Born W/O Rhomboid Muscles Challenge

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1


I love that pic LoL, anyways…

To those who read this =

My name is ben and I was, believe it or not, born without rhomboid muscles. I found this out by going to the osteopath (who by the way is my mums friend and does not charge me, so he is not just trying to get money off me).

I didnt believe it at first myself but it made sense considering how my back looked in comparison to others when I put my arm behind my back (my shoulder blade sticks out ALOT more than anyone elses! It looks like a chicken wing, good party trick, i get allot of “Woh! Thats Mad!” when I do it), or the fact that when I was on a college course involving gym work we were all stretching our shoulders by pulling our arm across our torso to the opposite shoulder, everyone would have a “wow this stretch is intense” look on their face while I was standing there thinking “this is doing nothing!”.

Dont get me wrong, it does have its good points, for instance I have a longer punch reach than anyone with the same length arm (due to no restriction from rhomboid muscles), this can be good in martial arts or sport fighting (which is one of my interests) but it is a pain when it comes to weight training!

I regularly read T-Nation articles, study nutrition, body building and whatever I can towards my body goals (like most guys- big, lean and healthy).

I make sure my nutrition is exceptional, I train smart and hard (when the workout requires it) and I get enough rest, recovery and sleep (I work on improving these areas progressively with updates on new discoveries, just like everyone else).

Unfortunately this “being born without rhomboids” thing does limit my abilities for certain exercises and does make it very hard to keep my form solid due to shoulder instability (shoulder press is very hard for me to keep my form solid during especially).

I am passionate about exercise and working out, so when I put all my blood, sweat and tears into my workouts and my shoulders “buckle” it is very frustrating. Fortunately this frustration and anger makes me work harder on my form, “I AM NOT LETTING THIS ST GET IN THE F*ING WAY, YOU WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU NEXT SET!!!” is often an internal auditory dialogue I come across LoL. :slight_smile:

This all being said I would like to invite anyone-

  • Readers
  • Experienced lifters
  • Authors
  • Bodybuilders
  • Anyone who can add their own thoughts

Basically anyone who can contribute (more heads are better than one this one) towards any ideas around=

~ Workout tips
~ Specific exercises that can help improve a workout for someone who has no rhomboid muscles (me or anyone else who is the same, I heard it is 1 in 500 people, though most never find out).
~ Ways around the instability problem (I have come up with a few myself but would like to hear others thoughts).

I have no probs with my nutrition, rest, recovery, sleep, its just the workout problems due to this absent rhomboid, but more and any info is welcome on anything that can help/contribute.

In spite of this I am pretty happy with the results I have been able to achieve considering this P.I.T.A (pain in the arse).

Anyone who can contribute I give thanks to. Feel free to ask any questions . Wishing you all fulfillment in your goals, dreams and anything you drive towards. Laters :wink:

“RESPECT, HONOUR, PASSION, COMPASSION, PURPOSE, UNDERSTANDING, ACTION AND WISDOM. USE THESE POWERFUL WONDERS TOWARDS LIFE AND SHARE THEM WHEN YOU CAN” :wink:

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[quote]bencook wrote:

My name is ben and I was, believe it or not, born without rhomboid muscles. I found this out by going to the osteopath (who by the way is my mums friend and does not charge me, so he is not just trying to get money off me).

[/quote]

Get a second opinion. How old are you?

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[quote]Professor X wrote:
bencook wrote:

My name is ben and I was, believe it or not, born without rhomboid muscles. I found this out by going to the osteopath (who by the way is my mums friend and does not charge me, so he is not just trying to get money off me).

Get a second opinion. How old are you?[/quote]

I agree, and does he mean you have NO rhomboids or does he mean you have under developed, weak or over stretched rhomboids.
Just thoughts, I have never heard of this.
Use a bench with a back rest when your overhead pressing. Do them in the smith machine, or try a nutral grip.

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[quote]Doyle wrote:
Professor X wrote:
bencook wrote:

My name is ben and I was, believe it or not, born without rhomboid muscles. I found this out by going to the osteopath (who by the way is my mums friend and does not charge me, so he is not just trying to get money off me).

