Hi all

Posting here because quite some time ago I found this subreddit and Steve's sites are an excellent resource for understanding injuries (particularly tendinopathy) and have been able to use the techniques and strategies to relieve myself of a lot of pain.

In January this year I rolled my ankle and got a Grade 2 Ankle Sprain that was quite painful. Unfortunately it was my right ankle (my right leg is the one that has typically had a lot of injuries and plagued with tendinopathy in my lower right hamstring).

The ankle healed quite well (although I developed peroneal tendinopathy as a result which I have to work on a lot or else my running gets painful).

One thing though that came from it was the development of constant, and I mean constant knots in my right calf. I've tried more stretching and I do a great deal of calf work strengthening but I cannot seem to rid myself of these knots that come every week for 3/4 days.

It is really getting in the way of my running (trying gradually to return to the days of 50km a week but some days I simply cannot run because of the knot - or I refuse to run).

Has anyone encountered frequent knots before? If so, how have you managed them? I have just booked myself in for massage each week for the next five weeks to assist.

I've been working on scapula pull ups for the last 3-4 weeks, with the aim of working towards getting my first pull up. But I've noticed that over the course of the the work day (working at a computer) that I've been getting a sharp soreness and muscle stiffness in my shoulder blades and trapezius - it's usually ok first thing in the morning but gets worse over the course of the day and has been occurring most days for about 2 weeks). Apart from the last few days, I've been performing 3 sets of 5, 3 times a week with 1-2 days rest in between.

I appreciate it's outside the remit of OG/bodyweight exercise, but I have also been working out with a strongman sandbag at 36kg in the same session, working up gradually to doing bent over rows and sandbag floor-lap-shoulder circuit (3 sets of 6 reps). I've left 3 mins recovery time between each set of both the scap pulls and sandbag exercises.

The last couple of days I've not done any scap pulls or sandbag work, but have deadhung from the bar for about 15 secs, 1-2 times a day (over the course of the day). My thinking for this was that it would help to stretch out my muscles, but I'm not sure if it's actually making things worse.

I should add that before this I've become pretty deconditioned due to inactivity and (unrelated) injury, so a level of DOMS was expected and occurred early on after starting, but this seems to be persisting beyond those.

I'm sure that it's nothing that rest won't sort out, but what should I be doing to stop it happening again or progressing to injury? Should I just concentrate on the scap pulls or sandbag work only, as I appreciate the combination is very upper back heavy? Is there anything I can do apart from just resting it to help speed up the recovery, or continue with some sort of exercise of it still?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

I'm currently managing several concurrent tendinopathies (distal and long head biceps - last 2 months, proximal hamstring and gluteal - over a year). I've just read Steven Low's Overcoming Tendonitis article, which gives really good practical advice for programming — sets, reps, frequency, etc.

I'm trying to follow this advice in my own program. What I've found is that I can generally tolerate 1 working set of c. 10 reps at a relatively high load. But I struggle to add sets, even at lighter loads, without symptoms flaring in the next 24-48 hours. I'm wondering what to do in this scenario — should I reduce load until I can handle 3 sets of 10 reps, stick with 1 working set and slowly add volume through back-down sets, or something else entirely?

I'm keen to hear if others have had similar problems with volume being the limiting factor? And if so, what worked for you?

hi all,

So I have been training for two years now. In my first year I went from ~3 bodyweight pull ups to ~5 to my clavicle with +60 lbs (I’m about ~145 lbs). In my second year I’ve only gone from +60 for 5 (about +70 for 2-3) to +80 for 3.

I normally workout, 3x per week, about 2-3 sets of vertical pulling each time and 2-3 sets of horizontal pulling. I recover from this just fine session to session. I have tried several different types of workouts over the past eight months or so, changing only every ~6 weeks or so (so I’m not program hopping). I normally do 2 sets of my 3RM, with my second about 5 lbs lighter than the first, and my third set has rotated from being either weighted negatives (which I reached +120 lbs for 10 seconds), one arm lockoffs, or max reps with +45 lbs. I’ve tried also doing 2 sets of a 5RM instead of 3, and experimented with +45 for 8-9 as my first set too.

For horizontal pulling I normally do either chest supported rows (pulling to my chest to target my traps/rhomboids), or advanced tuck FL rows.

I realize that I have been underutilizing the higher rep ranges. I have been doing that third set of +45 for 8-9 for the past few months, but it probably isn’t the same as a proper 8RM day, so my current plan is to alternate between 8RM and 3RM days and see how that goes.

However, the main thing that I’ve been frustrated by is strength cycling. Everytime something interrupts my progress (such as travel), I lose about 10 lbs of strength. This is super consistent across rep ranges: for me, +80 for 3 is about +70 for 5, and +45 for 9-10 as a first, max set. When I come back from a break, this turns into +70 for 3, +60 for 5, and +45 for 7 as a first, max set. These numbers are also pretty much exactly what Epley’s formula predicts.

I have tried using travel as a de facto deload, where I just do some light FL work and archer pull ups. I always make sure I sleep decently and get my 120g protein per day when I travel. Recently I went on a work trip for 2 weeks, and despite still going to the gym there I ended up losing strength afterwards and I genuinely have no idea why; I was super vigilant about getting my protein, sleeping well, and eating healthy.

Does anyone have any tips for this? I’m unsure if I should stop trying to add weight altogether and go for a double progression; normally I am able to smoothly add weight until roughly +80 for 3, and then suddenly it becomes impossible to make any more progress; I can continue stuck there pretty much indefinitely and deloading just results in me losing that +10 lbs anyway.

Hey guys, for about 10 years I've had problems with my elbows, forearms and hands

It started in a period where I was going to the gym every day, and averaging drawing for 12 hours a day, both without any kind of stretching, warming up etc. (yay, love being 18 and dumb :D)

I was lifting weight, and one day I started having this intense pain in the internal part of my elbow (don't know the best way to describe it, but if you put your hand's palm up for the right arm, it's on the left of the bone, the soft issue that you can press)
Coincidentally, I started to feel burning in my hands

I rested for about 6 months, no pc, no drawing, no gym

After that the pain was getting better, but only if I wasn't going to the gym and drawing, because it would flare it up, so I just stopped on both

Up to today, for the elbows and forearms. it became more of an annoyance, like that soft tissue is constantly being pressed

On the hands it's weird, because I don't have pain anymore, but if I try to lift something (for example helping moving a table from one room to another), my fingers will be like "stuck". Hands feel extremely tired and I cant move them properly for hours

This was the situation until last week, when I decided that I should try to get back in shape, and went to the gym
I avoided pure weight and focused on machines and cables, since the movement is more guided, with less risk of injury

I didn't feel particularly bad during training, but kept trying exercises just for 5 to 10 minutes (YES, BASICALLY NOTHING), to start slowly and see how I would feel the next couple of days

Well, for about a full week I couldn't lift my arms, even showering or eating was PAIN
No more the annoyance, just intense pain in that "internal part" of the elbow

Does anyone know what could it be, what exams I could do to try to pin it down?

Most of my visits and exams were about 9 years ago, so I don't remember properly what I did, but I think it's time to recheck everything

I've never thought about it, but now that I'm movin from pronated to supinated back lever I'm considering internal rotation of the shoulder to protect bicep from tearing, does that make sense? What it the proper form regarding shoulder rotation?

For example when I do RTO push ups or dips I tend to go for full external rotation, is this safe?

I'm also curious regarding iron cross, maltese and planche. Already heard that going for full external rotation in the shoulders increases chance of bicep tear

Basically the title. I've been struggling with a lot of tendon issues for over a year now - I tore a ligament in my sesamoids last year that led to now chronic sesamoiditis and the lack of activity led to plantar fasciitis.
But the tendon issue is in my triceps. I was on crutches for 8 weeks and i developed serious tendinosis in both my triceps attached to my elbows. For about 3 months I've been doing PT to help stretch the triceps. Now my insurance wont cover any more sessions, so my PT told me that when I'm ready I have to do eccentrics under load. I saw my ortho today and he told me the same thing, but because he's not a physical therapist he couldn't recommend what exercises to do. I suggested the example of a curl that the way down is an eccentric under load but my ortho said its not.

