dosent any of the big dogs feel pain!

[someoneunlikeyo]

it seems like none of the big dogs like chasy chase, chris mason and hulk for example have any cronic injuries. there seems to be a select group of people bearing the brunt of all these injuries. dont you monsters feel lower back pain from deadlifts? what about your shoulders?

i guess what im trying to get at is; are these common symptoms we keep on hearing about effect every bodybuilder, is there always going to be a fear about hurting ourselves permently? is there a point when we should lay off or even quit?

basically i wanna hear a reaction from a long time weight lifter and some of the road blocks they ran into and how they dealt with them.

[Paul Stagg]

As you gain experience, you get smarter about training with pain/injury.

Many experienced folk do indeed have old injuries, but they know how to train to improve, or at least not make them any worse.

I see no reason to stop unless it's a pretty serious injury.

[MonStar]

Nice post Paul.

Yeah exactly, as you get more experienced youll be able to cope better with these things. Youll barely even notice DOMS (soreness) after a hard workout, etc. Youll just get used to it man, thats all I can say.

[Bobo]

As long as you use proper form and warm up properly, you shouldn't have any problems with injuries.

[chris mason]

Please, I'm a ******* mess!

Let me list the problems:
both knees
left upper/outside quad area, and now the right for good measure
both shoulders (left worse than right)
lower back
left pec-delt tie-in area

the list goes on...


Oh, and I deal with them by training around them. I do this even when I should layoff due to my irrational obsession with being big and strong. It is a compulsion. Of course being obsessed about something, while not optimally healthy, helps one to become very good at it .

[ElPietro]

Originally posted by chris mason
Please, I'm a ******* mess!

Let me list the problems:
both knees
left upper/outside quad area, and now the right for good measure
both shoulders (left worse than right)
lower back
left pec-delt tie-in area

the list goes on...

Yeah, and add to the fact that he is the spitting image of Steve Buscemi and I would say Chris is in pretty rough shape!

PS. Don't let Hulk's self-assumed internet alias fool you.

On a serious note though...I don't think size is the major factor in determining injuries...as you get older you are more susceptible to injury and your body doesn't recover as quickly. Coupled with the fact that you have been doing things for a greater number of years means you'll collect injuries along the way. The weight used is relative...a smaller guy can hurt himself deadlifting 2 plates just as easily as a big guy can hurt himself pulling 4 or 5.

[duque21]

Well I am no old timer, but I did happen to injure my back and it will be a life long injury that will hinder me till my dieing days...but any ways.

The only thing that I can do to make my back feel better(seeing that it's injured) is work it out all the time. If I can keep the muscles around the injury strong I really neverhave any pain or discomfort. It is only when I neglect that area that I experience any pain or akwardness.

[Alex.V]

I've injured my back and shoulder.... but the back injury when pretty close to when I started lifting again, and the shoulder injury was due to a problem with form that I've since been working on. Injuries happen to everybody, but like Paul said, experience will help you avoid them.

[BCC]

My back and hips always get outta whack from deadlifting and squatting. Luckily a very good friend of mine is chiropractor, so I have that taken care of on a monthly basis free of charge.

Other than that, my forearms really give me a lot of trouble, that's why at times I neglect my biceps so much.

Although I haven't run into any other problems that a little accupuncture couldn't fix.

[ElPietro]

I think I'm going to look for a chiropractor soon, my lowerback still hurts from my last max deadlift session, which was probably a month ago. Do they really help? Or is it just for pain relief? It's only when I hyperextend (lean back) that I feel the ache. I think I wasn't sure if I had the sh!t locked out so I leaned too far back and for too long with the significant amount of weight I had on the bar, I can't imagine it being good for my back.

[PowerManDL]

Geeze...my right rotator, both pectoral tendons, right elbow, and both knees have at one time or another given me trouble.

[Alex.V]

Gosh, what a buncha old geezers.

*brandishes walker*

[AdamGberg]

wow, i have been in the gym for 4 months and luckily no injuries! i don't wanna become old and big, those are the guys who seem to have the most problems!

and on a more serious note, technique seems crucial to not hurting yourself and also less weight until you feel comfortable with the movements required has helped me.

