can't flex long head of my tricep

[MUSCULARMAYOR]

What's up guys, i got a bit of a problem. for the past few weeks I've noticed my right tricep is a lot smaller than my left. There's 1/4-3/8 of an inch difference in my arms. It's like the long head of the tri is separated from the elbow. There's no pain, and I can still lift almost the same with each arm. when i flex my it, there's a bit a flexion right at the elbow and at the top as well, but the middle of the long head is soft. The lateral and medial heads seems to be normal. I'm freakin out so any help would be great. Thanks

[bottleneckblooz]

Are you right or left handed?

[Freebsd1977]

Any injuries from your childhood?

[MUSCULARMAYOR]

I'm right handed, and no injuries at all. It's weird, I've been training for years and it's never been a problem. It's like, one day I just noticed it, "holy shit! One arm is all f--ked up". It looks retarted when I do a front double bicep flex, there is no back of the arm, at all. It might even be almost 1/2 an inch difference. I've been doing extra work trying to focus on the right side, long head but so far, no luck.

[bottleneckblooz]

I'm a bit confused. Are you saying that you used to be able to flex your tricep properly but now you can't, or that maybe this was always a problem but you just never noticed it before? And when you say there is a 1/2" difference, is this because of recent muscle loss, or was it perhaps always that way? I think it's normal for most people to have one arm smaller than the other, although it's usually your good arm that is bigger, not the other way around.

[Freebsd1977]

You might want to go get that arm checked out by a specialist. An MRI or CT scan might give you the answer of what is potentially wrong.

[MUSCULARMAYOR]

Until about 3 weeks ago I was able to flex my tricep fine, my right was actually a bit better. There has always been a slight difference between arms but it was only about 1/8 of an inch before.

[MUSCULARMAYOR]

You might want to go get that arm checked out by a specialist. An MRI or CT scan might give you the answer of what is potentially wrong.

I'm gonna check with a doctor tomorrow. Thanks guys.

[Freebsd1977]

I'm gonna check with a doctor tomorrow. Thanks guys.

Goodluck and keep us posted, I'm curious to see what that is.

[hitmansb]

I seem to remember stuff like this happening to wrestlers when they had a neck problem. Somehow the neck problem was causing a nerve problem in the arm, which led to atrophy of the bicep...tricep...or both. Have you had any pain/stiffness in the neck?

[MUSCULARMAYOR]

I haven't had any troubles with my neck but that was the same idea the doc had today. I'm goin to get an xray and an emg to check for nerve problems. he figured it might be a blockage or something

[tex]

id say if theres no pain at all that its probably a nerve issue.......

[spankmonkey]

Very interesting thread and I am looking forward to see what tests say. It is weird you would have no strength loss and yet your are obviously suffering from some dysfunction because the inability to contract and atrophy. When you are doing your tricep exercises does your tricep contract? There are some secondary muscles which would come into play and alow you to move the same weight without tricep involment, but usually you would notice a decrease in strength.

Anyway, keep us up to date and hopefully everything will be just fine.

[Musclehead]

Sounds like a poor mind muscle connection is all. If it was injured severely you would have noticed it I think. Just try to focus on the squeeze and peak contraction more, maybe go lighter for a bit. I used to have that problem with my left biceps, but it just worked it's way out after a while and is now actually larger than my right odly enough.

[tex]

^^ not too sure about that.....ill give a more known example for the nerve arguement.....just look at ron coleman and his lat problem.....he didnt know anything was wrong and until he dropped down to comp weight you couldnt tell the diff....but what a big difference it was....cost him his last olympia....and because of a nerve issue.....anyways......let us know whats up.....im def. curious about what the tests will say......

[bottleneckblooz]

I was thinking it might be a nerve issue as well. Interested in hearing the verdict because I have some issues with my left arm.

[MUSCULARMAYOR]

I'm goin for my xray right now, I'll let you know what they say. I'm thinkin it's a nerve thing , I'm pretty sure it's not a mind/ muscle connection because my right was a bit bigger than my left. I'll keep posting when I know more

[Freebsd1977]

Cool, good luck MM. Post some pics of your arms and dirty pics of the xray tech-chick. :-)

[MUSCULARMAYOR]

I don't have any pics, but my left arm is around 16-1/4" cold and the right is now about 15-7/8".
ps the "x-ray chick" was a 45 yr old asain man. so i hope u understand why i forgot to get a pic. lol

[Freebsd1977]

I don't have any pics, but my left arm is around 16-1/4" cold and the right is now about 15-7/8".
ps the "x-ray chick" was a 45 yr old asain man. so i hope u understand why i forgot to get a pic. lol

Asian eh, any happy endings? :yeah

[Tank]

C5/ C6 may need an adjustment go see a good chiropractor if in the TO area see Kinakin. Also go see a osteopath

[MUSCULARMAYOR]

that could help explain the nerve idea. thanks man

[MUSCULARMAYOR]

so nothing was seen on my xray. guess I gotta wait till sept 10 to get my emg. I might try the chiropractor, I've been noticeing a lot of discomfort in my neck lately. I hope I can fix this sh*t, it's pissing me off.

