back can't maintain the tightness and create the little shelf for the bar to rest on. It starts to rest on your wrists instead, and that fucks up your biceps. I didn't always feel it while squatting at first, more often when pressing at the bottom of the movement.

In addition to what cowie said about not rotating your shoulders forward, I would also advise you to start really working on stretching out your whole shoulder girdle and trunk. Neck, pecs, shoulders, abs, back. Get everything loose and try to bring your hands in.

[Tom Narvaez]

it is the grip. don't waste your time with anything else. worst comes to worst, use wrist wraps and wrap your thumb around the bar. this is my go to move when i have "tendonitis". i don't like to do this because i cannot get the bar as low this way, but it does work as a stop gap. since i fixed my rack position (and started squatting less), i haven't had any issues in months and months.

[grand666]

Looks to me like your elbows come up too high causing some internal rotation of the humerus; try a closer grip and squeeze your elbows together as tight as you can at their natural height, instead of trying to pull them up behind your ears. That should allow a sufficiently tight 'platform' of back muscle without turining your upper arms, which MIGHT be causing a nerve to pinch somewhere or something like that.

I don't want to seem like I'm making excuses but I've been doing a lot of dislocations and stuff to help with my grip.
If I hold my arms up as if holding a bar on my back, you can see that my shoulders don't rotate externally that far back. So when I try a close grip and get under the bar, my arms stop me from moving in. There is no space to squeeze in. I even had my buddy push on my back to help get me in there but it doesn't. Only way to get in under is by going wide, but your comment about the elbows up and shoulders rotating internally makes sense.
I've spen quite a lot of time and still do on my shoulders. I watched the video on bar position so many times and can't understand how people get in there with a close grip.

I would also advise you to start really working on stretching out your whole shoulder girdle and trunk. Neck, pecs, shoulders, abs, back. Get everything loose and try to bring your hands in.

Any specific stretches you can thing of apart from doorway pec stretches and dislocations? I do these on a daily basis already and as a warm up.

it is the grip. don't waste your time with anything else. worst comes to worst, use wrist wraps and wrap your thumb around the bar. this is my go to move when i have "tendonitis". i don't like to do this because i cannot get the bar as low this way, but it does work as a stop gap. since i fixed my rack position (and started squatting less), i haven't had any issues in months and months..

Tom, I have a thread going about having a light day. Mind to comment? it's also inthe training section. Relates to what you said about squatting less.

I appreciate the input guys thank you.

[Mr_Rogers]

I don't find shoulder dislocations help all that much. There are much better things to do for you shoulders, check out mwod's site. There is one with a bar and a band I do religiously and I can get my hands just on the knurling when I squat.

[grand666]

I don't find shoulder dislocations help all that much. There are much better things to do for you shoulders, check out mwod's site. There is one with a bar and a band I do religiously and I can get my hands just on the knurling when I squat.

Is it the one where he is in his garage?

[ecj]

Any specific stretches you can thing of apart from doorway pec stretches and dislocations? I do these on a daily basis already and as a warm up.

Google "Joe DeFranco" and "Simple Six". It helped my tendonitis.

Also, second the notion of doing the MWOD. I think sometimes Rip's odd antipathy towards mobility work is self-defeating for a lot of us. I sit at my desk for 6-7 hrs a day, and I need help getting nice and loose before lifting (and after).