Beyond Brawn - The Insider's Encyclopedia on How to Build Muscle && Might

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d. Pain that goes down the front of the thigh to the knee (femoral neural-
gia)
e. Any back pain or spasms
f. Hip pain or spasms
g. Neck pain
h. Headaches or migraines
i. Shoulder pain
j. Knee pain
k. Tennis elbow
l. Golfer’s elbow
m. Hand and wrist problems
n. Foot and ankle problems

Practical application
. Many common and not-so-common conditions can influence how well you
tolerate certain exercises or specific variations of them. What may be safe for
most people may be unsafe for you. Knowing your body well will help you
to train with safety uppermost in your mind. You cannot make any gains in
the gym if you are injured and unable to train.

. Many people go through life, until they get injured, knowing little or noth-
ing about their physical irregularities. Conditions including scoliosis, tilted
pelvis, arms or legs that are different in length, excessive lordosis, postural
problems, spondylolysis, and flexion imbalances between one side of the
body and the other, can all influence the exercises you select or avoid in the
gym, and how specifically you perform them.

. Do not try to determine yourself (or with a friend/spouse) whether or not
you have one leg shorter than the other, and if so, which one. It is easier
than you probably think to make a mistake, due to the body’s compensatory
adjustment. You need an expert, e.g., a chiropractor, to do the assessment.

. While any skilled manipulative therapist should be able to help you with
most injuries, only one experienced in weight training will be able to help
you with exercise technique, selection and modification. e emphasis is
upon getting advice from an expert in biomechanics and manipulative
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