Programming to maintain strength but dissipate fatigue/"tendinitis" like symptoms

[edjohnson]

- Nearing the end of LP I have developed quite a bit of pain and inflammation in my front deltoid from benching, and my right hip/thigh from squats.
- I have definitely had the pain in my delts before and I have gotten it to go away by just not benching or doing pull ups for a long time.
- the symptoms are the same in my thigh and i took a week off from squats. It started to go away but its definitely still there.
- I also just generally have a lot of soreness and fatigue throughout my body

- Is there a way that I can put minimal effort in the gym in order to let fatigue and these symptoms dissipate but not lose any strength? I would simultaneously be transitioning to an intermediate program due to ending LP.

1) 30 yrs old this Wednesday
2) body weight = 206-208lbs 24%BF
3) nearing the end of starting strength.
4) started SS may 23rd
5) starting BW = 162lbs 15% BF
6) doing 2.5lb increments on bench. dont know exact date i started these increments, may have been my first stall at 190lbs.
7) calories in the first couple months were around 4500-5000. now its around 3800-4000
8) 8-10mins between sets. lately its been mostly 10mins
9) my bench started around 160lbs. I just PR'ed today at 225lb 3x5 after my second deload.

These pains came up during my second deload right after I stalled at 222.5 and dropped 10%.

[Tom Campitelli]

Pain in the anterior delts is often rotator cuff related. If you allow your arm to flare out so that your humerus is at 90 degrees from your body, or approaching that, it can bother your shoulder. Would need to see a video to be sure. Pain in your thigh is very non-specific. I would also need to see a video of you squatting to say if there is a technique issue at play. Please read the sticky before posting a video, however. You will make me very happy if you do that.

Alas, the level of effort it took to bring you to your current levels of strength needs to be maintained in order to avoid detraining. In most cases, you can train around injuries. Do as much as you can while cleaning up form errors and see if that gets you some relief.

[edjohnson]

Pain in the anterior delts is often rotator cuff related. If you allow your arm to flare out so that your humerus is at 90 degrees from your body, or approaching that, it can bother your shoulder. Would need to see a video to be sure. Pain in your thigh is very non-specific. I would also need to see a video of you squatting to say if there is a technique issue at play. Please read the sticky before posting a video, however. You will make me very happy if you do that.

Alas, the level of effort it took to bring you to your current levels of strength needs to be maintained in order to avoid detraining. In most cases, you can train around injuries. Do as much as you can while cleaning up form errors and see if that gets you some relief.

Thank you for the response, I really appreciate it.

I have asked people to tell me if I am flaring my elbows and they said I wasn't. But I will try to add a video.

What I mean by reducing effort is can I do less than the prescribed frequency of training of SS in order to let fatigue dissipate? The reason I ask this is because for years I was just maintaining a 225lb 3x5 squat, 185lb 3x5 bench, and 315lb 1x5 deadlift by only going to the gym once a weak and doing those lifts. It was a time when I wasn't much interested in weightlifting(somewhat due to the reasons I am having now). I originally got to that strength level by doing much more than 1 day a week but was still able to maintain with that little of training. For reference, my bench press would probably be 135lbs or less if I were not to lift at all and deads would be less than 225lbs. This 1 day a week "routine" allowed me to maintain strength and body weight without causing much fatigue.
The other reason I ask is that I was watching one of the recent Rippetoe Q&A videos and he was describing how he only does some of the lifts once a week and still builds.

Either way, I thought maybe there would be a write-up about maintaining strength levels for those people in which weightlifting is secondary to other sports. I would think that a maintenance level of training frequency might alleviate this fatigue I am having. My short term goal right now is actually to go back to maintaining like I was before but with more strength and body weight.

[Tom Campitelli]

The other reason I ask is that I was watching one of the recent Rippetoe Q&A videos and he was describing how he only does some of the lifts once a week and still builds.

Rip would be the first person to tell you that he is no longer "building" if "building" implies hitting new lifetime PRs. He does, however, sometimes hit local maxima. That last term was a little shout to my amigos in the field of calculus. Rip also trains a few times a week, but tends not to train more than one compound lift during a given session. So, he is not just doing one training session a week.

