Injury Guide: Click Here to Fix Your Injuries

[Mehdi]

Why You Injured Yourself
In most cases, was one of these:

• Bad Posture. Example: posterior pelvic tilt can cause your back to round on squats/deadlifts, increasing risks of lower backinjuries.
• Lack of Mobility. Ankle, hips, thoracic spine, glenohumeral joint are made for mobility. Knee, lower-back stability. If mobile joint lacks mobility, stabile joint will be forced to compensate. Example: lack of hip mobility will force mobility at the lower back and/or knee, causing problems there.
• Muscle Imbalances. Example: most people are quad dominant. Strengthening the posterior chain alone will fix a lot of problems.
• Bad Technique. Not doing your exercises correctly. (read all articles on the blog and starting strength)

Getting Treatment
Pain is your body telling you something is wrong. Taking medication to get rid of the pain doesn't solve anything. Pain will come back, most likely harder. And when medication doesn't work anymore, most doctors will propose you the next solution: surgery. Surgery is not like changing the tyre of your car: getting a new knee is butchery, it isn't a clean intervention. So treat the cause, not the symptoms.

If your doctor gives you painkillers with the advice to rest, like no weight lifting for 2 weeks, he's bullshiting you. Plain rest fixes nothing. This doesn't mean you should squat/deadlift if you have back pain, but that you should find out why it hurts. Go to a PT, ask 2nd/3rd opinions and most of all: ask questions and do your own research.


Soft Tissue Work
Read the guide on soft tissue work. Get a foam roller and foam roll everything, this will help fix a lot of problems. You can do the foam rolling pre workout, followed by mobility/activation work. Or you can do both on your off days.


Shoulder/Neck/Upper-back Pain
Bad posture (round upper-back), weak muscles (lower traps, external rotators), tightness (levator scap, etc), etc. Note that biceps/elbow/wrist pain can come from your shoulders. If one joint doesn't work as it should be, other joints are forced to compensate.

Read:
* Thoracic Mobility: http://stronglifts.com/how-to-improve-y ... -mobility/
* infraspinatus: http://stronglifts.com/how-to-deal-with ... aspinatus/

Recommended:
* Inside/out DVD: bunch of exercises to improve mobility in your upper-body, activate muscles and realign posture


Lower Back Pain
Tight hip muscles, bad lifting technique, anterior/posterior pelvic tilt, weak abs, etc.

Read:
* Hip Mobility: http://stronglifts.com/7-dynamic-stretc ... -mobility/
* Glute Activation: http://stronglifts.com/how-to-optimize- ... ctivation/
* Psoas: http://stronglifts.com/the-psoas-is-it- ... your-back/
* lordosis: http://stronglifts.com/lordosis-why-it- ... to-fix-it/

Recommended:
* Magnificent Mobility DVD: hip mobility and glute activation exercises to help back pain
* Ultimate Back Fitness & Performance: Stuart Mc Gill is the authority on lower back pain. Check low back disorders for a more technical description of the same issues.


Hip Pain
Hamstrings/groin/piriformis pulls are usually caused by weak/dormant glutes.

Read:
* Hip Mobility: http://stronglifts.com/7-dynamic-stretc ... -mobility/
* Glute Activation: http://stronglifts.com/how-to-optimize- ... ctivation/
* Groin Pulls: http://stronglifts.com/groin-pulls-why- ... -treat-it/

Recommended
* Magnificent Mobility DVD: DVD with 33 exercises for glute activation & hip mobility.


Knee Pain
Lack of ankle mobility, lack of hip mobility, lack of glute activation, bad squat technique, etc

Read
* How to stop your knees from popping and cracking: http://stronglifts.com/10-tips-to-stop- ... -cracking/
* Ankle Mobility: http://stronglifts.com/how-to-improve-y ... -mobility/
* Hip Mobility: http://stronglifts.com/7-dynamic-stretc ... -mobility/

Recommended:
* Bulletproof Knees: definite guide on knee problems, you'll find everything in here.