Old Shoulder Injury

[Nathanael Teeple]

Coach,

After being a total moron, and somehow after reading the book, and this forum, I just realized that (after two weeks of LP) I've been doing high bar squats (I thought it was bar just above the scapular spine). Sigh. But now that I'm slightly less of a moron, and gave low bar squats a shot today, and they went great. Lots of form issues resolved. One new one though.

I know the position is uncomfortable when first doing it, but I noticed it was more uncomfortable (borderline painful) on my right side than on my left. It felt more as though the bar was digging into my right acromion process when I was keeping the bar level. This made sense to me as I broke that little protrusion of bone years ago and it healed sitting just slightly lower than it is on my left side. The pain was manageable at my work set today (220lbs), but I don't know if the pain will increase with bar weight.

So, my questions are: Is this a fair diagnosis? Is this a problem? Is there something I should do or do I probably just have bad form?

Thanks so much for the help!

[Michael Wolf]

This doesn't make sense. My guess is a) you still don't have the bar in the right place and b) what's bothering you isn't your acromion process. If you have a partner who can get up close from above to show your bar position in a video, try that. We can see general bar position in normal video placed on the floor or at hip height, but for something this specific and granular, video is gonna be tough. But without actually seeing what's going on, there's no way to really answer further.

[Nathanael Teeple]

Update: my scapula was definitely bruised the following day, but not at the acromion (like you said), more in the mid spine (of the scapula). The next workout things seemed to feel a bit better, but still uncomfortable, while today they felt better again, but I noticed that I may have my right shoulder in a slightly different position than my left as my right arm sticks out further behind me than my left. I'll get a video of the position Wednesday and post it for you. Would it be okay to post another video for a general form check on this thread as well, or should I start a new one?

Thanks.

[Tom Campitelli]

You can repost a form check here, although if the thread is old and gets buried, there is a lower chance of us seeing it. If you post back in a few days, put it here. If it is a week, or two, start a new thread.

[Nathanael Teeple]

I squatted today and felt no issues with my shoulder, so maybe I was just being over sensitive before, but you can see from the first video here that my right elbow sticks up higher than my left.

Low-bar Position Check

And here's a video for a form check. I apologize about the bar in the way. I told the guy filming to make sure my knees and back were visible and this was what he got me. I can give it another shot if it's not good enough to work with.

Squat Form Check - Set 1 of 3 @ 235lbs

[Nathanael Teeple]

Sorry to post again, but since you haven't gotten to this yet, I figured I'd update it with a better video that I took today. The video for the bar position check is still good, but please reference the following link for the form check, and disregard the last one I posted:

YouTube

The only issue I am able to see is that my knees wobble in at the start of the push. I've been experiencing some pain at the top of my patella, in the tendon, which I know you've written a lot about elsewhere on this forum. I've just started trying some what you've written to deal with it, so I'm not looking for more advice on that front (unless you have something new), but wondering if this knee wobble could be what's causing the pain? It started very quick (within the first 3 workouts) which seems a lot faster than other anecdotes, however, the pain is still fairly minor. This video is from my 12th, and latest, workout (for reference).

Thanks!

[Tom Campitelli]

Your last video is a very tough angle from which to provide a form check. Please read the sticky. This is very important. A lot of videos get posted here and I spend my time here free of charge. Your payment comes in the form of adherence to the one thing we ask at the top of the very first page: read the sticky. Your stance appears to be too wide. Fixing that will help with the knees.

[Nathanael Teeple]

Sheesh, now I feel like a dingus. I reposted this video yesterday thinking this thread got buried. My apologies. Please ignore that.

If you'll believe me, I did have a read through the sticky, several times, including the attached links. I tried to get a good angle, but, alas! I will do better. In the mean time, I'll narrow my stance a bit. Thanks for your time!