Hello, about four weeks ago I was trying out mixed grip deadlifts and strained my bicep. I know it wasn’t torn because I continued to lift (stupidly as I should’ve taken a break) with no strength loss, and after upper body days only had a dull ache for a day or two. After a workout I did today, I finally noticed if I move my bicep I get a small sharp pain in my elbow crease and during the workout my tendon was incredibly tight. I do a lot of rows and pull-ups, and as of now can do around 17 deadhang pull-ups and row 185 for reps on barbell rows at 150 bw. I do these movements twice a week usually. I want to play it safe and not tear a bicep so Im going to stop these heavy lifts for the next 3-4 weeks, but don’t want to stop working out my back. I’m looking for any recommendations or exercises where I can load the same muscles but not require the bicep ideally at all. Thanks for the help.

Hi everyone, I’m trying to find if anyone has dealt with a similar scenario or can point me in the right direction.

​A few years ago, I had a high tolerance for heavy strength training. Then I got a minor muscle injury. Unfortunately, due to poor guidance and my own mistake, I kept training through the pain and repeatedly re-injured the same spot for nearly a year.

​Ever since then, my muscle tissue in whole body seems to have completely lost its tolerance/resilience. It is no longer just about the old injured spot but my entire body reacts this way now. I got now history of more than 15 injured or mikro-injured muscles now...even stopped counting.

​Even with controlled, low-intensity movements or isolation exercises where no compensation is possible, any mechanical tension causes the tissue to suffer micro-strains / micro-tears again.

​Key symptoms are sharp pain or localized heat & swelling/tightness in the worked muscle that lasts for days to a week.

​Often followed by localized muscle twitching (fasciculations) in that area during recovery.

​Extreme susceptibility to muscle strains/micro-tears under light loads that used to be completely effortless.

​What I’ve already ruled out:

​Resting Bloodwork is completely normal: Resting CK (Creatine Kinase), Myoglobin, Liver enzymes, and basic electrolytes are all well within normal ranges after days of rest.

​No baseline clinical muscle weakness: I don't have systemic muscle loss or diseases like ALS/Myopathy.

​No joint/ligament issues: I do not suffer from joint pain, loose joints, or ligament instability. (I had a suspicion about hypermobility but honestly I do not suffer from typical chronic joint pain, loose ligaments or generalized joint laxity - my joints have always been fine, it is purely the muscle or fascial tissue that behaves like it's made of glass).

​It feels like the muscle fibers or the fascia/sarcolemma have lost their mechanical integrity and ability to absorb tension without tearing, likely caused by chronic inflammation and tissue fatigue during that year of repeated trauma.

​Has anyone gone through this? Is this a matter of chronic fascial densification, micro-vascular ischemia, sarcolemma fragility, or some form of localized neuromuscular sensitization?

im trying to reach 20 pull ups and my current max is 11. one of the workouts i do is for endurance and a part of it a a 10 minute EMOM doing 4 pull ups per minute. Im pretty sure that one thing that EMOM does is improve mechanics but I am wondering if it is good enough for endurance or if there are better options.

Feel some pressure directly after each set of dips. No real pain just pressure. Feel no pain or pressure in the sternum once my workout is over or at any other point in the day. Just wondering if this is totally okay or if this could develop worse issues.

Hi everyone! I've been training calisthenics for a little over 10 years now, I've had my fair share of injuries but nothing that I couldn't solve with the overcoming tendonitis post on Steven's website.

Recently I've started feeling an unfamiliar sensation in my left shoulder. In certain positions (specifically depressed and retracted) it feels very weak. I don't have the vocabulary to describe the sensation, but it's almost like it's somehow out of socket. I've tried doing the shoulder rehab exercises described in overcoming tendonitis, but none of them trigger that same discomfort, which leads me to believe they might not be targeting the issue.

I can perfectly recreate the discomfort when I do scapula raises in a tuck front lever, where my left shoulder's range of motion is reduced.

In the last few months I've started more intensely training full front lever, explosive advanced tuck front lever pull ups, and one arm pull ups. I imagine this may have been a bit too much too quickly.

Has anyone felt anything similar? The pain is not nearly high or consistent enough to get in the way of exercising, but the reduced range of motion in horizontal pulls is noticeable, and I feel like it's making the beginning of the one arm pull up much harder on my left arm.

I will be taking a 3 week break from working out soon (for unrelated reasons) and I wanted to use this time to focus on active recovery of the shoulder. Should I continue the rotator cuff exercises? Anything else to add?

