Injuries I have or had

This page gives a list of "injuries" I have or had. I'm not counting cuts, bruises, or things that go away after a day or two.

Why?

I'll tell you why.

Every time I get an "injury" of some sort, I tend to think the worst, and expect whatever is wrong to remain wrong forever. However, the truth is that every single "injury" I've ever had has been resolved, or at least I know how to resolve it or make symptoms go away. The purpose of this page is to make me finally understand this.

As a disclaimer, "injury" here mostly means weird muscle or joint pain, rather than broken bones or severed limbs.

I start counting at around the start of 2020. The idea is to go through this list every once in a while, and mark items "gone" when they are resolved.

Ongoing

right knee instable and painful

• start/cause: start of February 2023 somewhere. Possibly from front squats on 2023-02-01 when still very sore. (Issue at home took time away from gym, so deload was essentially 2+ weeks.)
• symptom: knee hurts sometimes during extension / "swinging forward" when carelessly walking. Feels instable and not OK, so I walk carefully. Inside front of knee seems not OK.
• reaction: something tore up, this is not normal soreness, woe is me
• updates:
  • 2023-02-06: still there. Trying a few casual walks of about 1km --> OK, will try deadlifts @ 69% this afternoon --> OK
  • 2023-02-07: still there when walking. Could reproduce it a bit (but only once) by flexing hamstring and quad simultaneously when stepping. Will see fysiotherapist if persists into next week.
  • 2023-02-08: slightly getting worse or more often. Sort of collapsed during front squats @ 69%, tried afterwards with lower reps, occurred again, then stopped. When it occurs - but not at other times - knee feels instable and painful. Internet browsing hinted at MCL tendon issue.
  • 2023-02-09: made appointment with fysiotherapist 2023-02-14. Can finally reproduce pain by keeping knee at 90 deg and rotating shin along the axis of the thigh CW/CCW. Pain is always at inner front of right knee.
  • 2023-02-10: seems to occur slightly more often while walking, but hurts less. When it occurs, flexing the knee makes a noticeable but not very audible pop.
  • 2023-02-12: still very occasionally occurs while walking. Reproducing pain as in 2023-02-09 doesn't work anymore (but didn't try at extreme angles - just as I didn't do that back then). Decided to do only upper body work at gym until visit to fysiotherapist. Inside spot on knee hurts some days/times when I press on it, doesn't hurt other times.
  • 2023-02-14: visited fysiotherapist --> probably minor tear in medial meniscus --> received isolation exercises to do for the coming 4(ish) weeks. Bending the shin as in 2023-02-09 doesn't really produce pain anymore. Walking goes a bit better.
  • 2023-02-16: walking feels slightly instable after doing above exercises
  • 2023-02-20: during actual exercises, leg extension (when almost fully extended, under patella) and abductor work hurt a little bit. Generally seems to get slightly better, even during walking. Pain and instability seem to have lessened. Right hamstring is sore all the time and feels shorter than the left side (which is already short).
  • 2023-02-21: definitely feels better (but not great) while walking, and starting to walk less careful again
  • 2023-02-28: walking normally again. Knee sometimes feels slightly painful, but "shaking it out" helps. Don't feel slight pain/hickup during leg extensions or abductor machines, such as I had at the start. Bodyweight squats are OK, but I feel the same slight pain at left of knee as I had when starting squats, for years.
  • 2023-03-09: end of fysiotherapy. Moving knee in all kinds of orientations didn't result in pain --> was told to ease back into doing normal exercises. Suggested band around knees to force abduction, and not rotating feet outwards so much during squats.
  • 2023-03-12: first session with backsquats and deadlifts with moderate weight (approx 60% 1RM) --> left knee also a bit painful on medial side just like right knee. Right knee feels a bit instable while walking again. Lower back hurts and instable.
  • 2023-03-14: gym session w/o lower body because of back pain. Left knee still a bit painful; right knee feels OK again.
  • 2023-03-15: back slowly getting better, slight pain on right knee medial side
  • 2023-03-16: back is OK enough so let's ignore this. Did pause/tempo squats with up to approx 88% 1RM; knees felt great during and afterwards.
  • 2023-03-17: right knee is now better than left, which feels irritated a bit on medial side. Walking for 2x 1km made it go away - both knees free from irritation afterwards.
  • 2023-03-20: knee still wobbly a bit every now and then. Right knee still hurts on medial side sometimes upon maximum flexion. Got elastic band and did bw squats, seem to help there.
  • 2023-03-22: did backsquats with elastic band and up to approx 55% 1RM, slight discomfort in medial side of right knee again as usual really. Soreness in glutes afterwards, which is unusual for (my) squats - thank you elastic band? Made new program for low joint stress and higher reps for legs/back; will continue using elastic band for a while.
  • 2023-03-29: doing 5x5 with light weight for deadlift and squat for week or so, see how that goes. Knee pain is gone, during and afterwards.

