RMitch

It's your favorite old lifter from Austin. I recently tore my groin muscle and probably surrounding muscle pretty badly a few months ago using just 275 on the squat. I had widened my stance a little to take some of the pressure off of my tender right knee, so this probably added to the cause of the injury. I had squatted over 300 recently for 5 reps so I felt totally comfortable with this weight. It was so painful that I started sweating profusely within seconds and I think I blacked out for a few seconds after I racked the weight and sat down. I went to the doctor because I could barely walk, but all they did was give me pain pills so I could sleep. I know what you would have suggested then, but no, I didn't do the rehab protocol that you recommend to prevent scarring. I turned black and blue and had to take time off of work, so I just iced it and tried to recover. At that time I was pissed and considered never squatting again after the back surgery and now groin tear. I've gotten over that and I want to squat again, but when I work up to 185, I can feel it a little in the area I tore and it scares me so I haven't gone above that. Is there a way to squat heavy without tearing it again, or did I screw up badly by not doing the protocol?

Will Morris

This will serve well to function as a painful lesson learned for the entire community on the negative side of the Stress-Recovery-Adaptation model. It wasn't necessary, because we already know the right answer, but when someone makes the decision to go against their better judgment for the sake of "letting something heal," it tends to end up this way. Get you a tight compression sleeve for your thigh.

Will Morris

The #1 predictor of future injury is history of previous injury.

Will Morris

I don't mean to sound needlessly pedantic, but you approach the specter of future injury much the same way I approach making my bed in the morning. I'd just as soon leave my bed unmade, because heaven knows I am going to mess it up again that night. Making my bed seems fruitless at the time because of this. However, I know it makes my wife happy to make my bed, and I will pay for it in spades if I do not do it.

Training is the same way. Nobody can help you develop the mental toughness to drag your ass to the gym day in and day out. Certainly nobody can instill in you the drive to pick your injured ass up off the ground and crawl back to the gym when an injury occurs. The best predictor of future injury is a previous injury, as previously stated. I'm going to save you the suspense sir, you are going to injure yourself again....and again...and again. Each time, you approach going back to training like I do with making my bed. You hate to do it. It seems like a waste of time, since you are just buying time until you undo the work you did. But, in this case, you don't have to worry about the scorn of a peeved spouse. In this case, you choose not to train, you bring the wrath of an angry Mother Nature upon you. It has been said here before, "Injuries that are born in the gym, will die in the gym. Injuries that are born out of laziness (osteoarthritis, sarcopenia, osteopenia, Type II DM, cardiovascular disease) are terminal." The real long-term damage you should be afraid of is what happens to the body when you are sedentary. Orthopaedic surgeons can treat bone and joint injuries. Internal medicine physicians can prolong clinical life. The quality of that life's mileage may vary.

Play your hand as you see fit, but the odds are on the house when you choose to hold your cards. Nature forces us to play our hand in the physical realm, and those who don't are treated to vicious repercussions.

Just three weeks ago, I had allowed myself to become extremely anemic due to a long term health issue I have. I audited a starting strength seminar in Wichita Falls and I could barely do my warm-up in squats without feeling like the lights were going to go out upstairs. I struggled mightily to perform a single squat at 425, when months ago I was hitting 475 for a double. I lost 15 pounds of bodyweight. I could perform a set of 265 without feeling like I was going to die. I have since run a linear progression, going up 20# each time, and just yesterday I was able to hit 3 sets of 5 at 405 and I have worked my way back up to a 275# bench press for 3 sets of 5. Tomorrow, I will move up to 415 on squat and 280 on bench. I'm still weaker than I was a few months ago, but cashing in my chips and waiting patiently for death just doesn't seem to interest me much. The beautiful thing about the linear progression is that it is the go-to program ANYTIME you have a physical set-back (either injury, illness, or time away from the gym). I've gained some of my weight back. I don't look like Casper the Friendly Ghost as much anymore. I'm training, and my subjective feelings of health are directly proportional to the strength returns I have had. But, then again, that's just me. You are going to, unfortunately, figure this one out yourself. Choose wisely.

Suwannee Dave

I turned 65 in December and discovered that my Medicare Advantage insurance plan includes the "Silver Sneakers" program (how cute) that provides "free" gym membership to certain facilities. So I found a pretty good facility at a local hospital that actually has two squat racks, and as George C Scott as General Patton said of Rommel: "you magnificent bastard, I read your book!

You make a clear distinction between exercise and training and my question is what the hell am I training for other than to see how far I can go, and at some point, given my age and "hormonal milieu," won't I basically be exercising anyway when my progress grinds to a halt and I gradually have to start backing off the weight?

Cody

As Dr. Jonathon Sullivan says, "Getting old is an extreme support!" That is your "sport," if you will. Displays of performance on the field include such things as picking up everyday objects, walking up stairs unassisted, etc. You don't want to be a miserable old fuck, so you train. At least that way you're just an old fuck, and not miserable.