Get a second opinion. How old are you?

I agree, and does he mean you have NO rhomboids or does he mean you have under developed, weak or over stretched rhomboids.
Just thoughts, I have never heard of this.
Use a bench with a back rest when your overhead pressing. Do them in the smith machine, or try a nutral grip.

[/quote]

It is HIGHLY unlikely this kid has no rhomboid muscles. Unless his “mom’s friend” cut him open to see if there was a muscle there, he is repeating half understood information that probably stemmed from a passing comment about how atrophied his muscles are.

You would not be able to tell if someone were actually missing an entire muscle group (on both sides, no less) by simply looking at them in that area. Atrophied muscles are barely evident on anorexic women. That doesn’t mean they weren’t born with them.

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joined in Oct 2004 and just now has his first post.

can’t really say anything that hasn’t been said yet.

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then again, the woman could be right guys. WTF is wrong with you. A simple X-Ray will prove it :smiley:

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Ive NEVER heard of something like this

truthfully im a bit skeptical but then again you do get people that are born without major organs like their liver or a lung

8

What country do you live in? I am generally skeptical of osteopaths because I hear things like this.

9

Please provide a picture.

If this is a troll job, it’s 4 years in the making, which shows way too much effort.

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Is this even possible? I mean wouldn’t he be unable to perform certain back movements and have the potential for serious injury if he is missing a muscle that big?

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[quote]Alquemist wrote:
Is this even possible? [/quote]

Anything is possible. Everything is not probable.

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I doubt it, I think this guy’s lack of development leads him to believe he has no rhomboid muscles.

13

I tend to believe it because I suspect, through daily experiences with them, that there are many, many people who were born with no brains as well.

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I have heard of a unilateral absence of the trapezius muscle, but have never heard of rhomboid muscle absence. It is definitely possible though.

If this is actually the case, then I’d say focus on exercises that target the rhomboids. This will teach and strengthen the muscles to compensate for your lack of rhomboids.

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I don;t know. This actually explains why I can;t see my abz these days. Clearly some devious organ thieves stole my rectus abdominus when I was sleeping after my first show.

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[quote]threewhitelights wrote:
I have heard of a unilateral absence of the trapezius muscle, but have never heard of rhomboid muscle absence. It is definitely possible though.

If this is actually the case, then I’d say focus on exercises that target the rhomboids. This will teach and strengthen the muscles to compensate for your lack of rhomboids.[/quote]

There is no way anyone should give advice here without knowing the details. This is this guy’s one and only post on this site in spite of his join date. Let’s be a bit more skeptical about claims like this.

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[quote]Professor X wrote:
This is this guy’s one and only post on this site in spite of his join date. Let’s be a bit more skeptical about claims like this.[/quote]

Exactly. And if this was such a pressing issue, don’t you think he would have logged on again to check and respond to any response he has gotten?

I’m calling complete bullshit.

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Maybe he’s a mutant and this is the next stage in human evolution. We can call him “Non-Rhomboid Man”. I’m not sure what his superpower would be though. Sucking at back exercises doesn’t sound like a very interesting power.

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[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:
then again, the woman could be right guys. WTF is wrong with you. A simple X-Ray will prove it :D[/quote]

oh COME ON! that was clever and funny, FUCK you guys LOL

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[quote]Professor X wrote:
There is no way anyone should give advice here without knowing the details. This is this guy’s one and only post on this site in spite of his join date. Let’s be a bit more skeptical about claims like this.[/quote]

What details? It’s either there or it isn’t. Like I said, if it actually is the case, then the treatment is to strengthen impaired movements. If it’s not the case, then he is taking is health into his own hands in the first place by asking for suggestions.

If the muscle isn’t absent, but is rather weak and elongated, then the suggestion still remains the same, strengthen the affected movements.

It’s not that I’m not being skeptical, but rather that if he took the time to post it, I might as well take the time to answer it rather than telling others not to. When someone posts saying they are having trouble hitting squat depth I don’t ask for details or video proof, I post what I think will help. If they’re lying, it’s not like I’ve lost anything.