Gone / know-how-to-fix / ignored

left wrist sometimes locks up

• start/cause: somewhere around 1st half of 2021, possibly from too wide snatch grip
• symptom: wrist hurts and feels awkward sometimes; have to "snap it into place" by pressing on (probably) pisiform and ulna
• reaction: perhaps long term effect of too awkward a grip
• updates:
  • 2021-06-20: still there. I think narrowing snatch grip improves this. I'm trying with overhead squats which width feels least awkward, and try to improve mobility by doing lots of overhead tempo/pause squats. Before overhead presses or similar, I try to feel if the wrist is in order, and if not, snap it.
  • 2021-06-28: still there. Snapping it into place when it's not.
  • 2021-07-04: maybe a bit less - when overhead pressing and -squatting, wrist seems mostly already OK now
  • 2021-07-05: worse, at least in the morning. Did lots of overhead squats recently - perhaps that's it.
  • 2021-07-10: less. I can still snap it into place, but doesn't feel "dislocated" when doing overhead things anymore, pretty much ever.
  • 2021-07-15: weird - seems worse after having done overhead squats the day before or so. Some day it's almost gone, some day it's very much present. Or perhaps chinups are related..? Still doing chinups daily - let's see what happens. And yet, I'm pretty sure this is a grip(-width) issue when doing overhead squats, but right now my shoulders are too inflexible to allow closer grip. But getting there!
  • 2021-08-09: seems to be significantly better when doing 3 instead of 5 gym visits per week, go figure. Let's see how this turns out.
  • 2022-01-17: obviously gone, after not having done anything for about 2 weeks. (But then again, this occurred only during training, so we will see.)
  • 2023-02-09: hasn't happened since. Gym session every other day now for about a year, casually doing overhead squats, snatches, snatch balances.

left elbow extension painful and limited

• start/cause: 2020-09-something, when starting to do shoulder stretches to improve shoulder mobility
• symptom: it hurts when fully extending the elbow. Getting under a bar to squat hurts the elbow when not warmed up. Can't lock it into extension fully.
• reaction: range of motion has become limited from not extending often enough
• updates:
  • 2020-10-24: still there. Not doing static band external rotation stretches anymore, because I suspect that may have caused this or makes it worse. Forcefully extending during overhead press warmup with stick or empty bar sometimes makes cartilage crack again like it used to - this is good. Rotator cuff strenghtening internal/external rotation bandwork perhaps seems to help.
  • 2020-11-03: still there, not really getting better, but isn't a big deal either. Doing cartilage cracks(tm) every day. Always OK after 2nd squat set and/or doing overhead presses.
  • 2020-11-09: slightly better - first set of squats feels better anyway
  • 2020-11-24: still there after 1 week of doing nothing because of sickness
  • 2020-12-07: still a little bit there
  • 2020-12-15: becoming less. I think controlling weight down while overhead pressing makes a big difference, since pain occurs there (when "overflexing" elbow). Squatting even 1st set is better.
  • 2021-01-12: less still. Squatting is fine, but I feel it "block" when extending the elbow.
  • 2021-01-21: comes and goes, apparently. Squatting is fine. I fully extend elbow with dowel or bar to "crack the cartilage", after which it's sort of fine. I think extending/bouncing in snatch bottom pos is/was the main cause for all this.
  • 2021-02-20: still there every once in a while, differs from day to day. I can crack it w/o using a dowel, by mimicking a muscle snatch a few times, then at the end of the last rep, hyperextending the elbow.
  • 2021-03-18: sort of gone, mostly. I feel it when squatting the first few sets, and after that it's fine. Not paying any particular attention to this anymore.
  • 2021-07-10: just for the record, it's still there. I try to extend arms hard when doing overhead stuff and band shoulder stretches - which may or may not be related but a Good Idea nevertheless.
  • 2021-07-15: it's weird. Sometimes it's OK at start of warmup, and starts to become an issue when doing shoulder breakers with a sort of tight rubber band. I'll try something else: loose band for warming up the joint, and then only a dowel/stick for actual stretches while hard extending both arms and squeezing top of shoulder blades together.
  • 2021-07-22: dowel sucks. Elbow pain still there. I think I'm gonna ignore this until something explodes or something.
  • 2021-08-09: better when doing 3 instead of 5 gym visits per week
  • 2023-02-09: gone (forgot about this)