[someoneunlikeyo]

i agree adam, that was another point i was trying to make was that all of us younger guys that want to change our bodies but at the same time not go over board with it and destroy our shoulder and back which could pervent us from lots of other things in the future.

by looking at alot of your guys injuries, it seems wieght lifting and gaining great mass can come at a gr8 cost.

it seems like all the best exercises like bench and deadlift are the ones that cause all the pain, but its not like you can just quite them.

[benchmonster]

I am not one of the guys mentioned in the opening of this thread, but I have been training for over 10 years and will throw in my 2 cents worth.

I am a wreck, physically. I have pain in my low back on a regular basis, I have torn my left pec, I have torn my right rotator so bad I cannot play catch.

I have a constant running battle with tendonitis, especially bicepital from squats, and in my forearms from supporting heavy bench weights in my hands.

Besides the weight lifting stuff I deal with, I had a 5 year career in full contact Karate that left me with multiple concussions, broken nose multiple times, a ruptured sinus cavity between my left eye and nasal cavity, broken hands and feet, a chunk taken out of one of my shins, broken fingers, and toes, and hips that were so overstretched for so long that the hip joints hurt almost constantly.

You just got to suck it up and do it. I don't think there is any real secret, just got to have some sack.

B.

[TreeTrunks]

When i deadlifted I used to get bloody shins. I have scars on my shins from deadlifting. It was awesome to walk around the gym with blood runing down your shins.

[Adam]

I haven't even been lifting very long but i have my share of problems. Mostly my joints elbows/knees/shoulder hips and wrist are pretty bad. Back pain is pretty much 5-6 days of the week. So far no torn muscles just some pulled ones and i hope to keep it that way.

[Borgod Maxximus]

I think its just experience that teaches you to work around injuries. I have ongoing shoulder and elbow problems that seem to flare up from time to time, and when it does I either be very careful, do a different exercise or lay off that area for a while.

It would be pussy to chuck it all in cause ya got a sore arm or whatever.

Some exercises are terrible for some, and great for others - injury wise. Like Ive said, BB bench is horrendous for my shoulders but gimme DB and Im pump'n.
Having said that, I did BB bench for the first time in about 6 months last week and I got a new PB

[Kromax]

Non-exhaustive list of my injuries and how I work around them:

Herniated disks in lower back : Ignore constant pain.

Bad right knee : Aside from squats, I do all my leg exercises single leg so I build up my right by not favoring the left.

Bad right elbow : A recent injury that appears to require rest. I'm going to lay off upper body for a week and limit my workouts to cardio, legs and abs.

Pulled groin muscle : The most painful injury. It happened early June and required a 2 week layoff. When I came back, I began wearing compression shorts under my sweats--seems to help.

BTW, I'm not one of the big motherf***ers, but have been lifting for a long time.

[TreeTrunks]

I have had tendonitis in my forearms, had it for 2 years

[Accipiter]

I think a lot of it has to do with preperation and knowing your limits, and when to push them. The people that do these things will generally have an amplified level of sucess. (along with good genetics and such). Me personally, I always make sure I'm warmed up, err on the side of caution, and pick my spots for when I'm going to challenge an old record. It's like being a sniper kinda. The most I've had in 3 years is a locking up left knee, and that was only for like 3 weeks, didn't stop me from doing anything either. I am wary about my rotator cuffs as well so I do exercise them as well.

[duque21]

yeah besides the everlasting back injury, I think I am developing tendonitis in my shoulders, from going realy heavy on Db and olympic bar press....I am sure it has to do with meavy lateral raises also.


How many of you of you guys have chronic pain in your upper body due to lifting?

[someoneunlikeyo]

duque, i dont have any chronic pain, like pain that dosent go away after awhile of rest, but i do have an aggrivated shoulder from bench and a hurting back from deadlifts.

theres no doubt that injures are apart of weight lifting and abtaining a nice physique.

im thinking exercises such as bench press and deadlift are a little too probmatic and should maybe be avoided for most people, but again they are said to be the best.... no pain no gain i guess