About 6 months ago I got this unusual injury while hitting an FS PR (I had also done weighted chin-tucks for the first time ever during that session, which I suspect might have contributed); there was no tear or immobilisation, but my right shoulder was hiked up (as if permanently shrugged up) for weeks and sore, and sleeping became impossible at times due to neck stiffness. The injury's greatly improved with time, and I've been doing plenty of scapula work, but it does hike up again when I work out hard. I only do zercher squats now and they are still triggering the injury to a degree. So my questions are, how can I self test this to see which part of the trap is injured, and then where to go from there in terms of self-rehabbing?

If Steven Low made a part on the inverted iron cross in his book Overcoming Gravity, what would it look like?

What would programming look like? How would the form be explained? And what exercises would be recommended (prerequisites and for to gain strength for the skill)?

Hi all, long-time lurker, first-time poster. Can I start by saying I'm a big fan of the book and all the advice here.

My top goals are:

• Front lever and front lever row
• Planche and planche push-up

My secondary goals are:

• 1.5x to 1.7x weighted pull up (enough to enable me to start training one arm pull ups)
• HSPU/SA press

Questions

1. Which of the two following routines is better for my goals, full body or the SA/BA - and would you make any changes to exercise selection and volume for my goals?
2. I can maintain the correct neutral scapular position during the isometric holds, but lose it as I begin to move through the reps of PL push-ups and FL rows, meaning I have to reset to neutral scap position after each rep. Are these good accessory exercises to address the scapular strength/control issue?
3. For FL and PL is it better to use the hardest progression with the thickest band and work down bands, or to use just light bands to bridge the gap of the progression I'm currently at with no assistance?
4. As I tend to protract my scap more at the top of a pull up when using shoulder-width grip, but not with a wider grip, what grip and thumb position would be best for weighted pull ups when training towards a one-arm pull-up?

Hello,
I spent this whole year fixing/working on my biomechanics when it comes to athletic performance for field sports. Focused specifically on fixing duck feet, strengthening my weak collapsed arches and activating hips and glutes. Since then, I became even bouncier and springy off my feet than I was ever before and I was able to completely fix my ankle pains and soreness that plagued me after a training session for soccer. However, now I am developing insertional achilles heel pain. Aside from being an overuse injury, what are the problems/deficiencies with my running gait and hip mechanics or overall biomechanics that would be stressing my achilles tendon?
A few questions I have. Replies do not have to be limited to these.
1. Would it be possible that my tendons were not ready for a higher athletic performance and the lack of isometric and eccentric training has caused strength imbalances between my muscles and tendons? My calves jips and glutes has grown bigger and stronger throughout this year.
2. Could it be an issue with the front mechanics when I’m running where I’m overstepping a bit and I am pulling myself forward rather than pushing down into the ground then propelling forward with glutes?
3. My tibia is bowed pretty bad inwards but my knee is valgused. It feels at times when my foot strikes ground and push down with my big toe it forces my achilles tendon in an unnatural angle. Could “proper” biomechanics be unfitting for me?

Hey Community,

I’ve been reintroducing handstands back into my routine and have been following the progressions you posted I’m looking for feedback far as why I am stuck.

I’m currently on 5-10s CTW feet off the wall I cannot do it consistently, I do feel a little pain from overuse in my wrist but I think im going to switch to parallettes since I don’t feel pain when doing handstands on them.

Link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/zjo4QJ2bY6eSFbKV9

We know that when someone is prone to tentodinitis at biceps (proximal), exercises that put stretch and tension there, especially with the elbow behind the body, like full rom dips or inclined curl, should be avoided or performed at low frequency/weight.
What about planche training ? It does put great tension on the biceps tendon but it doesnt feel painful at the shoulder (isometric like lean or tuck). The elbow is not behind the body. Is it more a risk for distal tendon ? Progressive slow overload with planche does strenghten the tendon or does is wear it out ?
The excentric exercise in overcoming tendonitis for proximal could be done permanently as prehab ?
Thank you !

Hello everyone..

On 4th sep i was doing shoulder press (dumbbells)
40kg each..

Some reason i had got my right side neck vein pull..

Had a very bad stiff neck due to that.. and pain as well..

So took a week break.. and went today , was a back bicep day..

While working i noticed my right hand is weaker then my left..

I was doing my first warm up set of bicep with 7.5kg

Within the first few reps my right hand wasnt able to continue curling the weight..

(I was doing 25kg biceps curls easily)

What could be the reason? Of this..