Either way, I thought maybe there would be a write-up about maintaining strength levels for those people in which weightlifting is secondary to other sports.

Not that I know of.

I would think that a maintenance level of training frequency might alleviate this fatigue I am having. My short term goal right now is actually to go back to maintaining like I was before but with more strength and body weight.

Here is the problem, the body adapts to the stresses imposed upon it. You have some kind of baseline strength that erodes very gradually over the years, but that is reinforced and maintainted by whatever your daily levels of activity and genetics will support. If I put you on bed rest except for one training session a week, you probably would not stay at 225 for 3x5 on the squat for very long. The higher you push your numbers, the more stimulus is required. While you may elevate that baseline strength somewhat, once the stimulus is removed, the body adapts to the lack of stress. In general, you cannot train and claw your way up to heavy weights and then maintain that with relatively easy, infrequent training. I certainly cannot. On those occasions that I train once per week for a few weeks, my loss of strength is precipitous.

Training once a week is better than training zero times per week and it will help preserve your progress. However, be not surprised if you lose strength as the weeks progress. If this does not happen, I would be very interested to know about it.

[edjohnson]

Rip would be the first person to tell you that he is no longer "building" if "building" implies hitting new lifetime PRs. He does, however, sometimes hit local maxima. That last term was a little shout to my amigos in the field of calculus. Rip also trains a few times a week, but tends not to train more than one compound lift during a given session. So, he is not just doing one training session a week.



Not that I know of.



Here is the problem, the body adapts to the stresses imposed upon it. You have some kind of baseline strength that erodes very gradually over the years, but that is reinforced and maintainted by whatever your daily levels of activity and genetics will support. If I put you on bed rest except for one training session a week, you probably would not stay at 225 for 3x5 on the squat for very long. The higher you push your numbers, the more stimulus is required. While you may elevate that baseline strength somewhat, once the stimulus is removed, the body adapts to the lack of stress. In general, you cannot train and claw your way up to heavy weights and then maintain that with relatively easy, infrequent training. I certainly cannot. On those occasions that I train once per week for a few weeks, my loss of strength is precipitous.

Training once a week is better than training zero times per week and it will help preserve your progress. However, be not surprised if you lose strength as the weeks progress. If this does not happen, I would be very interested to know about it.

Alright so I went ahead and did a video. It was the best I could do at the time and if its not clear enough let me know.

So my tendonitis is less in my andterior delt and more in my pectoralis(attached pic). It is very localized to one area and does not radiate. It feels much like a charlie horse. I have had it before and it appeared in the same way; right after my second legitimate stall on bench during my last few weeks of starting strength. In other words, right after failed 3x5, only getting maybe 3 reps and hitting it hard.

The only way i got it to go away years ago was to stop benching for a few weeks (months?) and when i came back it was gone. I really don't want to do that again as I want to continue on with the texas method.

I have done the 5 days of 3200mg ibuprofen daily and that didnt touch ANY of my symptoms. Not even general soreness of other joints. I have also done a couple very miserable ice baths that did not touch anything. although i can continue to do ice baths if recommended.

video:
Form check - YouTube

ya i know it looks like my head is gonna explode off my body



Again I HIGHLY appreciate you taking time to help me out.

[Tom Campitelli]

Well, your bench press is not fucked up by any stretch. It is nice and controlled. The good news is that this does not present like a rotator cuff or labrum issue. Consider getting a mean sports massage. I am not going to guarantee this will help, but it may identify something that is hurting you that you can beat on yourself. If a massage helps, then things will be fairly straightforward. No more ice baths, either, unless you like them. For the record, I don't remember suggesting an ice bat.

[marcf]

When you did your 5 days of ibuprofen and all those ice baths, were you still working out? I made the mistake of taking that much ibuprofen for a week, but continuing the movement that was causing me pain (squatting and hip pain). I probably should have stopped squatting during that one week I was munching on ibuprofen.

[Dlk93]

"The reason I ask this is because for years I was just maintaining a 225lb 3x5 squat, 185lb 3x5 bench, and 315lb 1x5 deadlift by only going to the gym once a weak and doing those lifts."

We're you overhead pressing during all of that? If not, might having only benched for that long w/o posterior work irritated your anterior delt? Just a thought..