I'm a lefty. I play badminton, holds mouse, eat with my left hand. I face the computer pretty much throughout the day. I sit in the office for the whole day, I play PC games when I reach home.

I started lifting not too long ago (< 1 month). I'm now having this pain at my left teres minor area when I do some motions.

I started having this pain after a bad day of bench press where I bench with a bad form (elbows too flared out). I understood that this is putting a lot of stress on my shoulders. I fixed my form and I no longer have this pain during/after my bench session.

However, on the following days, I've again got this pain when I do bentover rows (not anymore from benching).

Am I doing it wrong or I have this weaken/injured left shoulder from my work or from my bad bench day ?

This is one way to relax the shoulder muscles. Leaning on the ball and letting gravity pull the arm and therefore the muscles into the ball.

Can use a medicine ball or children ball.

First time doing it, it will be extremely tingly and painful (a "seng" sensation, not so much pain or ache). If you can't hold it for long, it's ok.

Also, if you find your hand is not enough support for your head, just roll up a small towel and put it underneath your head.

This only relaxes the muscles though. It doesn't fix your muscle pain if you're lifting in bad form.

Finally a reply. Thank you very much for the info. I'll try it when I got home. I did my session yesterday. I start off by doing some cuff warm up, the pain is a lot more minimal.

On the point of bad form. Is it normal to have some pain there as a beginner? (weak back, I sit in front of the company > more than 80% of the day for years)

Glad it was useful. I don't always check Lowyat and it will be months before I usually pop by in.

There is some pain when starting out but good form is hard to learn unless you have a trainer who has had experienced dealing with people with injuries or is actively working in the rehab industry.

What you see online in youtube exercises may not be in good form.

General rules :
1. Suck in belly button hard when lifting, squatting. Doing this protects the lower back.
2. Eyes will determine your neck posture. Your eyes will determine your spine balance too. Look right : top half of spine turn right but lower half of spine turns left to keep the body balance - during this time, a lot of water is directed down the spine to protect it.
3. Elbows slightly bend even when lifting straight. Don't snap them.
4. Knees soft and in alignment with shoe direction.

The video is by this lady called Yamuna who developed a self-massage technique called Body Rolling to realign the body, muscles, ligaments, tendons and fachsia's. In US, a lot of people see her, from layperson to elite athletes to dancers.

In Malaysia, I think only my coach teaches this. In Singapore, Paradigm Wellness and they are having teaching sessions in April and May. http://paradigm-wellness.com/blog/methodol...BKtMSE.facebook

Other option to learn Yamuna Body Rolling is to by her kits (ball + DVD). http://www.yamunabodyrolling.com/store/index.php
There's no import or sales duties on exercise equipment but if the customs open the box and find the DVD, they may sometimes tax.

I just recently got a Foot Wakers Kit for my mum and it cleared customs. Payed RM300+ for it (40% for courier).

I have the pearl ball which I bring along when I travel. Need to work out the kinks and it's small and compact. Pump - I buy the cheapo RM2.99 pump for sports ball.

Thank you for the tips. I'm now extra careful during my sessions. I'll concentrate more on where I'm looking at as well, this is new to me (though I do know that certain workout requires me to look downwards to maintain neutral spine).

I noticed something as I've started doing light cardios during my off days. It minimized the pain a lot after the cardio session, I guess the increased blood flow helped.

I noticed something when I squat too. When I tried to hold the bar in place on my back, this is where I feel the pain kick in at my teres minor. I tried turning my wrist and so on to change my grip, but it doesn't help much on the pain. I'm very inflexible to begin with and that movement (forearm stretch to my back to hold the bar) is not normal to me.

Not sure if inflexibility is the issue.

I think it's coming to a point where you might have to seek help outside the forums. When it comes to good form, it's sometimes hard to explain it well here and someone needs to show you.

I can email you a PDF file for office ergonomics. Just PM me your email and I'll send it to you. It's helped me over the years to solve my back problems. I noticed that the moment I don't follow it, I get a lot of shoulder pains.

Hmm...as for stretching, whenever I feel tight, I go into a stretch. Doesn't matter where I am : office, home, mall, road, etc.

One thing I do practice for good posture is to walk like I'm having angel wings. Shoulders back and down. Helps a fair bit.

Okay, I did my heavy day today. I started off with proper cuff warm ups.



I'm now typing this without any pain at all. I noticed the huge difference when I did my squat (which is when the pain kicks in as I grip the bar on my back). I guess I have to warm up my weak cuffs.

Good for you.

Then when you want to lift heavier, that's when you will seriously want to look for better ways to stretch out the muscle groups, especially when it may not only be one muscle group but a lot of them working together.