Inability to perform important exercises - Care or no?

[TrinityD]

Most conventional exercises, and especially the "infamous compounds" always cause a lot of pain , even if I don't do them for 6-12+ months and come back to try only one set. For my first ~2.5 years of lifting or so, I was able to do them, and eventually started getting a lot of wear and tear. At a certain point, I just ended up with lots of pain in my wrists, elbows, a torn distal bicep tendon, bad shoulder pain, bad knees, and my glute/hip muscles feeling like they were next on the list to get torn.

I would like to also say that I was NOT using bad form, and I was training with very good form like a powerlifter(paused benches,no ego lifting,below parallel squats,etc). The only thing I would even add much swing or momentum to was maybe barbell curls...that's it.

To make a long story short, not only did I really not gain much muscle out of these lifts, but they also really screwed up my entire body and I can't even touch any of them anymore...

Examples:
-Barbell Curl, used to do 135+ for 8-10+ reps...can't even do 45pounds for 1 now
-Barbell Bench,was doing 315+ for 8-10 reps...even 135 bench feels like it's going to injure my elbows and shoulders. Close Grip with 135 immediately brings elbow tendonitis and hurts.
-Lying Extensions/Overhead 100% out of the question except if I use cable overhead with rope. Completely destroys elbows even with EXTREMELY light weight/EXTREMELY controlled form...leaves it in pain for days
-Back Squat - was at 365x12+ reps, knees and gluteus medius/minimums all get very wrecked around even 245-275x1 now. Doesn't matter if it's High Bar/Low Bar/below parallel/parallel.....
-Deadlift - tweaks my gluteus medius/minimus,even stiff/sumo DL screws it up
-Dips - I tore my distal bicep tendon just doing these BODYWEIGHT in my first year of lifting as a 15 rep WARMUP that was very easy!!! Can't do them at ALL anymore. Causes an icy cold feeling in shoulders/elbows after a set.
-Chins - has tweaked something very badly in my upper back...I had a bad pain for almost 8 months, I still feel it 1+ year later, but it's not noticeable unless I do a set of chins, it starts getting very aggravated and the next day I have trouble sleeping.


I mean the list just goes on.... it's honestly ridiculous and somewhat embarrassing.

However, there is a large list of exercises I *CAN DO* and I have gotten *BETTER* results and *BETTER* growth out of them while using heavy weight with no pain!!! So, should I honestly even care at all?!?


WOULD YOU CARE???


Examples of exercises I do and use heavy weight with no pain:
Chest- Incline Smith,Incline DB Press,Cable Flies,Hammer Strength
Quads - Smith Squat,Leg Press,Lunges
Hams- all leg curl machines
Biceps - Incline Curl,Hammer Curl,Concentration,Spider,Preacher
Triceps - Rope Pushdown, Machine Dips,Overhead Cable Extension,Kickbacks
Lats - DB Row,Close Pulldown,Wide Pulldown,Hammer Strength,Lat Pullover
Traps - Machine Shrugs...every other variation tweaks neck badly
Delts - Shoulder Press,Side Lateral,Rear Lateral,any machine



Let me know what you guys think... I'm not a powerlifter[doing ifbb physique and transitioning to classic bodybuilding] and I'm honestly happy with not doing these exercises and have grown plenty(much better than before than when I focused on increasing the big compounds).

Am I just being dumb?Should I figure out a way to rehab....literally EVERYTHING? I tried very hard to rehab things and not one single thing went back to normal. Imagine taking 12 months off, not touching any exercise that hurts you, doing the stretches, and things a PT suggests+ doctor suggestions, and you come back and even 45x1 barbell curl causes lots of wrist pain.

 

[ajdos]

I have similar issues and I have 'work arounds' that I use, so long as you can get the muscles stimulated your good.
I remember Dorian talking about how he couldnt free squat anymore because of his back and did them smith machine and he won a couple shows.
Some of the best exercises get over advertised, plenty of guys in the amateur and pro ranks have had and have currently small injury problems and still bring a good package to the stage, sometimes the injuries are a blessing in disguise because they make you change things and think outside the box and get new ideas for exercises that do give you maybe MORE growth potential than the bread and butters.
Its all about results.
Guy rolls up with legs like Tom Platz and says " I never squatted in my life " I would be equally impressed, maybe even moreso, at the development.

