To the Pain!! Or not?

What do you do when you have some pain to deal with?

This morning, I woke up right before my alarm was supposed to go off... in pain.  I wanted to pull the sheet over my head and just lay as still as possible in the hopes that it would pass.  My right arm was folded under me as I slept on my side and my right rhomboid felt like someone put a rock in it (right under the scapula).

Yeah!  Right thurr.

It's not the first time it has bothered me.  Last time, I rested several days with no relief before jumping back into things and feeling better.  So, I'm hoping it loosens up from working.  But, getting through today's training was tough.  And, that was after working on a lacrosse ball, stretching, doing dislocates, and running through the Crossover Symmetry warm-up to try to get the scapula sliding freely.

So, what is the right way to react to pain?  People say listen to your body.  My upper back was saying, "I am in a knot".  I don't know if it's trying to protect me from a bigger issue or just overstretched from the sleeping position.  So, I set to work...

Looking back at the video, I can see that my lifts are off.  Positioning and extension aren't as good as usual...  I made every lift.  I was feeling macho as I pushed through pain.  As much as I want to get stronger and learn to train through difficult states, I don't want to practice bad movement.  So, it looks to me like hitting training in pain was a mistake.

What do you think?

Jerk

When I was first introduced to Weightlifting (or Olympic Weightlifting as some people call it), my favorite lift was the jerk.  I could lift more than anyone (in my little pond) overhead, despite having one of the weakest presses in the gym, because I was efficient at launching the bar up and punching under it!  At the time, I was jerking over 200# and pressing 125# at best.

As time went on and people with decent shoulder strength became better movers, my jerk started to lag behind not only others in the gym, but also my snatch and clean.  Now, I love snatching.  A perfect snatch feels weightless!  Cleans are work and they're heavy, but as long as I keep squatting and practicing my pull, they have improved and I've cleaned 300# to date.  My most recent power clean 1RM was 292.5, so I think I have more in me!

But, that jerk...

Progress has been so slow, and sometimes so frustrating.  I've missed more jerks in practice and competition than I want to repeat.  In fact, I don't plan to repeat.

So, today's 1% closer to goal was the jerk drills in the warm-up and the push press PR (4 reps at my previous 1RM!!).  I think if I can improve my leg drive, upper body strength, and footwork for the split, I have a chance at becoming more consistent with weight.  I plan to add some heaving snatch balances and jerk supports in too so I can get used to having heavier loads overhead, but not today.

The Warm-up:

The training: