A Physiological Mess! Please Help...

[Kato]

I understand that what im about to present to you seems overwhelming, and the immediate response is going to be “get some ART” and a professional. However, those options are unfortunately impossible because i am in med school (hence currently a very poor student and in debt) and to make matters worse, its in Budapest, Hungary. I have visited some some sports physicians, orthopedes in Canada, but they didnt even know where to begin. Since all i have is myself, i need all the help i can get...
Backround: I have flat feet, with the left being much worse than the right. Very athletic as a child; played high level rugby and played on the youth national waterpolo team for Canada throughout highschool. Problems began with shoulder from too much swimming, i had what was diagnosed as “probable” severe bicipital tendonitis with periodic lack of circulation to my arm/hand. I quit waterpolo and began lifting weights, and this is where the story begins.... I have not been able to do any lower body work (including cardio) for over 1.5 yrs now and no upper body work for 1 year. I cant stand reading and reading about fitness and not being able to do shit! Please help.
From Bottom Up..
OVERACTIVE/OVERDEVELOPED
Left Side: Proximal Hamstring, Gluteus Maximus, Rectus Femoris, Vastus Lateralis, Obliques and Upper Traps.
Right Side: Adductors , Vastus Medialis, Psoas, Pectineus,all aspects of Deltoid. Hamstrings are overactive if i try and activate glutes.
INHIBITED/UNDERDEVELOPED
Left Side: Atrophied and weak calf, Vastus Medialis, Oblique, Deltoid.
Right Side: Hamstring, Gluteus Maximus, Oblique and Upper Trap.
Side Notes
Lower Body: In addition,I have extremely poor flexion/extension/abduction/adduction in my right hip to the point where i feel my deep flexors and adductor spasm and tighten when i walk. I also have snapping hip syndrome in both my hips and also something snaps in my right posterior hip if i try and contract my glute while walking. I also have very poor dorse flexion and internally rotated tibia in my left calf probably due to my very flat foot. Also if I extend my left knee during hip flexion their is an audible snap/pop on the posteriomedial side of my left knee..
Upper Body: Oddly, i cant activate my right upper trap and it is underdeveloped resulting in my right shoulder sagging quite a bit and a very loose sternoclavicular joint which grinds and clicks excessively if i roll my shoulder. I also have very poor shrugging range of motion in my shoulder. The deltoid is very overdeveloped due to the fact that it takes the the brunt of the weight during any elevation/pushing movements.
I understand that this pattern of muscular inhibition/overdevelopment makes no sense what so ever as i have not come across any literature to prove me otherwise. I have spent countless hours reading and trying to fix myself but things just seem to get worse and worse. I know this is an intense list but imagine for a second not wanting to walk up stairs as u know you will be encouraging a severe unsymettry by activating all the wrong muscles... it sucks!!! And here i am dreaming of doing deadlifts of a box when i cant even squat to parallel without my hip feeling like its going to explode. Yet i still have the feeling that I just need to know where to start as I cannot fix one problem without fixing the other. Thank you and sorry for the headaches.

[Canuck Physio]

Originally Posted by Kato

I understand that what im about to present to you seems overwhelming, and the immediate response is going to be “get some ART” and a professional.
Naturally the web is limited in its capacity to help individuals because it takes away a lot of assessment, but hopefully you will find at least some information to help out
However, those options are unfortunately impossible because i am in med school (hence currently a very poor student and in debt) and to make matters worse, its in Budapest, Hungary. I have visited some some sports physicians, orthopedes in Canada, but they didnt even know where to begin. Since all i have is myself, i need all the help i can get...
That's interesting, why wouldn't they know where to begin? Do you have significant postural assymetries? Have you had blood tests done, or neurological exams to eliminate other potential causes of the muscular asymmetries?
Backround: I have flat feet, with the left being much worse than the right. Very athletic as a child; played high level rugby and played on the youth national waterpolo team for Canada throughout highschool. Problems began with shoulder from too much swimming, i had what was diagnosed as “probable” severe bicipital tendonitis with periodic lack of circulation to my arm/hand. I quit waterpolo and began lifting weights, and this is where the story begins.... I have not been able to do any lower body work (including cardio) for over 1.5 yrs now and no upper body work for 1 year. I cant stand reading and reading about fitness and not being able to do shit! Please help.
I find this is often a problem for many people, reading and reading online magazines and websites on fitness and you will not find anything legitimate about the true benefits of weight training. Often resulting in poor posture, poor lifting mechanics, poor stabiliser muscle activation, inappropriate muscle activation to stablise heavy weights, poor range of motion, assymetrical lifts, poor choice of exercise, poor balance of exercises, overtraining, and the list goes on.
From Bottom Up..
OVERACTIVE/OVERDEVELOPED
Left Side: Proximal Hamstring, Gluteus Maximus, Rectus Femoris, Vastus Lateralis, Obliques and Upper Traps.
Right Side: Adductors , Vastus Medialis, Psoas, Pectineus,all aspects of Deltoid. Hamstrings are overactive if i try and activate glutes.
Lots of detail!
INHIBITED/UNDERDEVELOPED
Left Side: Atrophied and weak calf, Vastus Medialis, Oblique, Deltoid.
Right Side: Hamstring, Gluteus Maximus, Oblique and Upper Trap.
How would you describe your posture in light of all of this muscle imbalance Side Notes
Lower Body: In addition,I have extremely poor flexion/extension/abduction/adduction in my right hip to the point where i feel my deep flexors and adductor spasm and tighten when i walk. I also have snapping hip syndrome in both my hips and also something snaps in my right posterior hip if i try and contract my glute while walking. I also have very poor dorse flexion and internally rotated tibia in my left calf probably due to my very flat foot. Also if I extend my left knee during hip flexion their is an audible snap/pop on the posteriomedial side of my left knee..
Upper Body: Oddly, i cant activate my right upper trap and it is underdeveloped resulting in my right shoulder sagging quite a bit and a very loose sternoclavicular joint which grinds and clicks excessively if i roll my shoulder. I also have very poor shrugging range of motion in my shoulder. The deltoid is very overdeveloped due to the fact that it takes the the brunt of the weight during any elevation/pushing movements.
I understand that this pattern of muscular inhibition/overdevelopment makes no sense what so ever as i have not come across any literature to prove me otherwise.
Unfortunately not everything about optimizing human physiology is published, the whole of the human body can not be dissected into a petri dish and studies for the effects of one single variable upon it like drugs for example I have spent countless hours reading and trying to fix myself but things just seem to get worse and worse.
What have you been doing? I know this is an intense list but imagine for a second not wanting to walk up stairs as u know you will be encouraging a severe unsymettry by activating all the wrong muscles... it sucks!!!
I can understand that And here i am dreaming of doing deadlifts of a box when i cant even squat to parallel without my hip feeling like its going to explode.
If something causes discomfort it is definitely time to stop and modify it in the meantime, I am a weightlifter myself and know what incorrect weight lifting can meanYet i still have the feeling that I just need to know where to start as I cannot fix one problem without fixing the other. Thank you and sorry for the headaches.

Please read above, regards