 

[TrinityD]

good advice,

you're right, I know for chest it was definetly a blessing in disguise, because I was hitting flat bench/incline bench/db flies/dips hard and wasn't getting zilch out of it....after switching to incline db/cable flies/hammer strength it grew exponentially, I believe it was near 5-6 inches in a year which was a huge improvement for me because it had been months since it had even grew 1/2 an inch. it must have all just been going to my delts and triceps even though I took a wide grip that should hit chest more.

thanks for that reassurance... I definetly do recognize most of these exercises are way overhyped - I especially believe all kinds of barbell benching and deadlifts are extremely overhyped, but I was just trying to see if I should even care about them or try to fix the problems

:headbang:

 

[mewalrus]

Sounds like you were more focused on the lift Than the muscle working. Your new/prefered lifts basically force you to focus on individual muscles. Probably the reason your getting more visiable results.

On many of the compounds you can recruit all sorts of small muscle groups to help. The injuries were most likely a result of overcompensating with weaker muscle.groups.


I see this in my shoulders. One shoulder is rock solid for all lifts because i use that arm like crazy troweling at work. The other shoulder is loose and hurts if i push it hard on pressing movements. There is nothing wrong with that shoulder i just need to strengthen the stabilizing muscles.

The pain you describe means your doing something wrong. I would guess skeletal positioning is not optimal resulting in overrecruitment of stabilizer muscle groups into the lifts.

 

[anarchocapitalist]

If you are competitive I'd say you need to be doing what works. But if you just want to look good for your girlfriend then its not a big deal. People look good doing shit like PS2 or crossfit or whatever its called.

 

[brutus69]

I cant to any bench moves at all. no weighted dips, no Olympic lifts of any kind, squat, dead....
so what. I use hammer strength, dumbbells, machines, leg press....still feel the muscle working, still get sore sometimes, still get stronger....
it's the feel of the muscle, not the move that matters.

 

[TrinityD]

yeah, tend to agree with people , but regardless I don't see how my barbell bench , incline barbell bench, barbell squat, hack squat, and plethora of other exercises looked any different(I would argue they actually were MUCH prettier) than Ronnie coleman/kevin levrone/100 other IFBB pro's I can name .... in fact pretty much almost anybody I think of , my form was "better" than them. so despite the fact I was trying to increase the weight rather than 'feel the muscle', idk how much better off I would have been ? I mean how much muscle are you really going to feel when you're under a 3-5 plate bench press, or 4-6 plate squat? Everything just feels heavy and you're trying to move the weight up and all my buddies that lift far more than I do confirm this is pretty much how they feel. I bet there's a few rare people that actually really feel it...especially DC trainees or something lol.

definetly good feedback from everyone.... I'm certainly competitive, will be flying to Europe and competing in the Arnold classic for classic bodybuilding and other shows relatively soon....so I definetly always am striving to do the best I can do

I also agree that these movements "force" you to hit the target muscle more, and I think that's why it's becoming more and more popular to see giant monster bodybuilders having their routine be literally all machines/smith/cables and some dumbbells(example:big ramy...)

This whole Do or Die thing mob mentality I was stuck in with barbells my first 2-3 years really messed me up, sigh

 

[epoxy]

After I switched off of all bar exercises to DB's, I feel a lot better and I'm growing a lot more, due to more mobility (better rep range) and less stress on my shoulders in a lot of cases. BB military press and BB bench wrecked both of my shoulders (and I'm only just shy of 30 years old). Changing up my routine and using less weight overall, with higher reps and more focus on each rep, definitely a game changer.

I see guys benching 415, I'm bigger than them, and I'm doing alternating smith presses with 2 plates max.

Same with legs, my legs are growing more since I switched from doing heavy squats to doing 150 reps on the leg press using 2-3 plates per side.