stinging pain in left shoulder

• start/cause: something I did 2021-06-18. Snatch balances again, or overhead stuff when already cooled down?
• symptom: stinging pain in shoulder when raising left arm when internally rotated
• reaction: groan... again..?
• updates:
  • 2021-06-20: still a lot present. Not doing overhead stuff, but carefully stretching/rotating shoulders with band, see what goes ok. Lifting arm when internally rotated hurts; when externally rotated doesn't hurt. Dead hangs from a bar hurt initially.
  • 2021-06-23: still there. Seems to be getting a tiny bit better. Not doing any shoulder stretches or overhead stuff for a while, and being careful in general. Dead hangs from a bar are OK now.
  • 2021-06-24: it's less now; I can lift arm while internally rotated without much pain. Did stretches with PVC pipe and bands.
  • 2021-06-25: less still. Stretches with bands and PVC pipe, and tried some overhead squats with training bar - shoulders hurt a bit when doing that, so back to stretches.
  • 2021-06-26: lots better. Doing lots of stretches with bands and PVC pipe, and did more overhead squats with training bar.
  • 2021-06-27: again, a lot better. Lots of stretches and overhead squats, which feel OK. I Can hardly feel any issue anymore raising arm when internally rotated.
  • 2021-06-28: I think it's gone. Did lots of stretches, overhead squats, dip snatches, without any problems.
  • 2021-07-01: not gone but less. I'm trying to feel what's possible and what is not. I suppose this is over in a week or so.
  • 2021-07-04: came back a couple of days ago, but not sure if it's the same thing. Not doing dynamic stuff for a while, but lots of stretching and overhead squats.
  • 2021-07-10: much better. Haven't done chinups for a few days, but I don't think that's it. Probably time fixed it. Did lots of overhead squats and some faster stuff without issues.
  • 2021-07-15: I think it's gone, yay. I know when I did something wrong right there and then, and it's always when rushing warmups, in particular doing the 1st couple of overhead squats too fast. So let's not do that.
  • 2021-07-24: did lots of snatch balances with reasonable weight after warming up really well - let's see what happens now
  • 2021-08-09: it's all fine, totally OK. Did snatch balances almost every gym day without problems. Warming up is important, apparently.

lower back feels like it's gonna break when I move

• start/cause: typical lower back pain, various causes, this time probably caused by doing deadlifts 2020-08-18
• symptom: after sitting on chair or in car, sharp pain whenever back moves. Absolutely OK once warmed up or moved around for a while.
• reaction: seen this many times, it'll be OK in a couple of days. Let's just write this down to keep a log.
• updates:
  • 2020-08-21: still there but less. Doing MOAR deadlifts as quickfix didn't instantly solve it.
  • 2020-08-23: pretty much gone
  • 2020-08-24: it's back! :-) Probably caused/prolonged by lots of squats and perhaps flopping down when benchpressing?
  • 2020-08-26: still there. Apparently "squatting more" is not a fix for everything.
  • 2020-08-29: still friggin' there. A bit less, perhaps. I'll try light deadlifts, see if that helps.
  • 2020-09-05: gone without doing anything serious
  • 2021-06-25: happened again (with noise!) while deadlifting. Tried walking, dead hangs and deadlifts with lower weight immediately afterwards, then finished the session. Hurts like a mofo after having layed down for a while.
  • 2021-07-01: still there but getting better every day. I feel this in the morning when getting up, or after having layed down. When warmed up, nothing is the matter. Squatted heavy a couple of days ago without any problems during or after.
  • 2021-07-04: hurts considerably more after heavy deadlifts a couple of days ago. Gone after warming up, painful when getting out of bed or out of the car.
  • 2021-07-10: over enough to be ignored
  • 2021-07-15: gone

right hip feels like baby deer trying to walk

• start/cause: start of 2020 somewhere; mostly after heavyish deadlifts, but now (2020-03-19) approx 1 week after last deadlift
• symptom: at some leg orientation there is either no strength or pain/crackling around right hip joint
• reaction: oh shit nerve is damaged, or cartilage in hip joint is damaged - woe is me
• updates:
  • 2020-04: weird, some days it's gone, some days it's not. Have not done any sport for about 3 weeks now (corona). Perhaps it's sleep-position and/or -duration related.
  • 2020-04-16: I can reproduce this by keeping leg straight and bending it backwards (in the direction of the heel). At some orientation there's pain and perhaps loss of strength, not clear. If this gets worse or more frequent in a month or two, perhaps see physiotherapist.
  • 2020-04-22: doing fast air squats / clean squats without warming up properly may be part of the cause - wonky hips after doing that
  • 2020-06: all gone, just did lots more stuff
  • 2020-08: occurs every now and then; it's not a big deal. Mostly there in the morning, and gone after moving around a bit.
  • 2020-10-12ish: I think it occurs mostly right after waking up after having been asleep in a weird position. Hip snaps/pops noticeably more this week, possibly from doing many bw and front squats.
  • 2020-10-22: still makes sound, mostly in the hour(s) after getting up. Absolutely OK after warming up - I never hear/feel anything during training.
  • 2020-10-24: I think going easy on deadlifts and doing them more frequently may be a good idea. Seems to occur after doing those too, and not doing them frequently enough now.
  • 2020-11-03: this is getting a bit silly. Hip pops occur more often if anything, hip sometimes feels weak during training. Perhaps I'll squat less than every day now.
  • 2020-11-09: at least not worse and possibly better after Phoebe-style running and/or overhead squatting more often instead of long pauses at the bottom
  • 2020-11-24: noticeably less, if not gone, after 1 week of doing nothing because of sickness. Didn't come back after running or mild squatting.
  • 2020-12-15: I think I'm gonna ignore this until it explodes or something for now. Doesn't hurt anymore - just makes sound.
  • 2020-12-21: yep, makes popping sound after standing for a while, bending over to at least about 45 deg while keeping lumbar spine extended/rigid, and then standing back up. Can only reproduce this after having stood for a while (i.e. twice in a row does not work).
  • 2021-03-18: I think this is more of an issue after jogging than it is for sprinting (each with different durations ofc - just a hunch): after a jog, hips are much more wonky than after having sprinted.
  • 2021-06-20: I dunno about this. I think I'm gonna Let This Be until something explodes.
  • 2021-12-xx: wonky hip occurs after benching with toes pointed to the sides. Pointing toes more forward doesn't seem to cause it.
  • 2023-02-09: significantly less if not solved. Gym sessions every other day for about a year now, running every other day during 2022Q4.

