starting strength gym
Results 1 to 5 of 5

Thread: Squat form check, elbow pain, intermittent hip pain

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Posts
    3

    Default Squat form check, elbow pain, intermittent hip pain

    • starting strength seminar april 2024
    • starting strength seminar jume 2024
    • starting strength seminar august 2024
    Intro:
    Hi guys, I've been on SS for about 2 months now (was on another program for 1.5 months prior, never lifted or done any sports before). Read about SS online, started deifying Rippetoe, bought the hardcover book. If I were a level 4 strength wizard, that book would be my forbidden grimoire of lost knowledge, and sirloin tip steak would be my mana potions. Thanks for any advice/critiques you can give me!

    Stats:
    25 years old
    5'10"
    144lbs (started 137lbs 3.5 months ago)
    3000 calories a day (recently up from 2500, rly helped, maybe starting 4000 this week)
    150g protein per day
    190lb squat
    210lb deadlift (max weight I have in my garage, need to buy more plates)
    130lb bench (currently stalling at that number, possibly due to the below "problem")
    90lb press
    Doing chins/pullups instead of cleans as per a variant of SS I found on the wiki... Sorry everyone Figured I'd add cleans later once I've figured out the proper form for everything else. Also, I just like chins/pullups. Is this a cardinal sin? :/

    Problem:
    1) I started getting elbow pain last week during bench and press. It's an aching feeling in my funny bone, right exactly where it hurts when you say you "hit your funny bone". The movie below is me on my last (3rd) working set, right around the time my elbow pain was getting bad. Got much, much worse after bench and chin-ups, though it doesn't hurt much under load, just after when relaxed. Contrast shower helped later. Today (the day after), they feel better, but still ache if I rest on them or press on them. It's slightly worse in my non-dominant (left) elbow. Read the book some more, noticed elbow pain can come from poor squat form, but I'm not bending my wrists and I'm using the thumbless grip. However, the weight sometimes rolls down my back a quarter inch when it's really heavy, so I wonder what I can do to feel safe that it will stay in place w/out subconsciously holding it with my arms. I'm not sure if that's what I'm actually doing, though, because I've never lifted anything so heavy in my fucking life, and can't "sense" much of anything other than that whilst under the bar.

    2) I was having hip pain in my right hip a few weeks ago, then started shoving my knees out more and it's better now, but I still get sharp pains in that hip when I cough or sneeze. Also, it still feels weird right after getting the load off me on PR working sets. Was trying all kinds of stretches and noticed no difference, so I just stopped stretching and it hasn't gotten worse (just better after the aforementioned form change). Again, no pain under load.

    3) I have very minor weird feelings in my knees, hips, ankles from time to time, a few seconds of numbness or pain for a few steps, etc. Nothing lasting longer than that, though. I assume this is just normal and I'm just not used to doing literally anything with my body other than sitting around. Just wanted to make sure these are sensations "normal" humans get when they exercise regularly... Man, what was my life up to now? lol

    Video:
    (you can skip to 14 seconds, I put it in the link, but I guess auto-skip is disabled for embedded videos?)
    (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq0v76QERd4#t=0m14s)
    Last edited by Xandarg; 05-22-2012 at 05:15 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Posts
    2,209

    Default

    Well, I don't see anything in this video that would cause elbow problems. General advice when you have little aches and pains is to keep the weights light (sometimes very light) until they go away, and use ice when you're not lifting. It doesn't sound like these pains are a big problem right now, but you should keep conservative with the loading while your body is trying to adjust.

    You should get a pair of lifting shoes.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Posts
    3

    Default

    Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the business socks. Straight from work and into the garage to get the real business done. Well if no one else thinks there's a form problem (any problem at all, even unrelated to the pain), then I'll just go at it the same tomorrow and this time try to really focus on... I guess relaxing my arms while still keeping my back tight?

    I'll try icing my elbows at work tomorrow, too, if I get a chance. Thanks for the reply! And I'll look into geting a pair of lifting shoes soon thanks.

    Anything obvious in press or bench that might cause lasting elbow stress? I try to follow the book, but does anything come to mind?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Posts
    2,209

    Default

    Do you have videos of your press and bench? Generally, those don't really bother the elbows; triceps tendon, sometimes, but not so much the elbow. Squats are the more common cause, since it's easy to create unwanted torque at the elbow.

    About your squat, you can probably get a bit deeper.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Posts
    3

    Default

    I couldn't really do any working sets of anything today, so no vids. This left elbow (on everything) and right hip (on deadlifts) are ruining everything, and I can't generate any power when it hurts this much. I'll try icing the elbows. I'm just going to have to take some days off, just do warmup sets and stretches daily for a while, then start from a deload after re-reading SS. Man, just when I was getting excited about forcing myself to eat 4000 cals a day... Think I should go back down to maintenance calories while I'm not doing any working sets? I'd rather not get fat for no reason...

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •