Joint/muscle stiffness

D

Dylf

0
Hey guys,

Only this year had I started going to the gym and it took me a while to get in to, but after a while I got quite used to it. I began doing weights training and a bit of cardio to compliment it roughly three times a week.

However, lately I haven't gone to the gym to do any weight training because my upper arms have started to crack when I'm doing simple things, like lifting one arm to reach something, or waking up and turning over. It's quite concerning and my left arm at the moment is particularly sore/stiff. If it was just muscle stiffness, I wouldn't be too worried, but I don't think the cracking noise and feeling should be happening?

One of the trainers at the gym says I need to warm up more before I touch weights. There's a confusing amount of information on the internet about how you should warm up.

I guess my question is, have any of you experienced this during your training? How should I go about solving this problem?

Thank you.
 
I'm not much into weights but it could be a nutritional deficiency or quite simply not enough stretching/flexibility. Yoga's great for that & toning
 
Which part of your upper arm is cracking? Your shoulder?

There's really nothing to warming up. Just do light, dynamic movements that use the same muscle groups that you plan to work, such as arm-circles and bicep curls with very light dumbbells,
 
Thanks for the replies, guys.

@ Jrahien, yes, the muscle right near my arm pit appears to be the muscle cracking.
 
Muscles don't crack, actually. Muscle tendons can catch, but if there's cracking, it's the bones of the joint.

You may want to see a doctor or physio and have a few simple motion tests done. It could be a weak rotator cuff, which is an easy fix, but there's no way to be sure without seeing it myself.
 
Thanks, Jrahien.

I've tried warming up for longer and doing dynamic stretching before a very light workout I did today instead of static stretching. If I'm not better by next week, I think I will get it checked out.

I got a similar problem in my knees but they're slowly recovering. It was due to wearing flat shoes. I just bought more supportive shoes and have been trying to strenghten the muscles around the joints.
 
Your trainer is correct. We know that weight training involves rigorous types of exercise. Warming up your body before those rigorous exercise is crucial. A proper warm up can increase the blood flow to the working muscle which results in decreased muscle stiffness, less risk of injury and improved performance. Additional benefits of warming up include physiological and psychological preparation.

That is why it is very important to know the proper method of warm ups. Just try to warming up your body by this ways:



• Which to choose? The best time to stretch a muscle is after it has an increased blood flow and has increased temperature to avoid injury. Stretching a cold muscle can increase the risk of injury from pulls and tears. So you are better off doing gradual aerobic exercise before stretching. Keep in mind that the best time to stretch is after exercise because your muscles are warm and pliable with the increase of blood in them. Make sure your warm up begins gradually, and uses the muscles that will be stressed during exercise.

• Try to gradually increasing the intensity of your specific sport. This uses the specific skills of a sport and is sometimes called a related warm-up. For example the idea is to jog a while and add a few sprints into the routine to engage all the muscle fibers.

• Adding movements not related to your sport in a slow steady manner: calisthenics or flexibility exercises for example. Ball players often use unrelated exercise for their warm up.

• Keep in mind that the perfect warm up is a very individual process that can only come with practice, experimentation and experience. Try warming up in various ways, at various intensities until you find what works best for you.

This is just a simple warm ups routine. Try to make your own routine by mixing up some activities.
 
I know exactly what you mean. My knees first started cracking alot too, now my wrist and akles, fingers, and back crack all the time. Maybe we are low on calcium?
 
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