I don’t have real life Muay Thai friends (yet) so i’ll Ask you all ( ‘ whip lash’ ??)

[MadelineGrace]

Hi! 

No big deal- Just a casual question I’d ask my ‘Muay Thai friends’  if I had them in real life  but I don’t ( my gym is new, still small, everyone is so so quiet and serious! Now I’m very serious too and definitely an introvert *BUT* I would like to add just a bit of fun or humor to class while being very serious—  but it’s not there at my school so far... oh well )

I was partnered with a 6’2” if not taller man yesterday. Both of us just started Muay Thai  5-6 months ago.  (There were only 4 of us in class) I’m 5’2” and under 120lbs. ( female). It was a fun class - kicks was the focus.

heres my question:

i woke up today with neck pain. I imagine it’s like ‘ whip lash??’ [ I’m definitely fine! It’s just a lot of soreness. I anticipate it being gone in a few days to a week. No big deal]

but I’m trying to find out ***what caused it *** and the only thing I can think of is yesterday’s class. We held shields for each other’s kicks. I need to note here that- I have to WORK  hard to hold pads for men. I mean I’m definitely fit but I’m small. I strength train but...lm a middle aged small female. ( I’m a little bigger than Sylvie but I imagine not as strong. )So I REALLY make an effort to  brace myself and put out ‘ force’ so when the guys land on my pads or shields I’m not a weak, wet noodle providing no resistance.know what I mean? ( none of the guys go hard on me. I have to tell them you can hit a bit harder)  So I’m trying to say I have to work hard to give them something *solid* to land on and not get knocked over. 

 

Could me doing this be what strained my neck muscles?

I’m sure almost all of you have partnered with someone much bigger or stronger before....

My neck muscles definitely hurt and I almost skipped the regular gym today ( I didn’t. I took ibuprofen. It helped. My work out was good!!!) I just am lucky in that I typically wake up every day feeling well physically so to have this significant neck muscle pain ( the back of my neck. Going up and down it. Sore to press on) is not at all typical for me.

I’ve done nothing different in life to cause it *except* yesterdays class with shield holding for kicks with a large male. ( note I’m not complaining. It was a lot of fun!)

 

( i realized that I should have put this in open questions section.

Any way to delete this? I can copy and repost it) 

 

[Jeremy Stewart]

You don't do that head flicky thing that some people do when they kick do you?

[MadelineGrace]

2 hours ago, Jeremy Stewart said:

You don't do that head flicky thing that some people do when they kick do you?

Head Flicky thing ....... ????? Hmmmmm I have no idea!!!

 

good news is it’s a good 50% better this morning at least!!! Plus I bought some Aleve ( naproxen) ! I’m much better! 

[Oliver]

Yeah neck injuries are horrible, especially when you wake up with them. The worst is where you can't twist your head to the side in one direction. Neck and back pain or injuries have happened to maybe 50% of friends who train, either in this or jiu jitsu.

[threeoaks]

Hope its just soreness.  Holding pads for bigger people can definitely trigger it.  As for "flicky" thing - I think Jeremy means when you kick does your head twist momentarily.  This is kind of common as people build the twist.  I think you are sore from gettin banged on the pads.  Congratulations and hope it goes away soon. 

[MadelineGrace]

I too think it was being banged  when holding the shields for his kicks 

 

even better news is with 2 naproxen ( aleve in the USA. Overvthe counter) I feel great, much much better. Just had another fun class. It’s kick week and I love kick focused classes.

 

we we doing drills where the shield holder walks towards you and you have to ‘ float’ back ( slide and step back a few times) then kick- very fun!!!

 

thanks for for the comments 

[Tyler Byers]

This is just a guess, but you might be tensing up before the impact hits. Try to "roll" with the impact as much as you can. It sounds counter-intuitive, but try to be soft/relaxed and see how that works for you. I know if I am holding Thai pads I would get sore if I was either meeting the kick or if I was tensing up just prior to the connection. Don't be completely passive, but try not to tense up either (easier said than done ).

[MadelineGrace]

Today I held pads again for a strong guy with strong kicks. 

 

I felt it in my head. Almost like it briefly shook back and forth and I got a momentary headache sensation. I guess it was like whip lash. Maybe my neck isn’t strong enough to keep my head from ( for lack of a better word) going ‘ boing’ ???

Now I know what it was. 

Not sure how I can prevent it. I’m not too concerned.

[MadelineGrace]

And today I have a little back Of the neck soreness so I have my answer! ( im not complaining. I was just trying to figure out what caused it) 

[Oliver]

15 hours ago, MadelineGrace said:

I felt it in my head. Almost like it briefly shook back and forth and I got a momentary headache sensation.

...that really doesn't sound good. Ask your trainer, maybe he'll tell you to lay off holiding pads for a while. I was told the same thing because of my injured wrist, simply told not to hold for anyone until it was better.

[MadelineGrace]

51 minutes ago, Oliver said:

...that really doesn't sound good. Ask your trainer, maybe he'll tell you to lay off holiding pads for a while. I was told the same thing because of my injured wrist, simply told not to hold for anyone until it was better.

I should but I hate to call more attention to being the oddball /odd man out ( 5’2” 118 lb middle aged mom in a sea of males ) 

That said, I’m not stupid so I’ll think it all over

[Tyler Byers]

On 8/18/2019 at 11:24 PM, MadelineGrace said:

I should but I hate to call more attention to being the oddball /odd man out ( 5’2” 118 lb middle aged mom in a sea of males ) 

That said, I’m not stupid so I’ll think it all over

This might be asking a lot, but can you take some video of you holding pads? It's just really hard to understand what is happening without seeing it. Did you try any of the stuff mentioned above (I'm assuming you did, but again it's difficult to see what's going on just via writing)? This might simply me a size mismatch, but I would hope your coach/trainer would be pairing folks up who are relatively the same weight if possible! It's kind of hard to describe, but you should be absorbing shots, not being shocked by them. If it's someone who's like 200+lbs though, nothing is gonna save you lol. 

[Nicolas]

On 8/18/2019 at 6:24 PM, MadelineGrace said:

I should but I hate to call more attention to being the oddball /odd man out ( 5’2” 118 lb middle aged mom in a sea of males ) 

That said, I’m not stupid so I’ll think it all over

Nothing bad about asking for some rest, especially if you are sore and feel pain. It is better to let go for some days while your neck fully recovers. 

And I think it might be from the Pad Holding, especially for bigger/stronger partner. I had the same issue but in my lower back (I'm taller than the rest of my class, 6'1). As many said on this feed, try to stay relax when the kick is coming. If you hold the pad correctly, it might shake you a bit but it won't hurt you. 

[Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu]

I used to get a sore neck from punching the heavy bag, until I built up the appropriate muscles for it. It's just the strain of holding the "shields" (I say pads, sorry) and you're probably bracing hard and straining your neck. Tucking your chin will help, but in general it's  matter of building up the muscles needed to prevent that kind of thing. My hips still get really sore when I decide to up my teep counts.

[Snack Payback]

On ‎8‎/‎18‎/‎2019 at 8:03 AM, MadelineGrace said:

Today I held pads again for a strong guy with strong kicks. 

 

What make of pads is your gym using and what sort of condition are they in?  My old gym had pads that were way past their best and left me with a sore wrist for a couple of weeks. So I just bought my own set of pads (Twins). Definitely a worth while investment 

[MadelineGrace]

The pads are in good condition. I’m not sure if the brand I’ll look next time I’m there but he usually buys the well known  Muay Thai brands I think