Ask Coach E
Episode 19

Welcome message from Coach E 

Hi, I had been diagnosed with mild GBS last year in July due to food poisoning and i was paralysed.

I can see a lot of improvement in my upper body strength but still i struggle with balancing poses when i do yoga. My toes are in flexion snd feet are still weak. I can feel less strenth in glutes, hamstrings, inner thighs, quads. I have been regularly doing Yoga and other exercises for a year now. If i do something high intensity exercises my lower body becomes sore a lot. Outer shin muscles, calves become sore a lot and soreness lasts for 4-5 days. Same happens when i try to climb for an hour. Is it because still I have not gained strength my lower body?

I also feel pain in my metatarsal.

I have subscribed for ROM coach and started with FOOT and Ankle pain Solution, Stronger for life and Balance 360 programs.

Will these help me to improve further? I am really confused about how to gain my strenth, balance back like it was 1 year ago. Pleased guide me to select the programs. Thank you 

I have been using Precision Movement now for some years and have undertaken the majority of programs. About 5 weeks ago I had just started Strong for Life 2 twice a week and doing your exercises for a meniscus tear (pain level 2 unless stressing it). I had finally reached the stage of doing side lying external rotation both sides, about 9 full push ups with the 2 second limit and increased weight with one arm rows. Then with no warning biceps tendons in both arms absolutely spit it. I'm assuming it's biceps, maybe a bit of rotator cuff (with my arms out in front and I press down on wrist the biceps hurt. In the right arm it hurts if my arm is backwards but at -45 degrees to the vertical (behind my head but to the side). I've completed the biceps tendonitis exercises you suggested recently but the pain persists. It hurts to do push up, planks, side planks. The pain is about a 4 at night if I've done any exercise using my biceps during the day and I can't sleep on either shoulder too long. I'm still doing exercises but with a weight of around 3-4 kilos. I'd appreciate your advice.

Thanks for a great program.

Hi Coach E,

First, I just wanted to say thank you. I feel deeply indebted to you and everyone at Precision Movement. Your Lower Limb Solution program literally got me walking again several years ago, and the Hip Pain Solution program gave me my active life back. I honestly can’t thank you enough for the work you do.

I’m a 45-year-old stay-at-home mom who loves being active. Being able to move, play tennis, and keep up with my family is a huge part of my life, which is why I’m reaching out because I’m dealing with a shoulder issue that has me a bit stumped.

I started having shoulder pain in February 2026 after playing a lot of tennis. I kept playing through it, but by the end of March the pain had gotten bad enough that I had to stop completely.

Since then, I’ve been working through Shoulder Pain Solution, and my pain has improved substantially. Initially, my pain was an 8–9/10 and much of my shoulder mobility was restricted. I’m now down to more of a 2/10 pain level, with most of my range of motion restored. The pain I still experience is usually a sharp pinching sensation rather than a constant ache.

However, I still have a few movements that consistently reproduce that pinching pain. One is when I place my right hand on my left shoulder. Another is the yoga stretch where your right arm reaches up behind your back while your left arm reaches down to clasp your hands. My right arm cannot reach very far up my back—thumb to only to about my bra line—while my left side has much more normal motion. My right elbow also wings out quite noticeably during the attempt and my shoulder is pointed forward and down, while my healthy side is normal vertical alignment.

I initially saw an orthopedic physician who thought it was a rotator cuff issue. My pain has mostly gone awake but my physical therapist told me I have shoulder joint stiffness from muscle guarding and a rotator cuff strain right now. The joint itself is stiff.

I’ve also noticed some interesting changes as I’ve progressed through the program. With the shoulder robot exercise, when I first started, the hardest part was keeping my right arm against the wall when raising it up, and that movement caused pain. Now I can get my right hand to the wall when my arm is pointed up without pain. However, when I bring my arm back down, my hand comes about 45 degrees away from the wall and it feels more like stiffness and a lack of mobility rather than pain.

With the Active Hands Behind Head exercise, I can bring my hands behind my head and I can take my hands off my head, but when I press my elbows back, I still feel pain in my front right shoulder. All of the other exercises in the program are pain-free now; this is the one movement that continues to bother me.

I’ve also discovered what feels like a trigger point on the back of my right shoulder blade (possibly around the infraspinatus area). When I press on this spot, it reproduces the same pain I used to feel in the front of my shoulder and around the deltoid area. If I massage that area gently, it feels like it “unlocks” my shoulder. For example, my shoulder elevation improves from around 165 degrees to closer to 180 degrees, and I can do the movement without pain. I’m not sure if this is significant or just a compensation pattern, but it seems like an important clue.