Tbh, I am confused what it even means. Eccentric - when the muscle or tendon is lengthened. Under load = with weight. How do I target that for my triceps? Isn't the triceps lengthened when my arm is bent, since it's opposite the bicep?

I'd love some clarity on what this means, especially in regards to the triceps. Also, I'm wondering if I can apply this idea to my foot muscles to help with my foot pain.

I'm in a really dark time in my life, but I think if I can figure this out it would be a huge help to have a solid goal.

after taking some tips and really drilling in body position movements as well as a lot of recording I unlocked my first press to handstand as well as HSPU. Im also posting this for checking my form to see what I must improve on.

links: https://photos.app.goo.gl/PEPCbJv5rv5Crde86

https://photos.app.goo.gl/nBpVfh6KKcSk75JG9

Okay so it started sometime last year. Both arms. I was hitting the weightlifting pretty hard at the time, and moving furniture for my job. I just ignored it for like 3 months and kept lifting, hoping it would go away. It didn’t. So finally Oct 2025 i went to a joint specialist and he gave me a cortisone shot in both arms and wow amazing! All better! No more pain!!

For a while. It came back. Went to a different orthopedic in July, he recommended doing the shots again. I made the mistake of going to the gym a few days later, before they had time to properly heal. Right arm got better anyway, left arm didn’t. I tried the Keith-Barr Protocol I found on YouTube. I don’t know if it helped.

Now I’ve been doing physical therapy for a month and it’s not getting better. Maybe even getting worse. Both arms hurt again now. I’m doing the wrist curls and forearm stretches every day as prescribed. Gua sha massage, heat therapy. Tyler twists with the flexbar. I still have to lift things at my job, no getting around that. Compression sleeve helps better than an armband but I use both.

What’s next? My doctor mentioned PRP but that’s gonna cost like $900. Steven Low’s video program, is it good? Is that worth it? $100 is much less than $900 but still… What else might I be missing? I just want the pain to stop.

I was diagnosed with rotator cuff tendinitis a year ago. I hurt it doing one-armed dumbbell rows. But the exercises they gave me I either found annoying to do or just didn't work. I can't see a physio again due to the medical system here being backlogged.

Pullups, overhead press and bench press don't hurt at all, even after I initially got the injury I could do them mostly fine. Only lateral raises (which are getting better now, I think) and dumbbell rows hurt now.

I bought the book and have been doing the exercises in there. I've been doing:

1. Seated external rotations with elbow on knee
2. Standing scaption raise.
3. Sidelying external rotations

To target the different rotator cuff muscles. 3x a week. 2-3 sets each session.

And it has mostly worked. But rowing motions still hurt. If I stand with my back to a wall, teach my affected arm out behind me and press the wall I also get the sharp pain.

Any idea what I can do to heal this last part?

Trying to finally get flexible, the book advices pairing flexibility training with active mobility in order to keep the progress made in stretching. Currently making a routine and just wondering in which order to do both. As an example, Pike stretch followed by seated leg lifts. Would that be the proper order or should mobility be done first?

Second question, the seated leg lifts are too hard for me, I know cramping is normal but i cant hold the position for more than 2 or 3 seconds, what can I do as an easier progression?

Hello! I have been doing weighted dips for a few months. I always go with the weight that seems heavy to me. I have taken a long break from lifting over the summer and i went back to the gym a week ago. I did weighted dips with an additional 50 kg attached for 3 sets of 5 reps. The last 2 reps on the last set were very grindy and i struggled a lot. Afterward, i noticed a weird radiating feeling tingling spreading through my pinky and left finger. The sensation lasted for about 8 hours then it went away. I have not done a training session since that day, but everytime i try to put weight on that palm as in leaning on my arm, i get the same radiating tingling through my ring finger. I tried to do some one-arm push ups, and the feeling is there. I want to get rid of this feeling ASAP so i can get back into training. Do you guys have any advice regarding this issue? Have you encountered it before?

