Adductor pain

[Bryan Bulmann]

I worked out last night and promised myself not to push if I felt any discomfort and not to go above 315 in any case. I also narrowed my stance a bit to take some tension off the adductors. I did 315 and felt no pain or discomfort so decided to do a set of three at 335. First set went well, felt something during the second set so I stopped there. Area feels ok today so I'll probably continue with that routine for a while.

Squats used to be my favorite exercise of the main 4. Now they are my nemesis for the reason you mention....groin tweakage. Last year, I had a minor muscle belly tear in my groin. Like you, I successfully used the Starr protocol to rehab the injury. Since that time, I have felt tweaks in both right & left adductors....at heavy weight and light weigt.....doing sets of fives and threes....without any apparent rhyme or reason.

I've narrowed my stance....widened my stance....pointed my toes out more....brought them in more....have adjusted my stance every way I could think and I STILL have sessions where I feel a tweak. The only time I never feel any pressure on the adductors is when I get the bar dead-center over mid-foot AND stay completely in my hips on the way up. Magical. Sadly, those reps are few and far between but I try and do better.

I don't know if any of this will help, but know that you're not alone in the battle of adductor irritation. Good luck!

[Jr_Geezer]

Squats used to be my favorite exercise of the main 4. Now they are my nemesis for the reason you mention....groin tweakage. Last year, I had a minor muscle belly tear in my groin. Like you, I successfully used the Starr protocol to rehab the injury. Since that time, I have felt tweaks in both right & left adductors....at heavy weight and light weigt.....doing sets of fives and threes....without any apparent rhyme or reason.

I've narrowed my stance....widened my stance....pointed my toes out more....brought them in more....have adjusted my stance every way I could think and I STILL have sessions where I feel a tweak. The only time I never feel any pressure on the adductors is when I get the bar dead-center over mid-foot AND stay completely in my hips on the way up. Magical. Sadly, those reps are few and far between but I try and do better.

I don't know if any of this will help, but know that you're not alone in the battle of adductor irritation. Good luck!

Thanks for the input Bryan. That's the great thing about this forum; always someone who's gone through the same thing as you have.

The tweaks I've had recently, while annoying, are nothing like the tear I had last November, and I really don't want to go through that again, especially those 3x25 squat workouts! I guess that's the risk taken when the weights start to get up in the mid-300's (for an old weak guy like me, anyway). So I have to decide how much I want to push things. I was really hoping for a 4-plate squat at this year's SS Fall Classic, but I don't know if that's going to happen now. I'm going to see an SS coach later this month and get his advice (He's gone through torn adductors as well) on form and programming. I'll probably keep the weights in the low 300's for now, tweak setup, watch form, see how things heal up. Fortunately, deadlifts don't seem to aggravate anything so I can keep working on them (did 440 x 5 on Wednesday) and maybe hit my goal of 5 plates at the Fall Classic, assuming I don't hurt anything else.

[Bryan Bulmann]

The tweaks I've had recently, while annoying, are nothing like the tear I had last November, and I really don't want to go through that again, especially those 3x25 squat workouts!

I hear that loud & clear! Once was definitely enough!

I guess that's the risk taken when the weights start to get up in the mid-300's (for an old weak guy like me, anyway). So I have to decide how much I want to push things. I was really hoping for a 4-plate squat at this year's SS Fall Classic, but I don't know if that's going to happen now.

Fortunately, deadlifts don't seem to aggravate anything so I can keep working on them (did 440 x 5 on Wednesday) and maybe hit my goal of 5 plates at the Fall Classic, assuming I don't hurt anything else.

You, sir, are my hero! I am about 4yrs your junior and it appears you have me beat in SQ & DL (Squat 1RM = 355# (pre-flu).....Deadlift 1RM = 410#). I am chasing the 200/300/400/500 dream. I wish you luck in your endeavor...but I think you're looking pretty good to hit that 4-plate squat and 5-plate DL by this fall. I just recently had a session with SSC Karl Schudt to help tidy up my squat. It was definitely a help, but I have a ways to go yet. Hope yours gets you dialed in as well!

[Jr_Geezer]

I hear that loud & clear! Once was definitely enough!




You, sir, are my hero! I am about 4yrs your junior and it appears you have me beat in SQ & DL (Squat 1RM = 355# (pre-flu).....Deadlift 1RM = 410#). I am chasing the 200/300/400/500 dream. I wish you luck in your endeavor...but I think you're looking pretty good to hit that 4-plate squat and 5-plate DL by this fall. I just recently had a session with SSC Karl Schudt to help tidy up my squat. It was definitely a help, but I have a ways to go yet. Hope yours gets you dialed in as well!

Thanks for the encouragement, Bryan. I might get the 400/500, but 200/300 will be much harder as I'm just at 155/205 right now and I just can't see ever hitting those numbers, especially the 300. Like you, I'm not a big fan of squats at this point, but I'm really liking deads. I'll just keep plugging away slowly, see where things go. Good luck with your dream as well.

[Jr_Geezer]

So went to work out yesterday, promised myself not to go over 315, regardless of how my adductor felt. It actually was sore right from the empty bar warmup set. Still, with the idea of 'it heals better when you work it' going through my head, I went up to 275 for a single and decided that's enough, 'cause it didn't get better with more weight. No real pain today, but I'm going to take it very easy with squats for a while.

I just now found this thread: http://startingstrength.com/resource...ml#post1497443. Looks relevant and useful so I'll break out the roller and try some isometrics.

[zuyork19]

RJP,

Like Bryan , I know what you are dealing with. For me foam roller is magic even if its a placebo i don't care, I'll be curious to hear your results. I had a similar situation to what you are describing, I am still in NLP, +5 lbs to squat each workout and got to a point where the abductor started talking to me, not bad pain but it was like a 3/10 in pain, so I did a reset and just tried to do a few workouts feeling it out not pushing anything not increasing weight, and foam rolling nightly. 2 weeks of this and I'm feeling much more confident. Good luck.

Matt

[Jr_Geezer]

RJP,

Like Bryan , I know what you are dealing with. For me foam roller is magic even if its a placebo i don't care, I'll be curious to hear your results. I had a similar situation to what you are describing, I am still in NLP, +5 lbs to squat each workout and got to a point where the abductor started talking to me, not bad pain but it was like a 3/10 in pain, so I did a reset and just tried to do a few workouts feeling it out not pushing anything not increasing weight, and foam rolling nightly. 2 weeks of this and I'm feeling much more confident. Good luck.

Matt

I'm not using the roller to roll, actually. I'm placing it between my knees and squeezing, working the adductor tendons as described in the thread I linked to above. Emily in Australia has been kind enough to respond to my PM to give me more details on the protocol. I'll keep this thread updated with my progress. Only been one day, so nothing to report yet.

-RJP