Fat Around Button Area?

[Martin-Boy2]

I just don't want to come across as if though im making a big deal of everything and being a nuisance as im already being seen for 3 different things. What you explained sounds reasonable, perhaps i should put in some more work for chest, speaking of which, i happened to do so today.

When to do GTG pull ups today, only to notice that the equipment i do hammer grip pull ups on had been painted and had wet paint, so rather than get hands covered in paint and running clothes, i decided to give chin ups a go. Managed 17. Not too bad, felt left bicep tendon (i think), after around 4 or 5 reps but carried on and the pain went away by the time i got home, then went to the shed to decide to do some sets of benching, did 50kg 4x10, not too bad seeing as i haven't benched for around 5-6 weeks. Don't want to come across as a whiner again, but noticed some mild pain in cuffs and elbows afterwards, i hope it's not elbow tendinitis, i really really regret pushing through french press with elbow pain when i started working out, but i thought to strengthen elbows the best thing would be to strengthen the surrounding muscles, tri's and bi's. It didn't stop me from doing the benching, but if i wanted to say finish off the sets with some push ups, i feel that, that would stress them too much and cause them to rise up in pain again, and i did warm up too.

Afterwards, i did some light rotator cuff work - cuban press with a wooden stick, 3x15, not sure if this was wise though as i found it significantly more difficult after benching, and was rather pushing through fatigue with a mix of pain. And that's the thing, rotator cuffs aren't giving out as in fatigue, but im stopping more when the pain gets worse, i know you shouldn't work through joint pain, so im starting to think, could this be some sort of shoulder impingement perhaps?

I know it may seem as though i can't do anything without getting any sort of pain, and it's not like im making excuses say, oh i cut finger i can't workout, these are issues that are affecting, and bothering me enough to cause pain, and i don't think it's a bad thing to be concerned, rather that then ignore it, but with the amount of problems im having, it must seem as though im coming across as a bit of a whiner.

[Martin-Boy2]

Ok, just had a cold bath. Not ice, but cold enough for me, seeing as i have raynauds anyway, i was a bit concerned about any health risks in having one, but i decided to have one because knees were hurting for no apparent reason, i was in there about 10mins and they do feel better.. for now. They say the first cold bath is your worse, i hope so because that was pretty hard lol, once i was in it was fine though, just feel stiff now, which is another thing, working out with a cold joint is going to make it more likely to injure, but i guess the answer is have these cold baths after a workout, or still warm up before hand.

[Boss Man]

Do you have the Raynauds phenomenon which occurs from no known specific cause(s), or the Primary Raynauds, which can occur as a result of known things?

Has it ever flared up when you workout? Do you end up with the white hands and find problems letting go or with continued gripping of the weights?

I'm not linking this to anything that might be going on now, I'm just curious.

[Martin-Boy2]

Raynauds phenomenon, what im aware of, at least that's the leaflet they gave me when i went but it was originally titled as raynauds disease by the doctor so im not sure if it's the same thing. Either way i think it's from no known specific causes, as no one else in family i know of has it. It's only mostly bad in the winter, when it's cold, as i feel it then and hands become stiff, numb, and sometimes change color to like a light blue, it has flared up during workouts before where ive had to workout in the winter, so used gloves when i have to, as the bar can be real cold.

On a positive note, went up in pull ups today, taken perhaps 6-7 days, but gone from 15-16 now, will continue to try 16 and see how that goes

Running another cold bath followed by a warm one, as knee feels real swollen and i can't fully extend it without pain

[Martin-Boy2]

16 hammer grip pull ups, 3x10 20kg wide grip upright rows, and cuban press for 3x15.

shoulders just don't feel healthy, im starting to wonder if it's more than just "weak cuffs"

Physio tomorrow for low back area.

[Boss Man]

If you felt things like shooting, stabbing or sharp pains, it could be a trapped nerve, or a nerve being impinged and potentially being compressed or pushed slightly out of place.

You might have an issue with the Scapulae, or alterntively, possibly a Ligament problem.

Alternatively, you might have Bursitis if one or more of the Bursae around the Shoulder have become inflamed.

You'd have to be assessed obviously for the root cause, as I can only suggest possible causes I can think of. I can't and won't diagnose anybody, as I have no qualifications permitting me to do such things.

[Martin-Boy2]

It feels more sharp and stabbing as it feels more boney and after a few reps really fatigued.

Thanks for the info, perhaps another matter i should bring up with the physio.

Anyway i just had a session and have 1 next week for knees and neck, this session was about lower back still, and i feel pelvis, anyway, she felt and took a look at back, and showed me an exercise where i had to squat down and pick up a 0.5kilo ball, intentionally with back rounded and come back up for 10 reps. I showed her how i picked things up, by squatting down and keeping back straight and arched at the low back and she said it's putting too much pressure on back, but i don't get it, it's not as though im going to lift heavy objects with a rounded back, that's asking for trouble. Plus last time she advised me to sit with lower back arched, but anyway, not to bash them or nothing, she explained that abs were really tense, and perhaps putting too much pressure onto back, so i had to lie down, put hands on stomach and try to push them away, standing up or sitting im finding this very difficult, so every now and then going to practice it and hope for some improvements, still it doesn't take away the feeling of pelvis/back become really raised and almost as though it's going to bulge out of body.

Just dunno what to do, as it's been soooo long already and i already feel lazy and slughish, may just start exercising and see how things go but it's not even that im sitting around and able to workout fully, i can't do no running/cycling, lower body work - squats, any variants when knees aren't 100% healthy. shoulders, im tempted to buy a decent skipping rope and start that, but im pretty confident that within a couple of minutes shoulders would be exhausted. Someone said to me a while back that jump rope is really good for identifying weak links in the body, but this isn't muscular fatigue, it's more joint/skeletal pain. I often wake up in the morning and it feels as though im slouching forward, as in it's hard to keep chest up and shoulders back, could just be stiffness from waking up in the morning as it's not all day.

Another thing is for instance, today, just did 16 pull ups, briefly warming up shoulders before hand but even that was enough to cause some discomfort in the shoulders, and make biceps tendons feel noticeable, im sure there's some rotator cuff injury where it affects your bicep, not to mention weak elbows. This is always the way with me, whenever i get problems, there all in one go and make it seem over dramatic. Same with bills and money, always in one go, having to pay in bulks, rather than one thing at a time, goes for most things with me unfortunately.

Im debating whether to keep up the rotator cuff exercises, id say it wouldn't hurt, but if it is something like a pinged nerve it may not be helping the matter, as im not failing the exercises soley on fatigue but more to do with pain also. The pain i notice in especially after dips and ohp, pull ups not as bad, so mostly pushing movements.

[Boss Man]

The best thing is to stick to the prescribed physio exercises and you could od some cardio, but if you do any sort of weight, you risk aggrevating the issue, or possibly doing something couterproductive to what the Physio said.

[Martin-Boy2]

I may buy a skipping rope, a decent one, won't be that expensive, and see where that gets me, if shoulders give in after a few mins i'll be real annoyed, but it's kinda a full body form of cardio, which will be good in keeping some muscle, i could give running a go, was running in garden yesterday just briefly, pain free for once, so i think i may give running a go this weekend, and then next Wednesday when i get seen for knee i'll know if that's a good idea or not. Im thinking of doing sprints though as that's supposed to be better for developing the calves, i would like to cycle long distances but it hurts knees, i hear sprints are difficult to plan out though, and id probably end up doing it wrong, but i'll just run a distance full pace, rest say 30-60 secs, run, etc taking things into own stride.

That exercise the physio described said it would be best to leave it out for now and concentrate more on breathing through abdominals as she said they were really tense without me even realizing, so even now and then i'll practice it throughout the day putting hand on stomach and trying to push it away. I could always try out some shadow boxing i guess. right knee still hurts when i fully extend it, but if i happen to run and there's pain, then i'll just have to stop.

Thanks for sticking with me

[Martin-Boy2]

Did a fair bit of cycling yesterday, nothing strenous, just travelling, today i did around 15mins jogging on a beach, quite enjoyed it, read good things about running on the beach, but that it can be a bit dangerous at times too, especially seeing as most beaches are sloped compared to flat ground.

