My shoulder hurts because racecar.

ninjacoco

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Help a coco out. Posting this to automotive instead of OT since it's a mildly-car-related injury that some of you guys might have some experience with.

So, I played with a friend's Z that has no power steering, and now my shoulder feels like crap.

Has anyone else ever pulled something like this, and how do I get over it? It hurts to open doors and stuff. I am a wuss.

I am also a stupid wuss who will probably play with this car some more in the near future.
 
Hit the gym and start lifting weights once the pain/discomfort subsides.
 
Make sure you're holding your arm the right way as you ask it to take loads. Sit close enough in the car that you can get good leverage. Remember the "wrists on top of steering wheel" thing? Find a seating position that leaves your forearm on the top of the wheel, with your back into the seat and your shoulders relaxed. You'll feel like you're eating the steering wheel at first, but this gives you more leverage with less stretch, so will help what muscliness you have manage the stiff steering. Reposition your hands as needed while driving to maintain good leverage. This is sometimes called shuffle steering, but that's a bit of an inaccurate description.

In the mean time, gently stretch your shoulder and ask it to continue to take loads, even though it hurts. This will encourage it to heal in a way that allows good range of motion and builds up more muscle. That assumes you've just overworked muscles and not actually caused an injury... :)
 
Re: My shoulder hurts because racecar.

Make sure you're holding your arm the right way as you ask it to take loads. Sit close enough in the car that you can get good leverage. Remember the "wrists on top of steering wheel" thing? Find a seating position that leaves your forearm on the top of the wheel, with your back into the seat and your shoulders relaxed. You'll feel like you're eating the steering wheel at first, but this gives you more leverage with less stretch, so will help what muscliness you have manage the stiff steering. Reposition your hands as needed while driving to maintain good leverage. This is sometimes called shuffle steering, but that's a bit of an inaccurate description.

In the mean time, gently stretch your shoulder and ask it to continue to take loads, even though it hurts. This will encourage it to heal in a way that allows good range of motion and builds up more muscle. That assumes you've just overworked muscles and not actually caused an injury... :)

Curious, should the "wrists on top of the wheel" thing apply for just driving around town as well or is it mainly a racing thing?
 
IMO, it applies all the time, though it's less critical on the street. The point of positioning so that your wrists can rest on top of the steering wheel is so you have good range of motion in your arms while maintaining good control of the leverage you put on the steering wheel. That's equally important on the track and in emergency situations on the street. But my habits and my school of though is to drive the same on the track as on the street - same seating position, same scanning behavior, same planning of escape routes, etc. The street has more uncontrolled variables than the track, so I want to be prepared. :)
 
My shoulder, forearms, head, back, buttocks, and ears hurt every time I take the Land Rover off roading and you don't hear me complaining! :p
 
My shoulder, forearms, head, back, buttocks, and ears hurt every time I take the Land Rover off roading leave the apple store and you don't hear me complaining! :p
 
Same here after karting.......goes down once you move off the couch and start working out :p
 
Make sure you're holding your arm the right way as you ask it to take loads. Sit close enough in the car that you can get good leverage. Remember the "wrists on top of steering wheel" thing? Find a seating position that leaves your forearm on the top of the wheel, with your back into the seat and your shoulders relaxed. You'll feel like you're eating the steering wheel at first, but this gives you more leverage with less stretch, so will help what muscliness you have manage the stiff steering. Reposition your hands as needed while driving to maintain good leverage. This is sometimes called shuffle steering, but that's a bit of an inaccurate description.

In the mean time, gently stretch your shoulder and ask it to continue to take loads, even though it hurts. This will encourage it to heal in a way that allows good range of motion and builds up more muscle. That assumes you've just overworked muscles and not actually caused an injury... :)
Exactly what I was about to say. Okce I started to sit "a bit too close" things got a lot easier. I even keep the seat that way off the track now. :)
 
Could it be that there's something wrong with the car, or were you practicing parking in the Z?

In the Golf, once you're on the move, the steering is even lighter than in cars with power steering.

Maybe the tire pressure is too low?
 
Out of pure nosiness, what type of Z was this? The experience of driving an old Z surely massively outweighs the pain.

My shoulder, forearms, head, back, buttocks, and ears hurt every time I take the Land Rover off roading and you don't hear me complaining! :razz:

Too true Blue.
 
Could it be that there's something wrong with the car, or were you practicing parking in the Z?

In the Golf, once you're on the move, the steering is even lighter than in cars with power steering.

Maybe the tire pressure is too low?
It's unlikely, as the Z's owner is pretty aware and capable (I know him, too). It's more likely a side effect of the other choices he's made to make the car behave the way he wants, and the stiff wheel wouldn't bother him. Some cars are pretty stiff, even at speed, but generally sitting closer and moving hands so they stay basically on the sides all the time makes it manageable, even for a weakling like me, even in the stiffer racecars.
 
Could it be that there's something wrong with the car, or were you practicing parking in the Z?

In the Golf, once you're on the move, the steering is even lighter than in cars with power steering.

Maybe the tire pressure is too low?

Not knowing the car, I would imagine a Nissan Z car would have considerably wider front tires than an older Golf which would make the car harder to turn without power steering.

Other than that I think Coco's arms have simply gotten a workout and are now sore. Wait 2-6 days for the soreness to go away. If it hasn't by then it might be something more serious. Like others I will suggest some training of the upper body if you want to avoid it in the future (even though you will just get sore from the training instead ;)). I can recommend Crossfit.
 
Hey, if a gym offers crossfit that has driving an old Z car as part of the workout, I am in! :lol:
 
Just give it time. My whole upper body is sore every time I go go karting for long periods.
 
Yeah, I get the same ows after karts, too. I need to start working out again, heh.

Also, penis. I think at one point in time this was a 280Z, but it's kind of a franken-Z with parts from many things. Because racecar. Duh.
 
It's mostly gone now, I think. Yay!
 
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