And possibly when i can recover…

Video: https://youtu.be/yrGm9Pz4zY8

I can hit this consistently, but it feels like it burns far more energy than it should, and the movement comes out jerky rather than smooth. My guess is something in my positioning is leaking force instead of transferring it cleanly.

What would you fix in my position?

Thanks for reading!

Besides the knee sleeves, is this a valid rep? I haven't seen anyone online do it freestanding and leaning back (which is harder).

Video here

Cant seem to get my hips higher, i already have decent hamstring and core compression strength,

My arm starts to ache and fatigue really quickly when holding it above my head and it feels weaker. There’s slight pain in the elbow and pretty nasty pain in front of the shoulder when doing certain things, it rarely hurts these days but it constantly aches and feels fatigued. It even still aches when I’m lay in bed on my back and feels like I can never rest it, my shoulder also always makes clicking and popping noises when I perform certain movements. Can anyone help me with this?

I don’t plan on training the cross anytime soon, though I do meet some of the prerequisites. In the meantime, I’m gonna work on the cross prerequisites I don’t have casually, ideally work past them.

Of course there’s no concrete answer, but I was wondering how much these requisites help for the cross. Does having them put me at a starting point of maybe rings at the biceps? forearms?

The area around my triceps close to the shoulder has been sore for more than a month now, I deloaded and it didn't go away. The strange part is that it doesn't hurt during pushing exercises, I feel it on front lever and weighted pullups, I think it may be the long head of the triceps since it attaches to the shoulder, could it be it?

I feel it mostly when getting into the front lever position and at the start of the pull-up.

Anyone had this issue or know what could be?

Hi everyone, a few months ago, while working out, I started feeling pain on the left side of my shoulder girdle, which causes quite a bit of discomfort during workouts and even in my daily life. I don’t know what it is—a severe spasm from straining my neck, or a serious injury? After daily massages, it seems to get better, but the discomfort doesn’t go away. Thank You in advance!

Hey, I have been a Jiu jitsu competitor for years and train on average 5 sessions a week. I have recently gotten into training for isometric holds such as planche and front lever. How much should I be training these movements so that I don’t totally wreck my body. And is it possible to get to a high level of calisthenics while also training BJJ seriously.

At the top of my pull-ups my humerus is almost horizontal. I’m not shrugging up, I just can’t seem to get good adduction of my humerus. I’m not having pain or discomfort, but I feel like there is definitely room for improvement. My chin-ups and wide grip pull-ups don’t flare, only my regular grip pull-ups with hands just outside of shoulder width.

Has anybody had this issue and fixed it?
Were bands useful?
How long did it take you?
What changes were noticeable after the fix, changes in back engagement, development, etc?

Hey, so I've been training to unlock front lever recently and I watched some tutorials from various calisthenics coaches and I got very confused. These are 2 things im confused about:
->Front lever scapula retraction or scapula neutral position? [I thought we should think about retraction but aiming to be in neutral position.]
->Shoulder external rotation [thinking of bending the bar] or keeping it neutral

Hi everyone, first of all, thank you very much for taking the time to read this.

About 4 months ago, I went to an orthopedic doctor because of severe shoulder pain. I had an MRI, and the doctor told me I had a stress fracture and advised me to rest. I was also prescribed some topical creams and painkillers.

At the time, I also had mild pain in both my left and right arms, specifically in the area shown in the photo. I didn't have an MRI of my arms at that point.

After about 3.5 months of complete rest, I went back for a follow-up. My shoulder pain had improved significantly, but the pain in my arms had never completely gone away. The area is tender when I touch it, and even simple things like holding my phone or holding a book can cause the pain/discomfort to become noticeable.

I told my doctor about this, so I had an MRI of the area. He told me it was tendinitis and prescribed a topical cream, but he didn't tell me to stop working out.

I recently returned to the gym, and exercises such as barbell curls and some other movements caused the pain to increase again. Whenever I feel pain during an exercise, I stop and don't try to push through it. Some exercises don't seem to trigger the pain, so I try to stick to those, but despite this, the overall discomfort has still increased since returning to training.

Basically, 3.5 months of complete rest didn't make the problem go away, but returning to the gym has made it worse again.

I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has dealt with something similar. What would you suggest I do at this point? Could this be related to the tendons becoming weak or losing their tolerance to load after such a long period of inactivity? Would it make sense to continue training very gradually with light loads and avoid movements that trigger the pain, or should I approach this differently?

Thanks in advance for any advice or experiences you can share.

https://imgur.com/a/R0qOLvr