 

[TrinityD]

After I switched off of all bar exercises to DB's, I feel a lot better and I'm growing a lot more, due to more mobility (better rep range) and less stress on my shoulders in a lot of cases. BB military press and BB bench wrecked both of my shoulders (and I'm only just shy of 30 years old). Changing up my routine and using less weight overall, with higher reps and more focus on each rep, definitely a game changer.

I see guys benching 415, I'm bigger than them, and I'm doing alternating smith presses with 2 plates max.

Same with legs, my legs are growing more since I switched from doing heavy squats to doing 150 reps on the leg press using 2-3 plates per side.

First part doesn't surprise me at all. My max bench was probably at least 365-375 when I was benching, and there were guys much much bigger than me that couldn't even bench 2 plates....

Second part is fascinating, lol 150 rep sets and growing well? I have never gone over 15 , interesting =)

 

[GS]

Speaking with past experience in this situation do what you can and if you grow then you are good to go!

I have benched 520lbs raw at a weight of 218 13 years ago,now i don't bench press with a barbell and my chest development is much better than when i did the mass builder bench press.

 

[derb83]

absolutely cannot do skull crushers anymore . kills my elbows

 

[AshopRep]

absolutely cannot do skull crushers anymore . kills my elbows

Try using half the weight and doing 20plus reps.

 

[naturalsux]

Try using half the weight and doing 20plus reps.

And try dumbbells instead of bar.

 

[Chode Logan]

No exercise is a "must have" that simply makes no sense from a physical standpoint. Use what ever suits your body mechanics the best and gives you results.

 

[TrinityD]

Try using half the weight and doing 20plus reps.

From personal experience, I have dropped my skullcrushers by even 70% and used dumbbells, and I couldn't even pass 3 reps. Has nothing to do with the weight for most people. The movement just wreaks havoc on the elbow.

 

[Xelflex]

My list of nagging injuries pretty much since day one.
-Can't work firearms to often cuz my wrists kill after a session.
-cant do leg curls heavy, it's always felt like something is pulled.
-I have a front delt type pull that keeps me from incline bench, dips, and as of recently easy bar curls hurt insanely bad

I just do things that don't bother them.

 

[Stayinfit]

firm believer in finding what feels right for you. I think each persons skeletal structure and such causes exercises to be different for each. Also, just because one guy benches a ton of weight and others who have more developed chests bench less could mean a few things. One, the things you can't see during the lift, is a lot of why some guys are more developed. For example, Ben Pak... sometimes talks about the things you can't see in say the bench press. He mentions pushing inward on the bar as it raises and on lat pulldowns push out on the bar as your are pulling it down. Both stress the muscle than just moving a weight up and down or pulling the weight up and down. When I started incorporated some of these things that people can't see me doing I noticed a huge difference. Weaker on the lifts? Yup, but that doesn't mean it I won't get stronger in the new way of doing the exercises. Do I care? Nope the results speak for themselves.

 

[Stayinfit]

My list of nagging injuries pretty much since day one.
-Can't work firearms to often cuz my wrists kill after a session.
-cant do leg curls heavy, it's always felt like something is pulled.
-I have a front delt type pull that keeps me from incline bench, dips, and as of recently easy bar curls hurt insanely bad

I just do things that don't bother them.

I use to have the third issue until I started doing the broom stick exercise Dante put out there quite awhile ago. I also now do a full rotator cuff routine and light chest stretching prior to EVERY workout including legs. Shoulder issue pretty much non-existent and I had that issue for 3 years!!!

 

[brutus69]

My list of nagging injuries pretty much since day one.
-Can't work firearms to often cuz my wrists kill after a session.
-cant do leg curls heavy, it's always felt like something is pulled.
-I have a front delt type pull that keeps me from incline bench, dips, and as of recently easy bar curls hurt insanely bad

I just do things that don't bother them.

sounds like a supraspinatus tendon issue. I had a tear and all of those moves? no way.

 

[beastmode121]

I can't bench; dumbell press.. I'm screwed.. I only can use machine for chest; altho it's still taxing on my shoulder; it don't kill it.. I hate injuries


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