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Anonymous
Years ago, I pulled a muscle in my back. Neverminding that I am an old goat compared to most of you /fit/izens, just hear me out. It happened while I was doing standing calf raises on one of the machines that puts the weight on your shoulders. I was doing the stack, and my calves were all "BRING IT!" but then I felt a muscle in my back go *twang*. It didn't immediately hurt, but I knew something bad had happened. I laid down to rest, and an hour later, was incapacitated. Long story short, it hurt like fuck, prohibited many everyday activities, and took weeks to heal.

Ever since, I periodically accidentally re-injure that same muscle. It never happens when lifting weights, ironically. Even with that muscle tender, I can still do deadlifts, bent rows, pullups, crunches, etc. It always gets re-injured doing something involving either a twisting motion or the bearing of a heavy load. Most recently when I was bailing water out of a tarp -- a combined leaning over with torso twisting and arm motions. Then I retenderized it today doing heavy shrugs. Still, I can pick up things, bend over, etc. but it hurts to twist about my waist, and it hurts to reach back and wipe my ass after shitting.

The muscle in question is on the right side of my back, right next to the spine, mid-way up, between the scapulae. I think it must be the rhomboideus major, the serratus posterior superior, or the supraspinatus. Question is, what can I do to strengthen those muscles? "Core" work usually refers to abs, obliques and lower back. My problem is mid-central back.
>> Anonymous
>>464118
barbell rows, squat, deadlift, back extension

also, g2adoctororphysiothreapistyoufaggot
>> Anonymous
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shameless bump
>> Anonymous
the problem with deadlifts is form.

you strengthen your back muscles because you strain against the weight to keep your back straight. however if you don't already have good form and are body aware of how to keep your back straight against a load... you end up putting strain on your spine.
>> Anonymous
OK, I appreciate that people are responding, but it seems both so far have missed my message.

Rows, squat, deadlift, back extension, etc. do NOT work the muscle(s) in question. Nor are those exercises diminished when I have pulled the muscle(s).

I need some uncommon and potentially unorthodox exercises to get these muscles. Some kind of twisty exercises, maybe?

>>464134
Fuck doctors. Copays are too high and they never want to really help you for fear of lawsuits. Maybe if I were a college kid living on daddy's dime I'd waste my time and daddy's money going to a physiotherapist.
>> Anonymous
Netter is my idol, his works are illustrative yet artistically high-quality and critics STFU because nobody in their right mind would deny the usefulness of his paintings.
>> Anonymous
Internet diagnosis is fail but here goes. Supraspinatus is a rotator cuff muscle, so if that were the problem it would hurt like hell to externally rotate your arm or elevate it. If it were your rhomboideus it would hurt to touch your shoulder blades together.

If none of those are the problem it could be part of your erector spinae in the upper region of the back--there are lots of little muscles up there involved in extending and rotating your thorax. Can't do better than that without more information.

Regarding training: you probably don't need or want to train active spinal rotation. Look up Stuart McGill and his books on back health if you are interested--basically you want to train the back for stability under load while the power comes from the hips and legs. It sounds as if a lack of stability in your upper back is what is causing the problem.
>> Anonymous
>>464136

Worksafe board. With that said, moar!
>> Anonymous
Mid back i'd say reverse dumbbell flys or w/e they're called.
>> Anonymous
Same Exact Muscle hurts on me right now.
And after reading your post I think I possibly might have done the exact same thing you did.
I am in a weight lifting class where we do circuit training, and we have that same kind of machine where you do calve raises with the weight on your shoulders.
One morning I woke up and my back was killing me really bad, ever since it seems to come back if I sleep on it wrong or dont be careful.
I really dont know what else to do but relax and try to let that muscle rest.
Thanks for the headsup, im never using that machine again.
>> Anonymous
>>464701
It's SFW as long as it's not bestiality.
>> Anonymous
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>>464680
It hurts to reach back to wipe my butt. It hurts to try to turn my shoulders in relation to my hips (like a Larry Scott pose). It hurts to do shrugs. I have no problem with deadlift, bent row, one arm dumbbell row, or pullups.

I suppose I'll slow down my exercises, give my back and other supporters/synergists time to catch up. I.e. do less weight, try the 'fast concentric slow eccentric' approach. Doing less than you're capable of sucks, but being sidelined for weeks sucks worse.

>>464701
What I do in such cases is to scroll the window so the boobs or w/e are off the screen, then 'save as' to my memkey for later. Or, in linux, you can move a small window (like a terminal or cpu monitor) over the boobs, then right-click in the browser window without bringing it into focus (if your desktop is configured for that).

>>464713
I thought of doing those, too. I regularly see an old asian man in the gym doing them. I always thought he's crazy. But maybe that's what I need.

>>464729
Fuck yeah, do your calf raises on the leg press! Take care of your back because my unfortunate experience is that once it's injured, you have to watch out for re-injuring the same thing the rest of your life.
>> Anonymous
Go to the doctor and get a referral to a good physiotherapist. A professional's diagnosis will always be better than information you can glean from an anonymous internet chat board.

Jesus christ, for an oldfag you're pretty fucking stupid.
>> Anonymous
If this has been bothering you for years, you really should consider seeing a doctor.

I had a similar problem with back pain that kept recurring. I thought it was a muscle injury, but it turns out I was developing arthritis. (I'm on meds now. Feels good, man.)

I really don't think it's arthritis in your case. I'm just saying this to show that a professional diagnosis can be better than just trying to guess what the problem is.
>> Anonymous
>>466045"A professional's diagnosis will always be better than information you can glean from an anonymous internet chat board."

I disagree.