New Member, new question

Hey guys. I've been poking around the site and I like what I see.

I have a question, and I'm not sure which forum to ask it in. The experience was a first for me and I'm a little worried.

First some backgroung. I am new to stength training. I've been tiny all my life. As I hit my late 20's, I started getting a massive gut, so I decided to start eating right and working out. I've studied HIT quite a bit and after speaking with a trainer at the local Y I started on a three-a-week weight program using slow reps. The results have been incredible! For example, (and don't laugh, I remind you I'm small) I started on the seated leg press at 90 lbs. back in mid-October. Yesterday I did 210 lbs. All my muscles have followed the same pattern. I'm growing very quickly and I feel great for it.

However, yesterday a hit a nasty snag. After finishing 12 reps of 210 on the leg press yesterday, the back of my head was suddenly flushed with pain. It hurt like nuts for two or three hours before my overdose of tylenol finally kicked in. Last night I couldn't make myself fall asleep for two hours in bed and even this morning, I can feel it lightly lingering.

What did I do to myself?

Any input is welcome. Thanx guys.

Sounds like a pulled muscle in your neck. Believe it or not it is NOT uncommon during leg press if you are straining hard AND have your head forward. This is why it is important to keep your head back against the pad for support while doing leg presses.
You may want to go see a chiropractor anyway just to be sure you did not throw any vertebrae out of whack also.
KR

and btw, welcome to MC. Hope to have you stick around and feel free to post anytime you have a question or comment. This is how we all learn.

As soon as I read that I thought, Yep. I most certainly was straining my head forward while I was doing it. It didn't necessarily feel muscular, but I've never hurt myself like that before, so what would I know.

Kidrok, I also tried the chest press after a few minutes rest and that bothered it further. It felt irritated only AFTER working out, like a wave. Could I be craning my neck wrong on a chest press seat, too?

And finally, should I skip my workout tomorrow to heal?

I think once it's injured it doesn't take a whole lot of movement or strain to aggrevate it so I'd say 'yes' the chest press probably did bother it further.
As far as skipping your workout, it really depends on the pain level. If it effects your daily activities then i would say definitely do not workout until it heals or better yet, you see a Dr.

Well, no. It doesn't hurt so bad that I can't function or anything. It's rather mild today. I was just afraid that it meant I wouldn't be able to work out anymore or something. My wife and parents kept saying "You were pushing too hard. What was your heart rate?" and I was thinking that Maybe I popped something up in there! But I don't wanna believe the whole "you were working too hard" because my understanding is that you have to push hard to build muscle. I've grown dramatically in the last month and I push my hardest everytime, so if that was the problem I figure it would have been a problem before now, right?

I hope it is just a muscle. I'll try to work out and make sure I don't strain my neck. If It hurts again, I'll skip working out again until Saturday or Sunday.

Thanx again for your input.

I would say that it's not necessarily "working-out too hard" but rather "working-out incorrectly" that caused the injury. It's just a matter of incorrect form and as I said before, it is very common, amongst trainees of all experience levels. Yes you need to keep the intensity high to make gains, although the body does need a break every now & then or you risk injury from overtraining, I'd say this time was just a matter of bad form. So give it a try and if your next workout really hurts than just hold off for a couple days then try it again.
Good luck!

KR

Hey Quik_Fix....First thing welcome to MC.
I don't think there is such a thing as working out to hard but like KidRock said you may be training incorrectly. You need to train hard but train smart. Give yourself a couple days to get over the muscle strain before getting back to it. You need to heal or you may firther aggrivate the injury.

If you need any advise on training post your questions. There are a lot of good people here that can help you.

Thanx Saturn, I'll do that

Yo Quik......one thing you want to try to get out of the habit of doing is straining your neck (Unless your actually working your neck)..........I constantly have to remind myself to relax my neck whenever I train strenuously......so keep you neck loose and you'll be fine in no time.

I've been thinking about it all day. Yeah, I was definitely lifting my head. I find it easier to cuss my way to higher reps when I strain my neck and make "the face." LOL. I've gotta really concentrate from now on to not do that; I do not want to repeat this experience.


Its funny. I feel like I have post-traumatic stress disorder or something. Everytime I think about going back to the gym and lifting I "remember the pain" and the thought totally makes me uncomfortable! How funny. I'm like war vet from the gym room

"I'll never forget it son. I was three clicks up from the deltiod machine..."

LOL @ the three clicks......easiest way to NOT strain the neck is to focus on the muscle you are working......and just pay attention to HOW you are lifting the weight.....if you're relatively new to the game maybe you could get a personal trainer for a week and have them show you proper form....maybe you have a buddy that could show you......better to do it with correct form than to just throw weight around....Don't be one of those jackasses we laugh at cause they have WAYYYYYY to much weight on the bar and their form is awful (like the schmuck that bounces the bar off his chest for bench pressing)

You get the idea.....you're in a good place anyway since you found MC!

LOL. If I want to bounce the bar while benching, I'll first have to grow a chest to bounce it off of!

I've very interested in HIT and I've been loosely following the concepts as taught to me by the trainer at the Y. I'm going to have a meeting with him, maybe Sunday, to check my form.

Does anyone think Sunday is too soon to work out again?

you've got to go by what you feel bro....if you feel good enough to workout Sunday then GO.....you just might want to go light for a week or two and focus on form more than weight......get your form down first and everything else will take care of itself.

Welcome QF,

Sounds like you've got the bug. The "dread" and PTSD of going to the gym will be something you'll learn to love in a very sick way. There is nothing like feelig your heart beat and your palms sweat as you drive to to gyme for a good day of blinding pain in the squat rack. 8^)

This is NOT to say that you should welcome the kind of pain you're feeling. Get than neck checkout out if it persists and be very careful with your body positioning. It might be worth it to get a good trainer (someone who has been around a while), who can teach you proper form and will catch these little nuiances before you form bad habits.

Welcome aboard!

-Randy

I used to pull my neck at least once a month and be "neck-guy" for a few days in pain.
I started working my traps more and warming up my neck and traps. I warm up before every workout now and I haven't pulled anything in about a year.
Alway warm up and Welcome to MC.

Quik_Fix said:

....My wife and parents kept saying "You were pushing too hard. What was your heart rate?" and I was thinking that Maybe I popped something up in there! ......

Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but this part was really funny.

On a serious side, those are sayings from people who don't really know much about working out.

I am proof of someone who uses very little weight yet I have thrown my neck out-of-wack by lifting it. I didn't even realize that I was doing it until I made KidRok watch me.

So welcome & watch your form!!