r/overcominggravity

Hey everyone,

Dealing with a mild tendinopathy/strain at my chest insertion. I’m currently doing 3 sets of 30-second mid-range isometric holds with dumbbells at roughly a 70% load to stimulate remodeling.

I’m hitting conflicting information specifically within tendon rehab literature and need clarity:

Some tendinopathy sources strictly advocate for an every other day setup because net collagen synthesis takes 36–48 hours to peak or something. On the other hand, Dr. Keith Baar’s research says it resets every 6 or so hours, suggesting daily or even consecutive-day short loading is safe, and therefore will heal my tendon quicker. Is doing heavy dumbbell holds two days in a row safe, am I leaving recovery on the table by waiting 48 hours?

Also, once it heals I'll still want to do the isometrics to not have it injured again. Where do these belongs in a typical bodybuilding workout? Should I do them at the beginning or is at the end fine?

Lastly, since supposedly isometrics numb pain , how do I know when the tendon is structurally healed and safe for 100% max effort? What day-after markers should I look for?

Running the standard collagen + Vitamin C protocol alongside this an hour before the isometrics.

Appreciate any insight from anyone who has successfully balanced these protocols for an upper-body tendon. Thanks!

I've been dealing with a scapular issue for several months now. I originally injured the muscles involved in pulling movements - think teres minor, subscapularis, serratus anterior, etc. These muscles became extremely tight and led to scapular dyskinesis, which I've been struggling with ever since.

I've recently managed to make some progress by doing a lot of scapular massage, really trying to get in and under the blade. I've also been focusing on isolated strengthening work for the rhomboids,banded scapular retractions specifically. I found that these muscles were being constantly pulled apart and causing pain, so strengthening them has helped.

One symptom that has persisted throughout is constant pain and tension in the serratus posterior inferior. My best guess is that the scapular dysfunction is causing it to work overtime to stabilise the ribcage, any kind of activity (even just walking) tends to increase the pain and tightness there.

I'm not sure which specific muscles I need to strengthen next in order to take the load off the serratus posterior inferior and restore proper scapular balance. I'm still doing the rhomboid isolation work but I'm no longer seeing improvement from it alone.

If anyone with experience in this area could point me in the right direction, I'd really appreciate it!

Hi! I’ve posted here before but mainly for my shoulder issues (Tendinosis, tendon tears, etc. both shoulders). But, I also have issues in my other joints, neck, upper back, etc.

I am diagnosed with Seronegative Axial Spondyloarthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis, and what my doctors tell me are “early” Arthritis since my 20’s (I’m in my 30’s now).

I have been doing what I can with what I can afford (We’re a low income family).
And that consists of rehab (Isometrics, eccentrics 2x a week), anti-inflammatory diet & vitamins/supplements, collagen peptides with bone broth, etc.). I also have been in therapy as well.

My inflammatory markers in my bloodwork have been good (My joint and digestive pains improved). But, the tendinosis and tendon pains in general have just been relentless and at times feel worse.

A few months ago, I was doing 6-10 reps with eccentrics. And also 6 reps 10 second holds with isometrics. My Rhuematologist and PCP nudged me to do more reps so I am now at 2 sets of 10 reps for eccentrics. But, again, I just feel worse in my tendons? I also was wondering if light stretching (Ex: Chest opening via doorframe, chair yoga) are bad for tendinosis?

Also, would like to mention that tendinosis pains feels way worse 1-3 days after eccentrics training 😢

I’m sorry. I just feel really defeated because I keep trying but my tendons are just not complying 😢

https://www.instagram.com/son\_hanma\_?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Do you think son hanma is natural? In roughly 6 years of training he's achieved +80kg weighted HSPU, back clapping planche push ups for reps, van gelder on rings, a 200kg squat, and more.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Handstands/s/bqFepUtkok

Currently doing a Push, Pull,Legs, Core split 3-4x a week. Considering tailoring it One Push Exercise, One Pull Exercise, One Leg, One Core 3-4x a week due to recovery and fatigue by 3rd Pair. I am 6’3, 195-200lbs depending on the morning.