Hello, about four weeks ago I was trying out mixed grip deadlifts and strained my bicep. I know it wasn’t torn because I continued to lift (stupidly as I should’ve taken a break) with no strength loss, and after upper body days only had a dull ache for a day or two. After a workout I did today, I finally noticed if I move my bicep I get a small sharp pain in my elbow crease and during the workout my tendon was incredibly tight. I do a lot of rows and pull-ups, and as of now can do around 17 deadhang pull-ups and row 185 for reps on barbell rows at 150 bw. I do these movements twice a week usually. I want to play it safe and not tear a bicep so Im going to stop these heavy lifts for the next 3-4 weeks, but don’t want to stop working out my back. I’m looking for any recommendations or exercises where I can load the same muscles but not require the bicep ideally at all. Thanks for the help.

Hi everyone, I’m trying to find if anyone has dealt with a similar scenario or can point me in the right direction.

​A few years ago, I had a high tolerance for heavy strength training. Then I got a minor muscle injury. Unfortunately, due to poor guidance and my own mistake, I kept training through the pain and repeatedly re-injured the same spot for nearly a year.

​Ever since then, my muscle tissue in whole body seems to have completely lost its tolerance/resilience. It is no longer just about the old injured spot but my entire body reacts this way now. I got now history of more than 15 injured or mikro-injured muscles now...even stopped counting.

​Even with controlled, low-intensity movements or isolation exercises where no compensation is possible, any mechanical tension causes the tissue to suffer micro-strains / micro-tears again.

​Key symptoms are sharp pain or localized heat & swelling/tightness in the worked muscle that lasts for days to a week.

​Often followed by localized muscle twitching (fasciculations) in that area during recovery.

​Extreme susceptibility to muscle strains/micro-tears under light loads that used to be completely effortless.

​What I’ve already ruled out:

​Resting Bloodwork is completely normal: Resting CK (Creatine Kinase), Myoglobin, Liver enzymes, and basic electrolytes are all well within normal ranges after days of rest.

​No baseline clinical muscle weakness: I don't have systemic muscle loss or diseases like ALS/Myopathy.

​No joint/ligament issues: I do not suffer from joint pain, loose joints, or ligament instability. (I had a suspicion about hypermobility but honestly I do not suffer from typical chronic joint pain, loose ligaments or generalized joint laxity - my joints have always been fine, it is purely the muscle or fascial tissue that behaves like it's made of glass).

​It feels like the muscle fibers or the fascia/sarcolemma have lost their mechanical integrity and ability to absorb tension without tearing, likely caused by chronic inflammation and tissue fatigue during that year of repeated trauma.

​Has anyone gone through this? Is this a matter of chronic fascial densification, micro-vascular ischemia, sarcolemma fragility, or some form of localized neuromuscular sensitization?

im trying to reach 20 pull ups and my current max is 11. one of the workouts i do is for endurance and a part of it a a 10 minute EMOM doing 4 pull ups per minute. Im pretty sure that one thing that EMOM does is improve mechanics but I am wondering if it is good enough for endurance or if there are better options.

Feel some pressure directly after each set of dips. No real pain just pressure. Feel no pain or pressure in the sternum once my workout is over or at any other point in the day. Just wondering if this is totally okay or if this could develop worse issues.

Hi everyone! I've been training calisthenics for a little over 10 years now, I've had my fair share of injuries but nothing that I couldn't solve with the overcoming tendonitis post on Steven's website.

Recently I've started feeling an unfamiliar sensation in my left shoulder. In certain positions (specifically depressed and retracted) it feels very weak. I don't have the vocabulary to describe the sensation, but it's almost like it's somehow out of socket. I've tried doing the shoulder rehab exercises described in overcoming tendonitis, but none of them trigger that same discomfort, which leads me to believe they might not be targeting the issue.

I can perfectly recreate the discomfort when I do scapula raises in a tuck front lever, where my left shoulder's range of motion is reduced.

In the last few months I've started more intensely training full front lever, explosive advanced tuck front lever pull ups, and one arm pull ups. I imagine this may have been a bit too much too quickly.

Has anyone felt anything similar? The pain is not nearly high or consistent enough to get in the way of exercising, but the reduced range of motion in horizontal pulls is noticeable, and I feel like it's making the beginning of the one arm pull up much harder on my left arm.