I would really appreciate your guidance on what movements I should be focusing on at this stage and which movements I should avoid or modify while I continue to recover. Are there any shoulder-specific exercises you would recommend adding in addition to the Shoulder Pain Solution program, or should I continue focusing on the program as written until these remaining restrictions improve?

Are there any at home movements I can do to free up some of the glenohumeral capsular tightness?

And the most important question… I recently started playing tennis again, and I’m so happy about that, but I’m not serving. It feels risky given the limitation. At what point do you think I could start serving again? What benchmarks should I use to determine whether or not I’m ready. I miss it so much!!

Thank you again for everything you’ve done over the years. Your programs have truly made a huge difference in my life, and I’m grateful for any insight you can provide.

All the best,

Allie

My right bicep experiences random charley horses (sudden flashes of acute intense pain – close to 10 on the severity scale), and activities that bring these on can be as insignificant as brushing my hair, opening a jar, or lifting a vacuum cleaner. The pain occurs randomly and it’s not as if every time I open a jar or brush my hair it happens. The pain lasts maybe 15 to 30 seconds, and I when it occurs, I drop whatever I’m doing and rub the muscle to ease it. My right bicep is not tender otherwise. My right bicep is also more pronounced than my left bicep. It’s noticeably larger when I flex both arms and compare the two. It doesn’t appear swollen. It just looks bigger.

Adding to the mystery, I am able to lift weights and even do bicep curls (albeit only with a 5 lb weight) and not experience pain flashes, but again, since it’s random I sometimes do. I’m thinking this is related to a right shoulder injury caused by a fall on a sidewalk in 2020 (when I fractured my ribs and couldn’t lift my right arm above waist for months). My right shoulder mobility is very good now thanks to physio (for a year after the fall) and ROM Coach painkiller and shoulder pain solutions (since). So I’m thinking maybe the bicep strain is some kind of compensation or a holdover from the original injury.

I started having pain in my mid-back in March of this year. I don't recall a specific incident that caused it. The pain is about a 3/10, which is mild, but it is constant. The pain is on either side of my vertebrae in line with my natural waist (looking at a chart, I'd guess L2 and/or L3). The pain is worse when I sit for long periods and ESPECIALLY if I do any kind of stretch like child's pose or the posteriorly tilting of the pelvis during Segmental Cat/Camel. Picking things off the floor is difficult and I make sure to squeeze my core and glutes while I do so.

I had an L5-S1 disc extrusion a couple of years ago, leading my husband to believe this could be the beginning of another herniated disc, but I don't know...I hope not! I had luck with your Painkillers and the Low Back Foundations routines, but these don't seem to be applicable for the mid-back...What do you recommend for mid-back?

Hello-

1. I have 2 chronic sports injuries, both from approx 15 years ago. Left side low back disc bulge that flares up now and again. Right shoulder repair (torn labrum, torn rotator cuff, torn bicep tendon (which was relocated during the repair).
2. I have been a rock climber for 23 years. Obv this causes the shoulder to flare up fairly regularly. Recent diagnosis of long head bicep tendinosis
3. I been doing both the shoulder and low back programs successfully. I did Foundations 1 and 2 for both and was feeling pretty good. I have found though that many of the exercises in Shoulder Resilience and Low Back Foundations 3 to be triggering discomfort and soreness.
4. Should I continue despite the pain? I’m not sure how to progress.

Thank you so much-
Jen

Dear Coach E.

I am diagnosed with left De Quervain’s tenosynovitis and bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome (median nerve entrapment at the wrist). The problems with the carpal tunnel are genetic (both parents had surgery already) and due to computer work. The problem with left wrist started when I got a baby (4 months) - some positions are not good for my hand.

The hands are sometimes numb with pain 2/10. At night the left hand started hurting 7/10.

There are many exercises available, but I am looking for the ones that would benefit me most. I don't have much time due to the small child.

Your help would be much appreciated.

Best,
Enis

Video Mentioned: 3 Techniques for De Quervain's Tenosynovitis to Relieve Wrist & Thumb Pain

I have had occasional soreness on the outside of my right knee since 2008. Normally it happens the day after exercise and takes a few days to subside. It was diagnosed in 2008 as iliotibial band syndrome.

I have a desk-based job. Main exercise is walking for 30 minutes in the morning plus daily ROM Coach sessions. I cycle or do indoor rowing when I have the time.

I have been doing the knee pain solution programme and have reached Resilience 3. I love the programme! However, after four hours of driving at the weekend 2x2hr without breaks, the right knee stiffened and the soreness started the next day. Other than using cruise control more and relaxing my right leg, do you have any suggestions to prevent this?

I am using your SI Joint and Piriformis routine to deal with thoee concerns, but I hit a wall tring to do the Piriformis ERE, can you recommend another exercise as a bridge to get me to a place where I can manage that?