I’ve had pain in to the left of my spine, a little inferior (below) the scapula and just lateral of the vertebrae, off and on over the last year. It’s often not debilitating, but it will get worse when I sit for long periods of time. I have strained several times where I couldn’t train for a few sessions. I did it in January when I was playing Skyrim, and another time it happened when I was front squatting in Texas (2010, I think). The earliest I ever strained it was before I even did CrossFit, so that must have been in 2007 (I was doing a dumbbell row). I have a slight curve to my thoracic spine which would probably explain why the erector spinae muscles on that side have issues. Most people have a small degree of scoliosis that is hardly noticeable without an x-ray.

I’ve tried a lot of different things from Mobility WOD, and they helped, but the pain still lingers. I used two parts from “5 way shoulder” (specifically a) flexion and external rotation to stretch the lats and b) the cross-chest stretch in external rotation that pulls the scapula away from the spine. They helped, and my thoracic flexibility improved (to the point that those stretches don’t accomplish as much anymore), but I still have the pain. I’ve noticed that sometimes I tend to slightly over extend at my thoracic/lumbar junction and my sacro/lumbar junction in an attempt to not slouch. This could be something that makes it worse. When I laterally flex to my right side, the left side feels stretched and alleviated. Also, if I push my left ribs to the right, and push my right hip to the left, I get an overt stretching sensation along the lower erector muscles.

All of the above is to give you an idea of the data I’ve collected on this injury and how it could help me work on it to improve it. Deep rooted types of pain or injuries will not respond as well to merely stretching them, and there aren’t really any joints to approximate in the spine (like you can do with the shoulder, elbow, hip and knee). This is a long term issue, so if I’m going to penetrate deeper into the tissue, I will need to use a lacrosse ball and at least my own body weight laying on top of it. I can increase the amount of weight by using a weight (plate, dumbbell, dog, etc.) on my chest. However, what I do while on that lacrosse ball is important.



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I am leaving today to fly to Australia and will arrive on their Friday. I’ll get a Q&A done during that day, yet I will not see Thursday with the time change.

There are still spots available for this weekend’s 70’s Big Weekend Workshop. CLICK HERE for the information and payment page.