pain

[rehamco1]

I just read about pain in the archives....but I did not see anything about neck pain...I try to bag 15 minutes a session...have just started getting neck pain. is the answer just to relax?? or am I doing something very wrong? would really appreciate any suggestions...thank you

[Zaza]

Yes... tells us more about the height of your platform and where the belly of the bag comes to in relation to your face when standing still looking forward at it.

Like Ralph said, you might just have it too high. I personally like the belly of the bag between my nose and mouth which might be a little high for some.

[rehamco1]

good answers

thank you the bag height is right....I have started to move around more under the board.....and that seems to help quite a bit...just finished punching and hardly any pain at all...you guys are good thank you

[Speedbag]

thank you the bag height is right....I have started to move around more under the board.....and that seems to help quite a bit...just finished punching and hardly any pain at all...you guys are good thank you

Hey Rehamco1. The above posts give excellent advice. A lower board helps keep the elbow a bit lower when you "hold them up" as you are probably trying to do. But I would also suggest you adjust your stance to hold the elbows a bit lower than you might think. Sometimes holding the elbow "up", which really means holding the upper arm (shoulder to elbow) up close to parallel, and we can inadvertently start to shrug the shoulders a bit (flex the trapezius muscle). This is a very large muscle you feel on the side of your neck and over the top of the shoulder behind your clavice bones. the video below is pretty helpful to explain this muscle, and notice how the entire upper region of it attaches to the cervical neck bones. This muscle helps stabilize the arm when it is held upwards as well as move and stabilize the scapula.

I have noticed that this muscle starts to hurt when I hold my arms "up" for long periods of time and the deltoids (primary shoulder muscles) start to fatigue or fail, this muslce tends to tighten and I'll start shrugging my shoulders UP to maintain the position. This puts a lot of extended pressure on your cervical spine, pulling those bones downward slightly as this muscle continually contracts. The result is this muscle feeling painful in the neck and upper back regions.

It happens to me a lot now, especially since I no longer have the real portions of my cervical vertebrae, as most of them were removed during a posterior laminectomy some years ago.

link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCX1nEN91ts

I have personally found the best fix for this kind of pain is to generally lower the position of my upper arms, ie, hold my elbows lower and do more shoulder motions to let this muscle relax and not say contracted too long. Perhaps this will help you delay or avoid this pain. I hope so



(* nasty incision picture and lousy haircut...just so you know)

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