pain at left of right knee when flexing/extending even a bit

• start/cause: around 2021-03-15, when starting to do higher volume squats/deadlifts (not sure if that's what caused it). Also could be caused by knees resting/pressing against each other while sleeping.
• symptom: pain is quite local (5cm diameter circle or so), but can't exactly pinpoint it by touching (and doesn't hurt more when trying that). Happens when flexing more than standing/walking. Gone or at least much less noticeable after having warmed up a few sets of squats, but returns afterwards.
• reaction: oh shit my knee has always twisted when flexing and now everything is breaking down
• updates:
  • 2021-04-05: I'm squatting and deadlifting consistently once a week now for both, with at least 2 days in between - let's see what happens after a few weeks.
  • 2021-04-14: gone, imagine that. Talk about overreacting, jeez.

sciatica (I guess) right heel

• start/cause: pretty much comes and goes a bit since L5/S1 hernia around 1993, although operation did help.
• symptom: annoying pain in right heel when applying pressure, or "feeling heartbeat" in right heel, especially when raising straight right leg
• reaction: oh shit hernia is back, cartilage is inflexible and hardened, this is never going to heal, vertebra are grinding against each other
• updates:
  • 2019: stretching hamstrings works very temporarily (< 1h). Either weighted hyperextension, deadlifts and/or sleeping on proper mattress seems to fix it more permanently.
  • 2019-11ish: stopped deadlifts and weighted hyperextensions for a while, did ropejumping, and slept on a bad mattress, and issue came back
  • 2020-01: resumed deadlifts but ditched weighted hyperextensions, slept on proper mattress, still doing ropejumping, and issue seems to slowly go away. Started moderate clean&jerk and snatch, which if anything makes it better.
  • 2020-02: doing deadlifts, ropejumping, sleeping for 1w on bad mattress, not doing hypers: all OK except for first minutes after getting up
  • 2020-03: pretty much gone. Didn't do a lot of deadlifts or ropejumping, but slept on good mattress and did cleans/snatches with moderate weight.
  • 2020-03-12: occurred right after I did overhead presses
  • 2020-03-17: still there
  • 2020-04: pretty much gone. Shoulder breakers if anything seem to help too.
  • 2020-04-22: air squats, shoulder breakers, cleans, all good stuff, completely gone now.
  • 2020-07: overhead presses with higher weight/volume is just fine, if I breathe & brace and contract quads, glutes, abs. (I.e. don't let lumbar spine hyperextend.)
  • 2020-08-1x: it's back! :-) Caused by doing presses or sitting with slouched posture for too long. Gets better during the day. I will always do some sort of deadlift/pull after pressing from now on.
  • 2020-08-26: seriously back. Could this be caused by benchpressing? Haven't done any pressing last couple of days.
  • 2020-08-29: still there, not getting less. I'll try light deadlifts, see if that helps. Perhaps jumping down after climbing is not exactly beneficial, but still doing that.
  • 2020-09-05: still there, but air squats and overhead squat stretches seem to help. (Or time itself, of course.)
  • 2020-09-13: gone. Did air squats, squats, shoulder breakers/stretches, deadlifts, presses, benchpress, and just waited.
  • 2020-10-22: back after doing overhead presses. I'll try deadlifts tomorrow, see if that fixes it.
  • 2020-12-07: gone again. (Forgot to watch this one - went away somewhere between now and previous entry.)
  • 2021-03: back, pretty much all the time after having restarted mild running every other day. I think sprinting is less of a cause than slow jogging, maybe because in a sprint, everything is tight and Fired Up instead of rattling around in a jog. I'll do Romanian deadlifts on non-running days instead of squats for a while, to strenghten the back and stretch the hamstrings. I also think not having done any ab work for a long time (pretty much a year) may be an issue. I think flexing the abs while jogging might help too, but that's difficult to keep paying attention to. (When I'm tired or bored I tend to walk with a bit of a lumbar arch and nothing to help straighten it.)
  • 2021-04-05: ...or perhaps it's just this lame-ass slouched posture when sitting on the couch. Sitting more upright now and less on that couch.
  • 2021-04-15: gone again, and it will be back for sure - no big deal. Deadlifts / pulling / cleans always seems to help, and not sitting on the couch like a bag of potatoes.
  • 2021-08-12: for the record, haven't had this for a long time now. I think walking fast, doing overhead presses and/or running for short intervals helps.
  • 2022-01-17: coming back slowly after not having done a single thing for a few weeks
  • 2023-02-09: barbell rows seem to bring this back, but temporarily and not significantly

