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| Q: Using much of the advice from your T-Nation articles, I am successfully fixing all my kinetic chain problems and my shoulders feel better than ever. I had a minor tear in teres minor. I know that overhead pressing might not be a good thing for someone with my problem; however, when my doctor x-rayed my shoulder, he told me that I have plenty space in the joint. Would you recommend that I still follow the advice given in the Shoulder Savers series? Would you recommend that I do dips? Any advice is greatly appreciated.
A: Let pain be your guide. Your pain could be related to an AC joint problem that you don’t even know about; that would be made much worse by dips – but you likely wouldn’t have any pain with overhead pressing. Conversely, if your teres minor tear is the problem, the overhead pressing would probably cause more problems than dips (although neither would be particularly good for the shoulder).
Just so you know, a good subacromial space on x-rays doesn't necessarily mean that you'll have a good space during dynamic activities. Keep that in mind as you move forward cautiously...
Also, a lot of people have good spaces, but poor scapular stability, thoracic spine mobility, etc. A lot of things affect whether or not you can perform a particular exercise pain-free.
Eric Cressey |
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| Five innovative training strategies from Eric Cressey, including some counterintuitive ab work, a novel bench routine, some single leg movements, a better box squat, and some benching with lumber.
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| We opened Cressey Performance on July 17, 2007. Amidst all the lifting, jumping, sprinting med-ball-stomping, and blaring of loud music, we neglected to actually make a website - until now.
www.CresseyPerformance.com
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| Q: What’s your take on reverse hypers? I’ve heard some people who adore them and others who completely dismiss them.
A: Put it this way: there are already some pretty noteworthy lawsuits taking place against chiropractors who have injured patients with flexion-distraction techniques.
Our spines aren’t designed to buttress shear that comes from the lower body moving on the upper body with flexion (the bottom part of the movement). We can handle the “hyper” part of the hyperextensions without worrying as much about injuries to the disc, but over time, repeated hyperextension patterns can lead to such problems as spondylolysis (vertebral fracture), spondylolisthesis (vertebral slippage), and the diffuse lower back tightness that so many people have.
As with almost any exercise, though, the devil is in the details. If you don’t allow your legs to swing under you in the bottom position (i.e., stay in neutral spine), and also fire the glutes to stop-short and avoid hyperextension at the top, you can avoid the aforementioned problems. The problem for most lifters here is ego; if you are going to use these modifications strictly, you’ll have to take your load down by a LOT.
So, there are contraindicated people and contraindicated techniques – but not necessarily a contraindicated exercise.
For more information, I highly recommend Dr. Stuart McGill’s Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance. |
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