Still pretty much living off of painkillers lol

[Martin-Boy2]

Sorry to do this, but this is the only real place i feel comfortable in getting a second opinion and truly expressing thoughts. Today has been so miserable for me. Pain all day, i slept somewhere different to usual, which has made me wake up completely stiff and having to go for a walk immediately after having a shower and still nothing. But the thing is, i still slept in a bed, i could understand if i slept somewhere uncomfortable, like in a tent or a car.

So i woke up around 8am, stiff, especially upper back, had a shower, then the pain hadn't gone, all through back, just feel stiff and that spine feels more raised and bobbly than it should be. So i decided to go for a walk for around an hour, just leisure walking, the pain hadn't gone, had to sit down for around an hour, so i tried focusing on breathing through abs, or putting hand on stomach and trying to push it away, kept the low back pain away slightly, but still there. Things like having to drive home, sitting down, can't be helped, we all know long sitting periods are bad for you, but it can't be helped at times, thousands of people have office jobs, im sure they all don't have this problem. I just walked to the park, as walking seems to decrease the pain, although it's still there, to do some spinal decompressions, by hanging from a pull up bar, grip lasted around 90 secs, although the longer you can hold the better, i was thinking of buying some straps soley for this purpose, but these didn't help that much anyway so it may be a waste. Even when i walked back home, and got here to type this, not intending to be sitting for long at all, but sat down, and immediately had to revert to sitting on knees, which of course isn't much better, but it's something i felt as though i have to do to ease the pain in back.

Even family have said i mention it way too much, maybe so, but it's because it's a pain that has been with me for so long, and all day long, not just a pain that comes and goes, but it's been hanging around me all day, a good 12 hours so far, it's really making life that much worse. I feel this is a problem that is never going to go, and im so dissapointed to not know what is causing it, perhaps it is having really tense stomach like the physio said, but even so i wouldn't of expected it to be anything like this, i could understand it if say pelvis is hurt, so body tries to act in a way which isn't harmful, and shifts the pain somewhere else, but this is really affecting me, big time. back feels so stiff, even though the physio said i have a flexible spine and that it is in good health, which of course im pleased about, but it still isn't solving the problem, and i really can't go on continuing to wait for these weeks apon weeks appointments. 3 Weeks til the next one, and this is pain affecting everyday life, you name it, ive tried it, stretches - does nothing for upper back, cold/hot baths, only last for say an hour or so, walking/running, nothing is working. A family member advised me to make a doctors appointment and bring it up to them, saying something along the lines of, "im 19 years of age, i shouldn't be getting these pains constantly throughout the day, is there anything i can do". They are also concerned about blood tests - the family member, but i have recently had some and im sure if anything was drastic that the doctors would of phoned.

It feels as though back needs to be clicked, and snapped into place, sort of like when you click your fingers, or if you put your hands behind your butt and push your shoulders back so your upper back clicks, something like that. It feels horribly stiff, perhaps that is tense too, but even so, there's got to be ways around this, it feels as though finding the causes for problems are going to take years and i really can't wait no longer, the pain throughout day in day out isn't something i want to be getting used to. Anti-inflammatory, heat rubs, nothing helps, not even painkillers. It could be a simple cause, but even if it is something simple, it is causing some bad affects on me.

I guess im just walking in the dark here, but im just hoping for something, is there anything anyone can advise out there, Boss Man, i know you said that you can't and won't diagnose anyone, and i respect that and i wouldn't ask you to do so as it is totally unfair and selfish to ask that of someone, but any thoughts on the matter, anything i should possibly do, i feel there isn't much more options for me to do appart from deal with the pain, but it really is affecting every day life, and i can't remember the last time i had a pain free day.

Your goal of aging without any pains is becoming so important for me, even for this age!

[Boss Man]

Here's a suggstion. Sleep in the foetus position.

The position is said to relieve pressue off the spine for people with any sort of spine problem, because the spine cannot fully lengthen, so it shouldn't end up feeling a bit taught perhaps when you sleep.

There are foods that have anti-inflammatory properites, such foods include Onion, Peppers, Peas, Lettuce, Apples, (Quercetin), Pineapple, (Bromelain), which are both supplemental and potentially others as well. Omega Fats should be useful for that too.