[Tank]

Go see an active release therapist and get them to work your hip flexors and lats and pec minor. Then go see a good chiropractor and ask him the connection between c5 and C6 in relation to the biceps and triceps, if he understands your question he is the guy for the job.

When ever you weight train focus on keeping your chin tucked into your neck and push your head back keeping that chin tucked in. You will notice guys benching and curling with a ostrich neck and you want to do vice versa for more strength, and less joint strain. If you do shrugs make sure you use dumbelles so your palms face your outer hip dont allow the palms to face behind you. And start working the shit our of your external rotator cuff.

[MUSCULARMAYOR]

thanks man. are active release therapists common in big cities? Thanks for the tip on the neck posistion too.

[MUSCULARMAYOR]

thanks again for all the help, I found a couple ART's, in Van. I'm gonna make an appointment once I talk to the doc. Do you think it's a good idea for me to cut down my workouts until I get the problem figured out?

[tex]

an active release therapist?? is that like a full service massage?

[MUSCULARMAYOR]

mmm, happy ending. lol
no it related to chiropractic I believe.

[Tank]

Active release is a tie in of a chiro and massage with a high level of education that works wonders, google Active Release Technique by Dr.Leahy.

Yes back your volume down for training, the therapy should take 3 to 6 treatments then you will be good to go as long as you select the proper exercises and keep the neck position.

Keep me posted on how you make out

[MUSCULARMAYOR]

thanks tank, I'll let you know how it goes.

[MUSCULARMAYOR]

not much news, but went to the chiropractor and he thinks tanks theory is probably right on. He adjusted neck and upper spine, as well as loosened up some of the muscle in my upper back. Hope it works, right now I just have a really sore neck.

[MUSCULARMAYOR]

Went and got my emg done today. There was significant damage to the nerve in my arm. He figured I damaged a disc in my neck which caused damage to the nerve. He figured it will probably grow out in 3 months or so. He said the best cure is work out a lot, and maybe strengthen my neck. The best news I could have hoped for I guess. Now I just have to bring my right tricep back up to par.

[Tank]

Neck bridging on a swiss ball bro, but take your time with it. Aim for 5 sets of 45 seconds before arm, chest and shoulder work outs.

Work a lot on your external rotators with cables to keep constant tension.

Foam roll your back before and after every work out.

Do 3 sets of rhomboid work for every 1 set of chest
Do even ratio for lats and shoulders
Work long head of biceps with incline curls start high and overhead triceps work with dmb's


Keep informed on your progress

[MUSCULARMAYOR]

thanks for all the help tank. I've been doing a lot of overhead tricep work.

[Tank]

No problem. Watch when you do the overhead work. THe shoulder will try to sneak up to your ear indicating your upper traps are over activating shutting off your tri's. Decompress your shoulder down as you do it. Also triceps kick backs down hammer grip for 8 reps then reverse grip for 8 then blast out 8 with a prontated grip and you wont believe the feeling but again keep the shoulder stable, dont let it round forward keep the mid and lower traps activated.

[AlladdinSane]

Awesome thread.

[MUSCULARMAYOR]

Sorry it took so long to get back to you, computer was busted. I've never used a foam roller, do I just put it on the ground and roll my back across it? I think I can already see a bit of an improvement in my tri. I did seated overhead ez-bar ext's, nice and slow, got a great contraction at the top. Thanks again for all the help.
Ps. are you in the medical field at all. you know more usefull info than my chiropractor.

[Tank]

Yes just lie it horizontally across your back and start from your neck rolling 10 times 1 inch segements all the way down to your lower back.

I am a strength coach and personal trainer and read and take courses and practice what I preach.

Thanks for the compliment

[MUSCULARMAYOR]

a little update, my neck is feeling good and slowly some mass is coming back. Strength is still way down, but getting better everyday.
I talked to a guy at my gym that had the same kinda problem only his was much worse. He lossed all the muscle on the whole left half of his upper body, and had extreme amounts of pain. His problem was attributed to a herniated disc in the C5, C6. His problem happened twice and lasted for more than 2 years, I guess I'm lucky so far.
None of my docs could find any signs of herniation, but it doesn't mean it wasn't there. I was also warned to stay away from chiro and some kinds of physio.
I hope that this doesn't happen to any bros on here, it's shytty.

If it was a slight herniation are neck bridges alright?

[Gib]

MM you have gotten some great info on this thread, but you may want to ask your doc that one. Just hope he understands physical training, as there are some people who say neck work of almost any kind is going to lead to instant paralysis.

[MUSCULARMAYOR]

I have yet to find a doc that has any clue about physical training.

[AlladdinSane]

I was also warned to stay away from chiro


Your MD is a quack.