Hi Cathe, Hi fans. I love the new tapes, they are so much fun, and effective, because I've lost 3 of those last 5 pounds I have been wanting to lose, so I'm very excited. My problem is that I have been experiencing a lot of trapezius and neck pain. I do follow your warm ups, cooldowns and stretches, but I feel very tense in my upper body. I do stretch at my desk every day, but my neck still feels tight as a rope. I've been getting headaches, because my upper body is so tight. I'll describe my workout routine for the last 3 weeks, and please let me know, if it's too much? WEEK 1= M-Cardio Kicks a.m., Walk 2 miles p.m., T-Walk 1 mile a.m., Circuit Max p.m., W-Cardio Kicks a.m., Walk 2 miles p.m., Th-Lower body Sculpting a.m., Step & Intervals p.m., F-OFF, S-10-10-10 a.m., Kickbox p.m., Sun-All step a.m., Power Cicuit p.m. WEEK 2= M-OFF, T-Leaner legs a.m., Strong legs p.m. W-Walk 3 miles, Th-Core Cardio I a.m., Core Cardio II p.m., F-OFF, S-MIS, Sun- MIC a.m., Cardio Kicks p.m. and Yoga Sculpt. WEEK 3= M-Body Max, T-OFF, W-Interval Max, Th-OFF, F-OFF (today). What am I doing wrong? Should I be doing more yoga? My upper back is really bad. Any suggestions? Please, pretty please!
Experiencing too much trapezius pain with the new 8 pack,
- Thread starter Lourdy
- Start date
S
Steplover
Guest
By any chance....
are you new or semi-new to kickboxing? I noticed that you have done Cardio Kicks a few times. My reason for asking is because when I first started kickboxing, I had the same problem you described. I figure out that I was hunching up my shoulders during kickboxing instead of relaxing my upper body. I took me a few times to get use to relaxing my upper body. Once I did that, I stopped having pain.
Sorry to butt in. I just thought this might help.
Tammy
are you new or semi-new to kickboxing? I noticed that you have done Cardio Kicks a few times. My reason for asking is because when I first started kickboxing, I had the same problem you described. I figure out that I was hunching up my shoulders during kickboxing instead of relaxing my upper body. I took me a few times to get use to relaxing my upper body. Once I did that, I stopped having pain.
Sorry to butt in. I just thought this might help.
Tammy
Kickboxing
Hi Tammy, you may be right, I have been doing Kickboxing for a couple of years, but I haven't noticed my form. I thought that like boxers, you are suppose to hunch over, maybe I'm wrong. Am I? I will try what you're saying and see if that helps. You know, as I'm typing this I found my shoulders up by my ears, so you may have a point. How do you keep your shoulders from creeping up?
Hi Tammy, you may be right, I have been doing Kickboxing for a couple of years, but I haven't noticed my form. I thought that like boxers, you are suppose to hunch over, maybe I'm wrong. Am I? I will try what you're saying and see if that helps. You know, as I'm typing this I found my shoulders up by my ears, so you may have a point. How do you keep your shoulders from creeping up?
S
Steplover
Guest
Hunching!
Hi Again!
You do need to keep your arms up so you are guarding your face. I have heard that I should not tense up my upper body. I just keep my shoulders down in their natural position and bring my arms up. If I bring my shoulders up towards my ears I can hardly move my head the next day.
Maybe Cathe will see this since it up at the top. I am sure she can explain it better.
Tammy
Hi Again!
You do need to keep your arms up so you are guarding your face. I have heard that I should not tense up my upper body. I just keep my shoulders down in their natural position and bring my arms up. If I bring my shoulders up towards my ears I can hardly move my head the next day.
Maybe Cathe will see this since it up at the top. I am sure she can explain it better.
Tammy
D
Debra
Guest
more on hunching
It's really easy to bring those shoulders up not only when you're exercising, but all day long. Sometimes it's just a habit, sometimes because you're straining with effort during a workout. I store a lot of tension in my upper body & find that any type of stretching tape (yoga, pilates, etc) helps make me more body concious. So it has the immediate effect of stretching & the carryover benefit of better posture & body movement. So you might consider doing the yoga tape more frequently along with adjusting your form.
It's really easy to bring those shoulders up not only when you're exercising, but all day long. Sometimes it's just a habit, sometimes because you're straining with effort during a workout. I store a lot of tension in my upper body & find that any type of stretching tape (yoga, pilates, etc) helps make me more body concious. So it has the immediate effect of stretching & the carryover benefit of better posture & body movement. So you might consider doing the yoga tape more frequently along with adjusting your form.
hunching
Hi Debra, I went out and bought a couple more Yoga tapes and Pilates, I heard those are pretty good. I tried them over the weekend, but I guess I have to get used to doing these tapes and doing them more often like you're suggesting. As we've been discussing this on the forum, I am more aware of my posture, so thanks alot, I will keep that in mind.
Hi Debra, I went out and bought a couple more Yoga tapes and Pilates, I heard those are pretty good. I tried them over the weekend, but I guess I have to get used to doing these tapes and doing them more often like you're suggesting. As we've been discussing this on the forum, I am more aware of my posture, so thanks alot, I will keep that in mind.