In terms of Bone health and joint health, things like Hyaluronic Acid are useful and Chondroitin might work as could Chitosan, but of cause Chitosan contains Chitin, so a shellfish allergy would rule it out. Also Cartazyne works well for catilage issues too.

These are things to consider, but they may not necessarily work. The sleeping position is one to definitely give a go for a few nights and see if that helps at all .

[Martin-Boy2]

Alright thanks again, i'll try the foetus position, but i will find it hard, at least at first. I have tried sleeping like that in the past, but notice i wind up sleeping with legs fully extended again. I will try and hold the position though as it could help, i woke up today and around whole stomach and hips feel tight and horrible. Ive briefly tried to slowly breathe through abs and it is relieving some of the pain, so i guess the physio does kinda have an idea, in a sense, but it's real difficult to constantly breathe through abs and i find that at times when i try to do so, i end up sucking in stomach and pushing it out, rather than breathing through it.

Thanks for the suggestions, i have another appointment this wednesday, finally for neck and knees! I was thinking also, to keep some muscles working:
Back, bi's and forearms - Hammer grip pull ups - GTG - sub max set every day (currently at 16)
Chest, tri's,front delts - Occasional Dips/BP
If i start occasionally running that's some quad + calf work
So was thinking along the lines of adding a SLDL occasionally for hamstrings as they're not getting much stimulation.

Just want to do what i can incase this is going to take a while, don't want to make extra work for myself when i can finally workout fully again

It feels as though where these pains have pretty much came straight out of the blue that they're going to take forever to diagnose and treat, where as if it were caused by an accident there would be an idea of what had caused the pain and what not, so i am kinda concerned. I could probably start exercising, not fully in terms of lower body until knees are sorted, but i would of thought the amount of time i have taken off would of solved the problem or at least minimized it on it's own, it has been good in a sense not having to worry about doing this or that, but this isn't going to get me where i want to be, so i want to try and maintain what i currently have at a least, without knocking the health off the list.

[Martin-Boy2]

Ok today, not bad, as i went for a short type of workout.

Warmed up shoulders and did set of pull ups.

Got home,

Bench 60kg 5x5 with around 60-90 secs rest between sets.

OHP 40kg 5x5 - More rest here, perhaps just over 90 secs, these were a lot harder, started to feel the discomfort after the 2nd set in shoulders, so it's more pressing overhead that aggrivates the pain, also noticed some stiff pain in upper back which i have also noticed when i used to do front squat, kinda in a way as though im winded in upper back, if that makes any sense.

SLDL 40kg 3x10 - These too were fine, but right knee where it's swollen was causing some pain so didn't go too mad with these.

Finished off with 3x15 cuban press which wasn't as bad as usual, more fatigue than pain, which is good. Im hoping to buy a skipping rope later to give it a go, to see if i get any shoulder pain during it, though to be fair i feel i probably will, but hopefully it's still something i'll have use for in the future.

I feel i don't want to bring up the shoulder issue with physio just as yet, as im already being seen for 3 different things and don't want to feel as though im taking the piss, but i noticed the pain is more sort of around the bone and structure, like collar bone and what not, so hard to describe for me, im completely clueless with these sort of things however i noticed the pain had gone after the OHP.

Im looking forward to getting knee sorted, i had a hot bath followed by a cold one after the workout, but it's still hurting now and i have a limited range of motion with right knee, however, the reason i was getting referred was because both ligaments in each knee feel weak and cause me pain - can't cycle, squats hurt, etc, but now that right knee is hurting much more noticeably than left, i hope that in a way, doesn't take over the role of why im going to see the physio as it was initially and to me still is, for both knees.


Pain at the bottom of right knee, seems like the tibia, was considering going for a run tonight, depending on the pain may just go tomorrow instead, or both, if i can.

Thing is i want to start doing sprints, as they're ment to be more effective at developing the calves, but i hear they're not simple and require some planning, on advice on this? Could i just use it as a HIIT form? Sprint 1min, rest 1min, sprint 1 min, rest 1 min, perhaps for 15-20mins?

Will also try out new speed rope this week to get in some cardio, if shoulders will allow

[Boss Man]

HIIT would be a way forward if that's the sort of thing you want to do.

Providing of course the Knees can cope.