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Hey all,

I am recovering from knee surgery and have been hitting the gym again (mainly upper body at the moment). I started implementing a Reverse Pyramid style program and have been more than satisfied with the results as they relate to strength gains and muscle development. With that said, I have also noticed a couple things that I'm not overly happy with, but am not sure it is a cause/effect scenario, and was wondering if any of you have had, or heard of, any similar experiences.

First off, I have a decent amount of what I could best describe as general pressure in my chest/abdomen/back area. This is causing some discomfort and feels almost like a could use a solid massage and/or back adjustment, but also feels like those things could make it worse (which is why I haven't done so yet).

Also, almost every night I wake up in the middle of the night and either on, or both, of my arms is completely numb. I will say I am a side sleeper and have noticed this happening sporadically throughout my life, but nowhere near this frequency.

Like I said, Im certainly not sure the decent amount of muscle gain recently is causing this, or if it is just a coincidence, but thought I would ask since this group tends to be more active / fit.

Thanks :)

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2 Answers

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If it were me, I would probably go for the massage and perhaps tell the therapist to take it easy on the back. My guess is that this will help. I would probably forgo the "adjustment", but then again I stay away from having my spine adjusted.

I wake up with arm numbness, like you, from time to time when I have been sleeping on one of my arms. It always freaks me out. It only happened to both arms one time - back in the old water bed days and I must have slept on both arms for a long time. I couldn't move them at all.

It's interesting that the frequency has increased recently and I'm not sure why that might be.

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Right.. The only thing I can think of is that due to the increased muscle size, there is more pressure on my circulation? less space in there? I don't know how logical that sounds though.. – Todd Mar 16 2012 at 17:26
It seems to me that you would have to put on some serious size to cause that - I'm picturing Arnold's friend Franco Columbu in "Pumping Iron". Do you think it's possible that you are sleeping really well, perhaps due to the workouts and recovery? I wonder if you are not adjusting your position much while you sleep, allowing for you to cut off circulation to your arm? – Ralph Furley Mar 17 2012 at 0:25
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Side sleepers tend to benefit from sleeping with a pillow between the knees. Muscle pain could be helped by magnesium supplementation. You might want to see a chiropactor or physical therapist to work on any sore spots you have. Not sure if these apply to your case....

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I did run out of Magnesium a couple months ago... Perhaps I will pick some up, had been meaning to do so anyway. Thanks – Todd Mar 16 2012 at 17:27

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