stinging pain in right shoulder

• start/cause: doing a gazillion snatch balances with crap mobility 2020-08-03
• symptom: stinging pain in shoulder when raising arm; slightly more right than left
• reaction: omg shoulder impingement, collarbones are sticking into muscles, bones are scraping against one another
• updates:
  • 2020-08-07: still there. Left arm is sort of OK. Right arm hurts near deltoid when lifting straight arm up in front of me.
  • 2020-08-10: still there, but significantly less. Neither presses nor chinups seem to hurt; not doing oly stuff yet.
  • 2020-08-21: gone in left arm, but still there in right arm albeit less. Seeing physiotherapist in a few days. Not doing oly stuff or boxing yet.
  • 2020-08-26: a bit less. Went to physiotherapist - confirmed impingement. Doesn't cause long term harm, just let it heal, do dropsnatches slowly or spread out over time. I will start oly stuff and boxing in half a week I think, provided back is better.
  • 2020-08-29: still there in right shoulder at a certain angle. I guess I'll just start using it again in moderation - let's see what happens.
  • 2020-09-05: pretty much but not 100% over, and not gonna wait for it to be over - forget it, warm up slowly and don't go crazy with overhead stuff
  • 2020-09-16: getting worse for some reason, perhaps from benchpressing? not doing oly stuff yet. Let's try banded stretches and anteriour stretches for whole arms.
  • 2020-10-16: still there, ffs. Muscle snatch 20kg bar causes more pain afterwards, so not doing any pulling. Lots of stretches and overhead squats, and now let's try strenghtening rotator cuff muscles using bands.
  • 2020-10-22: lifting arm a bit from body when lying on other side hurts. Peeling a tomato hurts a bit. Rotating underarm externally before lifting doesn't hurt at all. I'll try avoiding any lifting-while-internally-rotated from now on, including picking up backpack etc.
  • 2020-11-03: slowly getting better, I think. Internal/external elastic band work seems to help. Pain occurs less frequent, even if I lift stuff wrongly.
  • 2020-11-09: shoulders feel more bulletproof; I think int/ext band work makes a big difference. Starting snatches w/o much pull - see how that works out.
  • 2020-11-24: almost gone. Doing muscle snatches and regular snatches now without any issues. Hardly paying extra attention to this shoulder during normal activities anymore.
  • 2020-12-15: gone, yay. I'm more flexible than before, so I guess stretching works. Don't need an extended warmup anymore before doing overhead squats.
  • 2020-12-19: well fuck me. Is this coming back? Let's warm up more before doing anything.
  • 2021-01-12: nope, gone, just warm up warm up warm up for every single little shoulder-thing
  • 2021-01-21: did many muscle snatches without any issues. Which have coincidentally substituted elastic band work, yay.
  • 2021-01-28: fuck, it's back. Nagging pain comes and goes throughout the day. I think this is caused by rushed overhead work after workout, when shoulders are cold and stiff. Not avoiding overhead work now, but take warming up more seriously, and bundle all shoulder stuff together at start of session.
  • 2021-02-02: doing banded shoulder stretches/breakers multiple times a day now. Shoulder feels temporarily better after that. Nagging pain, but definitely WAY less than 2020-08. Avoiding lifting stuff (e.g. backpack) with internally rotated arms. Still doing overhead stuff, but warmed up extremely well beforehand, and do all overhead stuff in one go.
  • 2021-02-20: still there, a bit. Avoiding it a bit in every day life. Together with left side shoulder/deltoid pain, not doing any upper body stuff, not even stretches, for at least a week. The only stretching I do now is dead hangs or leaning hangs from a bar.
  • 2021-02-24: still there a tiiiiny bit. I do overhead stuff w/o problems and try to avoid stupid moves in everyday life.
  • 2021-03-18: gone - great. That took less than 2 months, yay. Taking shoulder warmups quite serious now, which seems to agree with my body.

