Protect your lat-pack!

Check out my guest post for the amazing ladies at CruxCrush.com on how to protect and strengthen your lats!

cruxcrush.com/2013/03/22/pr…

Interesting that you injured your lat since I believe it is one of the least injured muscles in climbing. You are much more likely to injure a rotator cuff muscle or one of the other, smaller scapular stabilizers.

Where did you get your exercises listed in the article? They both focus more on serratus anterior, pec major, and general rotator cuff than actually re-strengthening the lat itself.

Hi Aerili, sorry for the delay responding I've been traveling. You're right lat injuries are pretty rare! Who knows, maybe that's what I get for starting out life as a runner with less upper body and core strength?

The exercises do strengthen multiple muscle groups used by climbers since I couldn't find any that isolated the lat without the use of specialize gym equipment.

Mike McKinnon wrote: I bet you injured your teres major or minor which are part of the rotator cuff. This is a much more common injury. Did you get confirmation that it was a lat injury?

Actually, I don't know if teres major and minor are injured more often; how do you know? Also, those muscles do opposite motions so I would not expect them to be interchangeable in their clinical symptoms. However, I agree that it is questionable it was her lat without professional diagnosis. But sorta beside the point here.

jessotis wrote:The exercises do strengthen multiple muscle groups used by climbers since I couldn't find any that isolated the lat without the use of specialize gym equipment.

I think planking exercises are not actually a very effective form of strengthening the lats since the lats retract the shoulder blade, extend the shoulder, and inwardly rotate the arm. Planking typically creates shoulder protraction, shoulder flexion, and some degree of arm external rotation. It would be better to get some inexpensive theraband or tubing and use it to do rows, straight-arm shoulder extensions, and other similar motions to strengthen the lat more properly. Just something to think about.

Mike McKinnon wrote: I could be more general and say rotator cuff injuries are more common if that would appease you:)

Oh, actually I did say that in my first post. :-)

Just to be clear(er):

• Teres major is not a rotator cuff muscle. It is also an internal rotator and probably not that likely to be injured due to being "backed up" by many other powerful internal rotators (including the lat, arrrggghhh!).
• The most commonly injured rotator cuff muscles are 1. supraspinatus and then 2. infraspinatus. I would assume teres minor comes in third.
• Lastly, ALL INJURIES SUCK DONKEY BALLS!!!!!

That is all.