Example #1 of Recent Workout:

Jump Rope
Warm Up/HS Holds

Pair 1:

Weighted Pull Ups
85 x4
65 x6
55 x8

Pistol Squats
BW x8ea
10 x6ea
15 x6ea

Pair 2:

Weighted Dips
145 x4
125 x6
105 x8

KBL Single Leg RDL
40 x6
40 x6
40 x6

Pair 3:

DB Single Arm Row
115 x6
110 x8
105 x8

Hanging Scissor Kicks
20
20
20

Example #2 of Recent Workout:

Jump Rope
Warm Up/HS Holds

Pair 1:

Weighted Pull Up
85 x4.5
65 x6.5
60 x7

Bulgarian Split Squat
35 x10ea
35 x10ea
35 x10ea

Pair 2:

Handstand Push Up
6
6
6

KBL Single Leg RDL
53 x6
53 x6
53 x6

Pair 3:

Skin the Cat
3
3
3

Single Leg Calf Raises
BW x10
BW x10
BW x10

hi all,

I really need help with my training, i have tried all sorts of periodisation the book gave, linear, light/heavy, accumulation/intensification and now DUP and i have made zero progress. I film all my sets, i weigh myself weekly to make sure im on track with my cut, i try to get 7 hours of sleep, i train with good form and break form only when i’m pushing through hard and nothing seems to work. I look back at clips from THREE years ago and im doing the same DAMN shit, still stuck at straddle front lever, stuck at adv tuck planche and stuck at the bottom 1/4 of the one arm pull up.

I tried changing to a weighted programme to built as much as strength as i can, no difference, i tried being ultra specific and do progressions, no difference, i tried GTG, no GODDAMN difference.

The only thing i can allude all this shit show to is my cervical stenosis that caused my plateau for all these goddamned years. But even then that’s a shit excuse because my doctors and PTs told me to keep training.

With all that being said, i thank anyone who read this wall of text this far, i need help desperately it’s taking a toll on my mental health

edit: in case if anyone were to ask about my routine now it’s something like this:

1. OAP with a belt, using number of palms to progress
2. super adv tuck holds
3. banded front lever press to negative
4. progression of tuck planche push ups
5. banded front lever rows touch

total sets per day for both pull and push is 9, done on monday, wednesday and friday, using heavy (3 reps), medium (7 reps), and light (10 reps) respectively

and i cannot do handstand movements because it compresses my spinal cord and my body goes numb

Hi everyone!

I’ve been training for HSPUs for many months now, and today honestly felt like the breaking point. I wasn’t even able to do a single Negative HSPU, and it’s getting really frustrating.

At this stage, I’m looking for some guidance because I genuinely don’t know what I should change anymore.

Below is the program I’m currently following, along with videos of my negative HSPU attempts and wall HSPUs.

I’d really appreciate any advice or feedback you can give me.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and have a great day.

Hugo

Program:

Negative HSPU: 4–6 sets of 1 rep

Wall HSPU: 4 sets of 3–4 reps

Straight Bar Dips: 4 sets of 8 reps

I do this routine twice a week. Should i utilize periodization ?

I'm 171cm for 73kg and planning on cutting in the coming months.

HSPU Negative tries : https://youtube.com/shorts/sOJMlXqcL6w?si=XAGOaRQhdRUeipUc https://vimeo.com/1192930324?share=copy&fl=cl&fe=ci

Wall HSPU : https://youtube.com/shorts/V4wrDBTG970?is=ChufhY0Te4Yfbqca

Hey, I have been struggling with a stinging pain in the back of both knees for quite a few months now and it keeps getting worse so thought I’d try for some advice from others.

For some background, my work involves visiting and walking around brownfield/agricultural sites 2-3 times a week and means I have to do about 10-15k steps on these days. Sitting breaks do provide temporary relief whilst walking. I bring this up as I think this is consistently aggravating both knees and not giving them appropriate time to recover. I have now asked work if I can reduce these visits to bigger sites so I don’t have to walk as much. Pain has generally come after larger physical demands of it but starts hurting during standing and walking on site visits now.

The first discomfort I felt in the back of my left knee came after a 15-mile run in September 2025. Was running about 25 miles a week on average over this time. This was very minor and not something I would even class as a pain, just a tweak I felt after finishing the run. This hung around in the background but wasn’t something major as I only felt it during runs and it still allowed me to run two half marathons in early October and then early November. I noticed in between these runs, doing hamstring curls on the machine in the gym started to hurt this area on the weight id usually do and so I stopped doing this exercise.

After the second half I was struggling with this back of the knee pain in both legs now (right behind and inside of knees), but it only occurred during running. One night in late November I went on a very light run which was limited significantly by this pain, and then I played an hour of football later that night. I felt ok after on the night but the morning after was a bigger pain in the back of both knees and really limited my movement (7/10 pain).
I stopped running for about 3-4 weeks to let it rest and then went back to running over Christmas. I did a few short runs but felt it behind my knees every time and then the day after a 5-mile run in early January the same major knee pain was back which stopped me running again. After this, I stopped running again and started to do some hamstring stretches given to me from a GP phone call appointment I got through work, but this only seemed to make things worse and resulted in pain afterwards for a day or two. I went on a very light, short run at the end of January and I felt discomfort, which then turned to pain later in the day whilst walking.

I returned to doing leg exercises at home after seeing an NHS physio in March and followed their plan for a month but increasingly continued to experience pain after demanding less and less of my legs. I saw a private physio at the end of April who diagnosed this issue as distal hamstring tendinosis and scaled my exercises way back to just doing static holds of two exercises once a day. I did this for a week until he moved me onto the same exercises but with the hamstring in a more stretched position but this seemed to cause more pain and so I have returned to the original exercises ever since.

Ice did seem to reduce pain so I did this every day after my NHS appointment, but private physio said not to do this as it’s a tendon issue and he wants me to keep it loose. Have been adding heat to it everyday since. I have received acupuncture and soft tissue massage to both legs once a week for two weeks, but these just seem to make my legs feel very vulnerable and a bit achy immediately and a few days after.
Legs still have full range of motion and have not been buckling at all.

The pain threshold in the back of my legs has reduced steadily since January to the point now where I can walk/stand for about 10 mins until I am in pain and have to push through it. Following aggravating it, it remains in pain the next day. As I have read more about this, I believe this is now at the chronic stage.

I can give more information if needed. Feel very stuck right now and knees are getting worse so any advice would be appreciated. Cheers

I just recently ordered overcoming gravity and was wondering what it went over for stretching improvement, or where I could find a source equivalent to this book for stretching. My goals for stretching would be full body mobility, examples being: pancake stretch to press handstand, full front and middle splits, back stretches for bridge or of the like, and shoulder mobility which is alot of chest and back. I understand there are more than just these areas for important places to stretch but I dont believe I need to list them all for this question.

If I need to clarify anything please ask.

Hello,

I don't know if this is the right sub for this, but it's what shows up when you look for this injury on reddit.

Last year I tore the ecu subsheath in my dominant hand due to leaving it untreated for months (a doctor told me it was tendinitis, turns out it wasn't). I had a repair surgery and after a whole year of recovery, I can say my hand feels better than ever. I went back to regular exercise recently.

My other hand has always felt somewhat unstable, but I didn't get any pain of it, just mild discomfort and weakness, and some uncomfortable sensation in the ulnar side while doing some movements like checking my watch. Recently I started to feel like something was not right, my forearm felt quite strained and my wrist was feeling weird. A visit to the surgeon, MRI and ultrasound later, I have a bad ecu subluxation in the right wrist as well. The MRI results talk about "chronic" subluxation with the possibility of the subsheath being completely torn, since there are no signs of trauma or inflammation, and my ulnar bone is completely flat, there is close to no groove for the tendon to sit there. The tendon seems to be completely fine, it does not jump or snap unless you actually grab it (I guess since the bone is flat there's nothing to get caught on).

I had an appointment with my physical therapist and he checked it with an ultrasound. He believes that I might have live with that since a long time, and I'm now feeling discomfort due to the strained muscles. His opinion, without being a surgeon, is that a repair might be difficult there since there's no groove to put the ECU back into, and that it might be better just to train the forearm muscles to get better stability.

Now I'm waiting for the appointment with the surgeon in 2 weeks. I'm quite disheartened right now. The recovery from the previous surgery was quite miserable, with lots of pain, and just when I was getting back into my normal life I get hit with the same, but it seems to be even worse. I don't know what will be the approach of the surgeon, I get the feeling that he will suggest to just fix it, which means going through the whole process again, and I'm not sure if I should attempt it or follow the advice of the PT. Right now I have some pain in the whole forearm, and using the mouse and keyboard is uncomfortable, specially when I have some ulnar deviation.

Has anyone any experience with this kind of situation?

Thanks in advance.