the leg; when it is infringed, the pain can be very strong, making it impossible for a person to move.

Injuries to the lower back can be caused by abdominal exercises, such as sit-ups and leg raises, which put a lot of stress on the lumbar region. Bodybuilders who effortlessly perform deadlifts or heavy barbell bends have sometimes been surprised to injure their lower back during a “simple” abs workout.

UPPER BACK

Any muscle in the upper back can be stretched: trapezius, rhomboid, latissimus dorsi (lateral), teres major (the muscle that comes from the back of the shoulder blade and connects to the humerus; it adducts the arm and rotates it inward), and so on. For example, neck sprains are fairly common. It is often difficult to tell which particular muscle has been overstressed. You may feel pain when you turn your head, lift your shoulder, or bend your back. Frank Zane once sprained a muscle in his upper back when he tensed that area of ​​his body for better balance when curling his arms with a barbell on an isolation bench.

Often you have to simultaneously contract these muscles and apply pulling force to them, which can lead to overstrain and partial tearing of muscle fibers. Unless the injury is too severe, you don't need to know which muscle has been stretched. Give this part of the body a good rest and use simple methods of treatment.

MUSCLES OF THE SHOULDER

Shoulder girdle injuries are quite common among bodybuilders. Exercises such as the bench press or shoulder press put a lot of stress on the shoulder muscles.

Overexertion can lead to a partial rupture of the rotator cuff (the tendon of the rotator cuff). It is also possible to stretch any of the three heads of the deltoid muscle or their tendons at the point of connection with the muscle or bone.

Another possible problem is deltoid bursitis. The tendon bursa (bursa) is a closed cavity in the connective tissue between the tendon and adjacent bone, which moving towards each other. It creates a well lubricated surface for the tendon to slide over the periosteum. Bursitis is a type of inflammation in which the tendon bag cannot perform its function: movement in this area is difficult and causes severe pain. Frank Zane suffered from bursitis and was able to overcome it with a balanced vitamin diet, chiropractic treatment, and light exercise until he fully recovered.

Biceps tendonitis is another common shoulder girdle problem in which the biceps tendon becomes inflamed from constant stress and friction when moving back and forth. These injuries are often treated with injections of drugs such as cortisone.

In the case of a shoulder injury, it is sometimes possible to perform exercises for the shoulder girdle from other angles - for example, raising the arms with dumbbells instead of alternating frontal raises to develop the posterior head of the deltoid muscle instead of the anterior one. Alternatively, you can use a variation of the isometric method and simply hold heavy dumbbells in your outstretched arms. This will keep the deltoid muscles toned and give them extra density before the competition.

PECTORAL MUSCLES

Stretching of the muscles of the chest most often occurs in the area of ​​​​their connection with the humerus. Because many bodybuilders like to bench press as heavy as possible, these stretches are often associated with barbell overload and not warming up well enough.

A significant proportion of pectoral muscle injuries are also attributed to poor movement technique. When you lower the bar too quickly on the bench press, it can lead to a sudden overload of the entire muscle and tendon structure. The same thing can happen when lying down with dumbbells, especially if the muscles are tight and have not been properly warmed up and stretched before training.

BICEPS

A rupture of the biceps can occur in the head or tail of the muscle, or anywhere in the muscle tissue. Injury occurs as a result of a single powerful load or the cumulative effects of prolonged training.

The biceps are relatively small muscles and are often subject to overtraining because they are involved in a variety of exercises. In addition to exercises for the biceps themselves and for the back, any kind of pulling movement - from pulling on the lower block to pulling up on the bar with a wide grip - puts a load on the biceps. It can be very difficult to continue training with an injury to the biceps, as these muscles are needed for a wide variety of movements. Rest and stillness is perhaps the only way to recover from a bicep strain.

In the case of a very serious injury, with a complete tear of the biceps tissue, a surgical operation may be necessary.

