Health & Fitness

Returned to playing footy ~month ago.
Played the first game on the weekend after a few weeks training then last night managed to do a massive hammy (4-5 weeker).
Strong game to injury ratio so far lol

bad luck, I have been dealing with a hammy injury the last monthā€¦i got mine chasing my 4 year old on his bike as he was nearing a car park.
Its almost better now, but im sick of swimming and hamstring strength isnt fully back yet.
Also realised that my poor posture sitting at work probably lead to weakness in hamstrings, so ahve consciously worked to improve that.

Iā€™ve done probably a half dozen over the last 15 years.
Would say this is by far the worst one, although Iā€™ll know more over the next week so I can see how quickly it settles down/becomes relatively pain free.
Then I can begin the fun rehab process lol
Think Iā€™ll set myself a baseline strength target in single leg hopping/jumping, hip extension and knee flexion on the non-injured side then once I can meet those marks with the injured legs I know Iā€™ll be good to go again

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Have joined the Gym for the first time in my life three months ago and loving every moment it when I get the chance to go.

What made me join, well , I just had my 3rd child in September last year, quit smoking the day she was born after 25 years of it and I just turned 40.

Iā€™m starting to see results, and for me Iā€™ve been the guy who could never put on weight (or now I thought I couldnā€™t) I weighed 67kg at 178cm since I was 15, but now after three months Iā€™m at 77kg which is pretty impressive for me.
My developments been good, increased mass in shoulders, arms, legs and chest but that where I need some advice, Iā€™m finding an uneven growth or more like an uneven chest shape, is this normal? Should I worry or the bigger I get the more it will even itself out?
Any help would be greatā€¦ Thanks

  1. itā€™s perfectly normal/common. no one is perfectly symmetrical
  2. you can stress certain fibres of (some) muscles more by performing movements slightly differently (for more info google ā€˜regional hypertrophyā€™ although be prepared for a lot of science content)
  3. if itā€™s the actual shape* of your muscle then youā€™ve probably just lucked out in the genetic pool

*all muscles are essentially the same shape (a linear series of individual fibres) but their appearance is dictated by their composition (tendon to muscle ratio) and origin/insertion which varies between individuals

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Thanks for the info @Eastie_Boi1
Your not wrong, there is a lot of science content when you look up ā€œregional hypertrophyā€ but it now feels like Iā€™m getting too information and need to step back and do the basicsā€¦
What I might do is do 3 sets bench with the bar and 2 sets dumbbells, see how that pans outā€¦
Iā€™m also trying to convince myself that weā€™re our own worse criticā€¦

First off - congratulations! Good stuff.

As youā€™re pretty n00b at it, I would suggest itā€™s fairly likely youā€™re not doing your movements symmetrically, which will lead to asymmetric stimulation & growth.
Like everyone weā€™re naturally stronger on one side than the other, you may find youā€™re favouring that side and youā€™ll actually get a snowball effect.

Wonā€™t hear me say this many times, but it might be worth getting some PT sessions. Make sure they pay close attention that youā€™re doing everything evenly, and youā€™ll have to pay close attention to what feels different than before. Some PTs really phone it in, especially if youā€™re pretty new to the whole shebang.

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Say wha?? If your origin or insertion is different youā€™re looking at the wrong muscle.

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Thanks @Henry_s_Angry_Pills felling pretty good about itā€¦

Iā€™ve taken out a few PT Sessions a that finished couple weeks ago but forgot to mention the above to him so i thought Iā€™d seek out some help here as there are a few people know what they are talking aboutā€¦

but one question, why wont I hear you say that it might be worth getting some PT sessions?

PTs do an 8 week course
Often it shows in how often they apply basic principles of bro-science.
See too many of them encourage people to do the wrong things with bad form to have any faith in them.

But I think in your case you most likely need a second pair of eyes.

Iā€™ve massaged over 100 people and looked at over 2 dozen cadavers and there are absolutely variations in origins and insertions.
Iā€™m not talking about different bones (or more accurately bony landmarks) but in things like how thick the tendon is in comparison with the muscle belly, how much of the bony landmark the tendon covers etc
Good example was 2 shoulder specs I looked at in the lab last term at uni; looking at the relative size of infraspinatus and teres minor one spec was about 90% infra and 10% t.minor whereas the spec next to it was about 60:40 and this size difference was represented by a change in CSA covered by the associated tendons.
I think the tendon:muscle belly has a far greater bearing on muscle ā€œshapeā€ with a perfect example being peopleā€™s calves but the tendon attachments definitely play a part.
Probably should have specified in my original post I wasnā€™t referencing location.

Also, @Andrew_5 a lot of gyms these days are employing people with exercise science or exercise physiology degrees and theyā€™re likely to be more equipped to help you (might be fractionally more expensive but certainly theyā€™re ā€˜cheapā€™ when you compare their level of education to a PT)

I like my PT, heā€™s been doing it for 22 years, the reason why I chose him from the beginning was he pulled me up on improper form.

Wouldnā€™t you guess he called me about 15 mins ago and wants to catch up and see if I still have proper form (free of charge)

I technically have an exercise science degree. But donā€™t ask me anything!

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Just gonna hit the treadmillā€¦

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So much to love about that.

Did the woman stitch him up by leaving the treadmill on?
Did the cameraman know about the stitch up?
Or did the cameraman know this guy was a regular spaz and framed him in ā€œjust in case something funny happensā€?
And if thatā€™s the case, is that why the interviewer/interviewee show complete indifference?

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Good that Lav is working out in the off season in the hope of getting a head start on the pre-season. However I canā€™t believe that these ā€œprofessionalā€ sportsmen are doing weights wearing sponges on their feetā€¦ Bare feet, minimalist or flat soled shoes only boys!! Your feet, even if you donā€™t realise it, are searching for clues from the ground to protect you from making life changing or life altering errors. Wearing these wedged sponges cuts out that feedback and also puts forward pressure on your ankles, knees, hips, etc, etc.

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Right shoes or wrong shoes, heā€™s got some shoulders. And thighs.

Good to see.

I donā€™t suppose Aaron Francis was anywhere near, was he?

An EP pHd + 2 x sports science pHd students + 3 x physios + 3 x strength and conditioning coach vs 1 bloke off Blitz.

Hmm.

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But he is correct

You squat through the heels of your feet, which set off your legs/quads/core and ideally place minimal pressure on your lower back

many people lift bare foot/specialised foot wear

Yoga etc all done bare, so you work on your stabilising muscles (which improves overall strength etc for athletes)

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Funny squat heā€™s doing, if weā€™re going to pick apart his squat technique off 2 stills, I would say it looks like heā€™s completely ā– ā– ā– ā– ā– ā–  it.