Cathe Friedrich
Administrator
Hi Lourdy!
I was just reading this thread over and I would agree that you should invest some time into a stretching workout too. A daily warm/hot bath with epsom salt followed by a unit massager would also be great. Scheduling a professional weekly massage would be very beneficial too but I know that can be a bit costly.
I also agree that this tension could be due to the hunching motion of kickboxing. While a natural kickboxer does hunch, I try not to encourage that in my workouts simply because of the neck tension factor. Eventually this natural kickboxers hunching motion would become easier and less uncomfortable but since I do not feel that we are in training to be a kickboxing pro, I really try to discourage the true hunch that goes with it. Along with the neck tension factor, I do not find a hunched position to encourage good overall posture and therefore hate to workout and/or train that way.
You'll find yourself naturally hunch a bit as you get more aggressive with your workout but try to keep that hunch a bit more relaxed with a less clenched feeling in the neck and shoulders.
Good Luck!
I was just reading this thread over and I would agree that you should invest some time into a stretching workout too. A daily warm/hot bath with epsom salt followed by a unit massager would also be great. Scheduling a professional weekly massage would be very beneficial too but I know that can be a bit costly.
I also agree that this tension could be due to the hunching motion of kickboxing. While a natural kickboxer does hunch, I try not to encourage that in my workouts simply because of the neck tension factor. Eventually this natural kickboxers hunching motion would become easier and less uncomfortable but since I do not feel that we are in training to be a kickboxing pro, I really try to discourage the true hunch that goes with it. Along with the neck tension factor, I do not find a hunched position to encourage good overall posture and therefore hate to workout and/or train that way.
You'll find yourself naturally hunch a bit as you get more aggressive with your workout but try to keep that hunch a bit more relaxed with a less clenched feeling in the neck and shoulders.
Good Luck!
Too much neck and trapezius pain
Thank you so much for responding. I also wanted to thank you for your hard work in creating these videos for women like us, who prefer to workout at home. They are not only fun & entertaining, but educational and such a valuable tool to have. I do need to know if my workout routine in my original post is too much? Do you personally think that I'm doing too much, and maybe this is part of the cause for my pain, or should I just keep up the good work and take your advise about stretching more.
Thank you so much for responding. I also wanted to thank you for your hard work in creating these videos for women like us, who prefer to workout at home. They are not only fun & entertaining, but educational and such a valuable tool to have. I do need to know if my workout routine in my original post is too much? Do you personally think that I'm doing too much, and maybe this is part of the cause for my pain, or should I just keep up the good work and take your advise about stretching more.
Cathe Friedrich
Administrator
Hi Lourdy!
I looked over your last three weeks and I would have to say that week one definitely looked like a bit too much. Concerning your neck tension, week one had 3 full kickbox workouts plus 2 Xpress tapes that had kickbox in them. Even the most experienced kickboxer could experience tension/fatigue from this. You also had a lot of double cardio's in the first week. Try to ease into new programs at a gentler pace. I did notice that week two and three you cut back considerably on both kickbox plus your overall workout total. Thats good. Did you notice your neck stiffness go away or lessen quite a bit? If so, thats a sign that your first week was too much and too soon.
I really recommend doing no more than one cardio workout per day 5 days a week(6 total cardio at the most and if so wait until about 4 weeks into your program). Try to keep your weight program to training each body part for a maximum of two times per week(but start out with one time per week for at least the first 4 weeks and see if you even need to add that second time). Listen to your body at all times by modifying during your workouts when necessary and adding planned and unplanned rest days when your body experiences intense soreness, pain, or overall lethargy. Good Luck!
Side Note: I happen to notice that week two had an a.m. workout of Leaner Legs and a p.m. workout of Strong Legs. I think you would get much better results if you spread those two intense workouts out by a couple of days.
I looked over your last three weeks and I would have to say that week one definitely looked like a bit too much. Concerning your neck tension, week one had 3 full kickbox workouts plus 2 Xpress tapes that had kickbox in them. Even the most experienced kickboxer could experience tension/fatigue from this. You also had a lot of double cardio's in the first week. Try to ease into new programs at a gentler pace. I did notice that week two and three you cut back considerably on both kickbox plus your overall workout total. Thats good. Did you notice your neck stiffness go away or lessen quite a bit? If so, thats a sign that your first week was too much and too soon.
I really recommend doing no more than one cardio workout per day 5 days a week(6 total cardio at the most and if so wait until about 4 weeks into your program). Try to keep your weight program to training each body part for a maximum of two times per week(but start out with one time per week for at least the first 4 weeks and see if you even need to add that second time). Listen to your body at all times by modifying during your workouts when necessary and adding planned and unplanned rest days when your body experiences intense soreness, pain, or overall lethargy. Good Luck!
Side Note: I happen to notice that week two had an a.m. workout of Leaner Legs and a p.m. workout of Strong Legs. I think you would get much better results if you spread those two intense workouts out by a couple of days.