stinging pain near left shoulder/deltoid

• start/cause: lifting 6 bottles of cola onto/off conveyor belt around 2021-02-12
• symptom: stinging and initially nagging pain in left shoulder and upper arm
• reaction: omg here we go again. 4 months downtime? really? Damn you, Aldi!
• updates:
  • 2021-02-20: still there, but now seems to have shifted from shoulder a bit down (deltoid?) - happy about that. Always seems to be much better for a while after having done cleans/deadlifts/pulls. I can reproduce it by standing, then adducting left arm around 30 degrees, depending on int/ext rotation (one specific angle is painful).
  • 2021-02-24: a lot better - I can hardly reproduce it. I'm glad this was not the same as right shoulder impingement. Doing overhead stuff as before, and trying to avoid stupid things.
  • 2021-03-18: gone, yay - doing everything as before, and taking shoulder-warmup quite serious now

left wrist stiff and painful

• start/cause: possibly doing too many snatches 2020-11
• symptom: painful when hyperextending left wrist
• reaction: great, another left wrist issue
• updates:
  • 2020-10-24: still there. I think letting the bar bang down on extended arm causes this. Occurs regardless of having warmed up.
  • 2020-12-07: almost over. Haven't done anything for 3 weeks - perhaps that's a factor too.
  • 2020-12-08: very much back now after doing snatches. Quick warming up of a few seconds makes it all go away.
  • 2020-12-15: still there
  • 2020-12-19: still way there. Again, warming up or massaging near carpal tunnel helps almost instantly.
  • 2021-01-12: pretty much gone, or at least much better. Doing cleans regularly, which simply works fine.
  • 2021-01-21: feels stiff/tight every once in a while, but passes in seconds, no big deal
  • 2021-01-29: this is pretty much permanent now, which is annoying. And yet, massaging wrist fixes it instantly but only for a little while. Let's warm up by doing wrist movement of some sort before doing cleans / overhead stuff / presses.
  • 2021-02-20: getting better, I think. Going to the gym 3x per week for 1h max might also be a factor.
  • 2021-02-24: I think I'm going to ignore this. I think focusing on snatch turnover makes a difference.
  • 2021-03-18: gone. (Forgot about this.)

left lower back muscle pain (erector spinae?)

• start/cause: situps and shitty form while deadlifting medium weights, started around 2020-01
• symptom: pain/weakness in left lower back, superficial, also when pressing down onto muscle in lower back. Can't reach left foot with my hands very well (stiffness in back).
• reaction: feels superficial so probably not a big deal
• updates:
  • 2020-03: pretty much gone; I can reach left foot again properly, and pain is gone.
  • 2020-03-17: gone. Will probably occur again some time.
  • 2020-09-17: it's back, for sure from doing many deadlifts sometimes with semi-shitty form
  • 2020-09-18: already a bit better
  • 2020-10: over

occasional stinging pain in left arm/bicep

• start/cause: started slowly around 2020-08-17, perhaps from doing too many chinups?
• symptom: short stinging pain at inside of left humerus near elbow
• reaction: there must be a tear somewhere, omg
  • 2020-08-21: still there, about 10-20 times a day; sometimes a whole series of sharp stings in a row.
  • 2020-08-26: less, almost gone I think. Stings are and were also in lower arm sometimes.
  • 2020-08-29: almost gone. Perhaps once a day now, anywhere on the inside of the arm between shoulder and wrist.
  • 2020-09-05: gone
  • 2020-10-16: sometimes occurs after stretching shoulder ext rotation too vigorously and/or doing chinups, but gone a few days afterwards
  • 2020-12-07: completely gone. Haven't done chinups for 3 weeks, perhaps that's what caused it.

occasional sharp pain between wrist and palm of left hand

• start/cause: no idea; occurred first 2020-08-09, IIRC
• symptom: stinging pain that gradually but quickly comes and goes (off/on/off in about 5 seconds), even when doing nothing, couple of times per day
• reaction: wth did I do wrong now?
• updates:
  • 2020-08-21: forgot about this - gone now. Imagine that.

sharp pain at left wrist

• start/cause: cleans / snatches / overhead squats around start of 2020-03
• symptom: sharp pain in left wrist when bending in a weird way or turning objects in my hand. Also lack of power when internally rotating underarm.
• reaction: omg bones are scraping against one another
• updates:
  • 2020-03-18: significantly less pain, but still almost no strength when lifting with supinated grip. Actually using wrist (lifting stuff or using screwdriver) seems to help, if anything.
  • 2020-04: still there. Doing shoulder breakers isn't exactly helping, I guess.
  • 2020-04-16: still there, but getting a bit looser: I can snap ulna and carpals apart sometimes - they used to be very tight. Lack of strength with supinated grip remains - curling 20kg barbell with both hands is painful at the left wrist. Let's just wait this out a bit.
  • 2020-06: pretty much gone, sort of - was "more gone" after months of corona-inactivity, now a bit back after doing snatches daily. Internally rotating is OK; curls still hurt a bit.
  • 2020-08: gone. Overhead squats are better now too. Curls are OK, as is internally rotating the hand. Sometimes something hurts when using the hand, but meh.

