Traps/Upper Back Pain

So this has happened a few times in the past.

When doing an exercise (I remember chest supported db rows but maybe also db farmer walks) I would feel a stabbing pain in my left trap, more or less in the middle area (if it were on the front of my body, it’d probably be at mid pecs height) near the spine, so on the inner/medial portion.

This would probably last a second, like a stitch.

A few times when doing front squats (I use a clean grip) I would feel a similar pain and that’d make me very uncomfortable.

Today I was doing heavier front squats than I was used to (10-15 kg more than my bw) and I started feeling this as well. I pushed through the set and now I notice the same part on my LEFT trap as well is hurting.

I don’t think this is quite a normal kind of pain. Anyone experienced this as well? Hope I explained it well enough.

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I can’t speak for you, but I get SERIOUS knots in my traps and rhomboids. Use a heating pad/hot water bottle to get blood to the area.

Getting a sports massage wouldn’t hurt either. Good luck convincing the 90lb woman that she isn’t causing you excruciating pain.

Also band pull aparts.

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if your rhomboids are causing you pain then it’s most likely because your mid/lower traps aren’t firing properly.

Lots of scapular retraction and upward rotation. Most people do the retraction, very few do the upward rotation even though it’s a huge part of it.

Massage’ll open you up a bit and increase mobility but it won’t really be addressing the cause of the problem, just the symptoms.

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Upward rotation like front raises with full range of motion and overhead shrugs?

Also, I’m thinking about my clean grip and now I’m realizing that I might not be doing it properly.

Am I supposed to keep the scapulae strongly retracted while holding the bar? I’ve been holding a more neutral position because I find it very difficult to keep the shoulder blades back while also thinking about keeping the elbows up and in front of me—the position forces me into somewhat of a more protracted setup.

Overhead shrugs are technically scapular elevation, but they are good for shoulder pain. Problem is loading them is a nightmare.

Front raises won’t do - you need to think about the force angle here. It’s really all shoulders and upper traps, and chances are your upper traps are already overactive and tight so really you probably don’t want to do anything more for them.

Something like the YTWLI (or whatever the acronym is) or prone trap raises would be a better bet. Do them as part of your warm up from now on.

Yeah but don’t they train the movement in an upward rotated scapular position?

I’m trying to work out how this should be done (just looked it up on Google, had never heard of it): am I supposed to just to the movements unloaded like a drill?

I’m trying to get the difference between these and rear delt raise.

So in these I basically lift the weight putting the arms more in front of me, as opposed to delt raises where arms are kept strictly at my sides. Also, on these I should retract the scapula to engage traps, whereas on delt raises you keep the back neutral to focus on the delts. Right?

Anyway, speaking of warm up: I never really do any warm up routine, and my warm up consists of doing several lighter sets for the exercise I’m about to do, working progressively towards my working weight. Is there any merit to doing warm up drills or exercise like you suggest doing with the ones for traps? If so, do you have any more recommendations?

Yeah, and they also bring some serratus in which is really good (the serratus is an antagonist for the rhomboids, but it’s pretty hard to hit). It’s just a super awkward exercise to do though. If you can make it work then do.

Adjust it to your level. Start with the lightest dumbbells you can find. This is not a strength exercise, so slow, controlled, squeezing reps are what’s in order. Seriously - use the lightest dumbbell you can.

Quite hard to explain, but I’ll try.

So you’re lying face down on a bench on a very slight incline. With a neutral grip (like you’re holding a cup of coffee) raise your arm up until it’s like the top of a shoulder press, or ever so slightly further back (don’t extend your back or anything to compensate). Hold the rep for a couple of seconds at the top. I find I can concentrate more on my mid/lower traps if I only lower the weight 45 degrees or so on the subsequent reps.

You’ll need to play around with it a bit, but when you get it you’ll feel it under your shoulderblade in a way you probably never have before. Some people like to use a bar, some people us dumbbells in kind of a V shape at the top. I like dumbbells, neutral grip raised straight out in front of me.

A warm up should address your specific mobility deficits and injury history. If you are having pain like you’ve described then the drills we’ve talked about can give instant (literally instant) relief so you can train pain free.

I’ve posted this more times than I can even remember, but try this:

-Reach down to touch your toes keeping your back straight, don’t compensate with lumbar flexion.

-Now do 3 sets of bird dogs.

-Now touch your toes again. I bet you got way deeper into the stretch that time, eh?

Such is the power of activation exercises. When you activate a sleeping (or however you’d describe it) muscle your nervous system lets all the other muscles that are compensating for it relax, because it’s taking it’s share of the load again.

Like your overactive rhomboids causing pain can be immediately remedied by switching on your mid/lower traps, allowing your rhomboids and upper traps to relax.

I have a history of back pain, and when it flares up my lower back and hamstrings are stiff as hell and I can hardly move. 5 or 10 minutes of glute and core activation lets my hammies and low back relax, restoring movement quality and removing pain.

So yeah - warm ups can be very effective but you should tailor them to your specific needs.

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Do you mean something like this?

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yeah, although I don’t do them on as high an angle as that.

If King Charles says to then that way then his way’s probably better. The old Eric Cressey article I first saw them in had them the way I described.

Okay thanks!

anytime, baby

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But they’re worth it for the Happy Endings.

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lol, I had a massage when I was in Thailand. Like, a legit massage from some 80lb little Thai lady. Not one of those massage parlours with 8 slamming hot whores sitting outside (although I may have taken a drunken trip into one of those later on in the holiday).

So just as I’m getting on my little massage bed and the lady pulls the curtain for some privacy, an old man comes in and they put him on the other bed. The massage itself was good but the whole time I’m lying there thinking “if I hear anything that sounds even remotely like an old man getting a hand job I will be out of here in 2 seconds flat.” Made it hard to relax.

Oh yeah I think they made it illegal for licensed parlours to have partitions so you’re stuck with just curtains seperating you lol.

haha, yeah, and the beds were like 8 inches apart! Haha. Was a little awkward.

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@Yogi1 thank you! I tried the Prone trap raises before the front squat and most of the pain went away! I did concentrate on my traps during the raises and indeed I felt a funny feeling in that area.

Anyway, there are still some things that I want to get the hang of regarding the clean grip position, as sometimes the bar positions itself in such a way that compresses my front delt causing ungodly pain.

Today I did a single at 92 kg and 3 sets of 6 with 82 kg (at a bw of 72 kg, 7 weeks into a cut).

Here’s the video of my second set of 6.

I’d like to hear how you think my form looks. Thanks!

looks alright to me, man.

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The functional/athletic guys will flame me for this. But if you’re not focusing on Olympic lifting why not just front squat with the bodybuilding style hold? No pain and you still get all the leg and core work out of the front squat.

front-squat

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i don’t like that hold. i can’t get the bar to remain stable (it oscillates slightly) and it feels even worse in the back (probably because it forces the scapulae into a protracted position).

i’d actually tried that one before giving the clean grip a whirl, and i like the latter much better.

(plus i have plans to lean to power clean in the future, so mastering the grip can definitely set me up)

Alright 2 more options for fun. The most comfortable for me is the no hands version.

There’s also the one where you still use clean grip but you wrap straps around the bar and you hold the straps about 2 inches above the bar. This is for people with bad wrist mobility like me.