TRICEPS

Triceps are subject to the same strains as biceps and other muscles that have an oblong shape. Another common type of triceps injury is ulnar bursitis. When doing stretching movements, like the triceps extension, you are pulling hard on the lower part of the triceps at the elbow, located above the mucous bag. Gradually, irritation occurs there, which, with constant stress, can intensify and turn into chronic inflammation.

Triceps strain also occurs as a result of overtraining or sudden loading due to poor movement technique. In the case of a complete rupture of the triceps, surgery is necessary.

ELBOWS

Elbows are subjected to constant stress when performing various presses. In addition to the acute problems that result from overloading the joints when lifting heavy weights or sloppy movement technique, months and years of heavy training has a cumulative damaging effect on the elbows, sometimes leading to severe arthritis.

The problem of degeneration of articular tissues can also occur in other places, such as the shoulder and knee joints. It is difficult to determine in the early stages, since the changes occur very slowly and are almost imperceptible at first. One symptom is a gradual increase in pain, the other is an increasingly limited range of motion. Each of these signs points to damage to the internal structures of the elbow joint, which, if left unattended, may eventually become irreversible. For common elbow sprains, simple methods of treatment are used: complete rest, ice packs, pressure bandages, and fixation of the arm in a raised position.

For stabilization elbow joints when working with very heavy weights, they can be wrapped with an elastic bandage.

FOREARMS

Because most exercises place the weight of the weight on the wrists and forearms, the muscles in the forearms often stretch and contract at the same time. This leads to stretching of the muscles or tendons.

Pulling or bending movements with an overhand grip, such as pull-ups on the bar, bench presses from the floor, or reverse curls with a barbell, place the forearms in a mechanically disadvantageous position, in which they are weakened and more prone to injury. The head of one of the extensor muscles of the forearm at the elbow bend is often injured, however, sprain can occur in any part of the muscle up to the hand.

Because of the frequent injury to the forearm in barbell reverse curls, Dr. Franco Colombo recommends avoiding this movement and instead using barbell reverse wrist curls to develop the outside of the forearms.

A forearm injury can become chronic as you have to hold a tight grip in many different exercises. With constant training, it is difficult to provide rest to the muscles of the forearm if the stretch has already taken place.

In addition to the usual treatments for sprains, I have found that acupuncture can help speed recovery in some cases.

INJURY TRAINING

Although rest is absolutely essential for the recovery of an injured muscle, bodybuilders who train for competition simply cannot stop working every time because of a minor muscle or tendon strain. They need to find a way to keep exercising while avoiding making the injury worse. There are no clear answers here. It takes experience to know which movements can worsen your condition and which are relatively safe. While training for the 1980 Olympia, I injured my shoulder shortly before the start of the competition; as a result, severe pain prevented me from performing a regular barbell overhead press. However, I found that I could press the barbell with a narrow grip and was able to continue training the shoulder girdle without further damage to my health. There are also isometric exercises with dumbbells that I mentioned. above.

One bodybuilder who sprained his forearms and couldn't do a normal dumbbell or machine curl found through trial and error that he was able to do dumbbell curls ("hammer"). when the forearms are turned at a certain angle to each other. This allowed him to train without pain until the injury healed. If you have a forearm or bicep injury, you can sometimes train with an EZ bar that allows you to change the position of your hands.

Injury to the triceps makes it very difficult to perform exercises such as triceps presses and extensions, but sometimes there is an opportunity to train despite the stretch: for example, pulling back with a dumbbell in an incline creates a very small load on the triceps, which increases only at the very end of the movement.

In the case of a minor injury, you can usually work out the injured area with additional warm-up and stretching before exercising.

Sometimes you have the opportunity to train with injuries, and sometimes you don't. Of course, in the event of a severe injury, you are simply not able to work in the same way as before.

Remember, any competition is just a competition. Your career means so much more. Any attempt to develop a serious injury can only worsen your condition and create chronic problems