pain in left pec/shoulder/neck

• start/cause: approx 2019-10, probably either giving left hook wrongly during boxing, or involuntarily pulling bar "through" chest with heavy squats
• symptom: sharp pain with cold temperatures, in the morning, before warming-up
• reaction: oh shit blood vessels broken, muscle fascia too tight or ruptured, nerve damage, collar bone or sternum dislocated
• updates:
  • 2020-01: went to physiotherapist; suggestion: wait it out, squat medium weight more often, warm up before doing chinups. Stopped doing chinups, and only squat medium weight.
  • 2020-02: slooowly getting better. Symptom was also pain in left back side of neck, underside of head, from the start. It's mainly there now.
  • 2020-02: some days/mornings are good, some are bad. Experimenting with different pillows now.
  • 2020-03: I can reproduce pain in left side of neck (sternocleidomastoid?) by trying to pull e.g. a ruler apart in front of chest. Doing inverted rows seems to cause a bit of pain in left pec.
  • 2020-03-17: much better now. Almost don't feel it in the morning anymore, but still occurs when driving while window is turned down (cold air?).
  • 2020-04: pretty much gone, also when cold wind blows against it through car window. Can hardly reproduce it by pulling arms apart. Some days it's back, possibly sleep-position and -duration related (shorter is better).
  • 2020-04-16: so much better, almost gone.
  • 2020-04-20ish: it's back! :-) Probably from doing daily shoulder breakers or sleeping too long/weird. When I oversleep, I tend to lie on my side, which is incompatible with this pillow/mattress.
  • 2020-06: gone - did stretching, overhead squats, snatches almost daily
  • 2020-08: still occurs sometimes, not a big deal. I think only left hook causes this. (Did deadlifts, chinups, squats, everything, with zero issues. Occured after boxing.)
  • 2021-01-21: completely gone, always. Haven't done boxing since 2020-09 or so, so that may still have been the cause.

pain at left middle of sternum

• start/cause: 2020-04, probably because of doing shoulder breakers
• symptom: dull pain, not very superficial but not very deep either. Pushing it doesn't make it worse. I feel this after doing shoulder breakers.
• reaction: oh shit my rib has disconnected from the sternum
  • 2020-06: gone

pain at right shoulder blade, mainly when getting up

• start/cause: no idea, possibly bad posture while sleeping, sleeping too long or doing cleans/snatches, around start of 2020-02
• symptom: sharp pain at right shoulder blade (rhomboids?) when getting up or turning over in bed. Seldom if ever after getting up.
• reaction: sort of had this before a couple of times, let's see what happens
• updates:
  • 2020-03: a bit better now
  • 2020-03-17: better still
  • 2020-04: some days it's there, some it's not. I think it's sleep-position (and -duration!) related. Sleeping shorter seems to help.
  • 2020-04-16: let's ignore this. I think it's sleep-position related. Doesn't bother me otherwise, and is not getting worse when doing shoulder mobility stretches.
  • 2020-06: gone

sensitive at inside under right foot when touching it or standing on toes

• start/cause: 2020-01, possibly from ropejumping or jump during clean&jerk or snatch
• symptom: tendon along middle of underside of foot feels very sensitive
• reaction: oh shit a tendon tear
• updates:
  • 2020-02: still there when standing on toes. Feels more like a tendon/muscle jumping around a bit? I think I'll ignore this for now.
  • 2020-03: still there when standing on toes; not getting worse
  • 2020-03-17: I'm going to ignore this, because it's not preventing me from doing anything
  • 2020-04: significantly better, pretty much gone after not doing cleans/snatches for about 3 weeks (corona).
  • 2020-04-16: nope, still there when I stand on my toes :-) Let's ignore this from now on.
  • 2021-02-20: I think this is gone - can't reproduce it anymore. Haven't payed attention to this much lately, really.