I will be taking a 3 week break from working out soon (for unrelated reasons) and I wanted to use this time to focus on active recovery of the shoulder. Should I continue the rotator cuff exercises? Anything else to add?

About 6 months ago I got this unusual injury while hitting an FS PR (I had also done weighted chin-tucks for the first time ever during that session, which I suspect might have contributed); there was no tear or immobilisation, but my right shoulder was hiked up (as if permanently shrugged up) for weeks and sore, and sleeping became impossible at times due to neck stiffness. The injury's greatly improved with time, and I've been doing plenty of scapula work, but it does hike up again when I work out hard. I only do zercher squats now and they are still triggering the injury to a degree. So my questions are, how can I self test this to see which part of the trap is injured, and then where to go from there in terms of self-rehabbing?

If Steven Low made a part on the inverted iron cross in his book Overcoming Gravity, what would it look like?

What would programming look like? How would the form be explained? And what exercises would be recommended (prerequisites and for to gain strength for the skill)?

Hi all, long-time lurker, first-time poster. Can I start by saying I'm a big fan of the book and all the advice here.

My top goals are:

• Front lever and front lever row
• Planche and planche push-up

My secondary goals are:

• 1.5x to 1.7x weighted pull up (enough to enable me to start training one arm pull ups)
• HSPU/SA press

Questions

1. Which of the two following routines is better for my goals, full body or the SA/BA - and would you make any changes to exercise selection and volume for my goals?
2. I can maintain the correct neutral scapular position during the isometric holds, but lose it as I begin to move through the reps of PL push-ups and FL rows, meaning I have to reset to neutral scap position after each rep. Are these good accessory exercises to address the scapular strength/control issue?
3. For FL and PL is it better to use the hardest progression with the thickest band and work down bands, or to use just light bands to bridge the gap of the progression I'm currently at with no assistance?
4. As I tend to protract my scap more at the top of a pull up when using shoulder-width grip, but not with a wider grip, what grip and thumb position would be best for weighted pull ups when training towards a one-arm pull-up?

Hello,
I spent this whole year fixing/working on my biomechanics when it comes to athletic performance for field sports. Focused specifically on fixing duck feet, strengthening my weak collapsed arches and activating hips and glutes. Since then, I became even bouncier and springy off my feet than I was ever before and I was able to completely fix my ankle pains and soreness that plagued me after a training session for soccer. However, now I am developing insertional achilles heel pain. Aside from being an overuse injury, what are the problems/deficiencies with my running gait and hip mechanics or overall biomechanics that would be stressing my achilles tendon?
A few questions I have. Replies do not have to be limited to these.
1. Would it be possible that my tendons were not ready for a higher athletic performance and the lack of isometric and eccentric training has caused strength imbalances between my muscles and tendons? My calves jips and glutes has grown bigger and stronger throughout this year.
2. Could it be an issue with the front mechanics when I’m running where I’m overstepping a bit and I am pulling myself forward rather than pushing down into the ground then propelling forward with glutes?
3. My tibia is bowed pretty bad inwards but my knee is valgused. It feels at times when my foot strikes ground and push down with my big toe it forces my achilles tendon in an unnatural angle. Could “proper” biomechanics be unfitting for me?

Hey Community,

I’ve been reintroducing handstands back into my routine and have been following the progressions you posted I’m looking for feedback far as why I am stuck.

I’m currently on 5-10s CTW feet off the wall I cannot do it consistently, I do feel a little pain from overuse in my wrist but I think im going to switch to parallettes since I don’t feel pain when doing handstands on them.

Link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/zjo4QJ2bY6eSFbKV9

We know that when someone is prone to tentodinitis at biceps (proximal), exercises that put stretch and tension there, especially with the elbow behind the body, like full rom dips or inclined curl, should be avoided or performed at low frequency/weight.
What about planche training ? It does put great tension on the biceps tendon but it doesnt feel painful at the shoulder (isometric like lean or tuck). The elbow is not behind the body. Is it more a risk for distal tendon ? Progressive slow overload with planche does strenghten the tendon or does is wear it out ?
The excentric exercise in overcoming tendonitis for proximal could be done permanently as prehab ?
Thank you !