"electric" pain at palm of left hand/wrist when bending hand back or carrying weight

• start/cause: reminded around start of 2019, been there since 2003 or something. Caused by stupidly hanging bucket of paint off 2 fingers, then felt something snap/tear. #brilliantideas
• symptom: sharp sting during press, clean&jerk, chinups
• reaction: oh shit a muscle tore right off the bone, this will never heal
• updates:
  • 2018/2019: been to doctor, physiotherapist, hand center, hospital for xray, nerve checkup, MRI scan, nothing found. Got guarantee it's not a tendon tear, not CTS, and will not get worse by loading it. So I basically do my normal stuff and deal with it.
  • 2020-01: I feel this again at the rack-position after a clean, and day(s) after that. Pain doesn't seem to accumulate - let's see what happens.
  • 2020-02: I can reproduce this by bending/turning my wrist. Let's see if it is OK after left-hook-wrist-pain has healed, i.o.w. if doing cleans made this worse or not.
  • 2020-02: doesn't get worse, and just occurs during normal activities now (cutting an apple into bits, peeling a mango)
  • 2020-03: fact of life I guess. Doesn't get worse, so I ignore it until it does get worse.
  • 2021-01-21: if anything, this becomes less. Stronger hand muscles around the injury/issue?
  • 2023-02-09: sometimes feel it when holding hand in strange orientation, but not during sport. Have been front squatting for about 2 months every other day now.

stiffness/pain when rotating lower arms internally

• start/cause: cleans/snatches around 2020-02
• symptom: range of motion seems limited when rotating either lower arm internally ("thumbs down" when pointing arms straight in front of me), and hurts a bit when I do that.
• reaction: sort of had this before - it will probably be OK soon
• updates:
  • 2020-03: pretty much gone
  • 2020-03: still occurs after cleans/snatches/frontsquats, and is gone in a few days afterwards
  • 2020-04: wrist position when doing shoulder breakers seems to make this worse, or heal slower. Why is right hand not affected at all?
  • 2020-04-16: shoulder breakers doesn't seem to make this worse after all, although perhaps it prolongs healing. Getting slightly better.
  • 2020-04-22: gone. However, pain at left wrist and lack of strength when lifting with supinated grip is still going on.
  • 2020-08: lifting with supinated grip is OK now too, but who does that? Nobody does that.

left side shoulder/back pain (trapezius?)

• start/cause: clean/snatch a bit too eagerly 2020-02-15
• symptom: pain when tilting head back and to the left or straighten my upper back
• reaction: I spose this is gone in a week or so
• updates:
  • 2020-03: gone
  • 2020-04: had this again, I think sleep-position/-duration related, and was gone a few days later.
  • 2020-06: gone

knee pain after high bar squatting, running or front squatting

• start/cause: somewhere in 2019, caused by running
• symptom: burning pain underneath, below and above patella
• reaction: oh shit I'm too heavy to load my knees this way, this will get worse, wth is going on under my kneecap, my tendons are going to snap off
• updates:
  • 2020-01: still occurs after front squats; use low bar mechanics during back squats fixes those 100%, use jumprope instead of running, don't stand for a long time. But I want to do front squats too, so...
  • 2020-02: front squats cause medium knee pain, but only for a short while (1 day or so). Running caused more pain, and longer.
  • 2020-03: forget it, it's fine. Not doing any exercise for a week resulted in about the same knee discomfort as when doing activity, at least right after getting up. #age
  • 2020-06: actually doing more squats/cleans/snatches makes this better. But still not doing any running.
  • 2020-08: gradually resumed running in a bit less insane manner, which is OK. If anything, doing more (squats) makes it better.
  • 2020-08-21: new cheapo mattress pretty much made this go away overnight - no knee pain in the mornings anymore.
  • 2020-10-16: squatting pretty much every day for a few weeks now, and knees are remarkably bulletproof. Also occasionally running in intervals, also no problem.
  • 2021-01-21: front squats are also no issue whatsoever.

left wrist pain after giving left hook

• start/cause: 2019-09ish; occurs at giving first few left hooks, always against a glove. (Heavy bag is never a problem.)
• symptom: instant pain/snap/bend of wrist
• reaction: oh shit my wrist is broken or ligaments/tendons are torn
• updates:
  • 2019-12ish: wrapping left wrist tightly helps. Also just doing this every week seems to help.
  • 2020-01: occured right away again after not having hit anything for about a month or so. Still there next day. (In 2019, wrist was inflexible for about a week.) Let's do this weekly again to see if it goes away. I don't want to tape my wrist; it should fix itself.
  • 2020-02: still there 1.5 week after boxing for 1st time after a month. Right wrist is OK, so it's probably not just from doing cleans.
  • 2020-02-15: pretty much gone when wrapping left wrist tightly before doing combos
  • 2020-03: gone
  • 2020-08: still occurs every once in a while. I don't wrap the thumb anymore, just a shitload around the wrists, tightening it multiple times during training, which seems to pretty much prevent this.

bruised rib at lower left side of ribcage

• start/cause: 2019-10ish, received right hook during boxing
• symptom: noticeable at day 1, bad at day 2, can't walk/move properly the next 4 days or so, slowly improves after that
• reaction: oh shit my rib is broken and possibly pokes through my lung
• updates:
  • 2019-12: went away by itself over a course of about 6 weeks