New squat pain

[Andrew Figueras]

Hi, Nick! I think it's better to reply here (I think it's close to the pain Matthew Spicka experienced) and my concern is not worthy of a new post.

I'm doing SS for three weeks already. Last Friday I completed 180x5x3 Squat, 80x5x3 Bench Press, and 180x5x1 Deadlift. The whole workout felt fine but after an hour or two, I felt a mild (2/10) but noticeable pain around my right knee cap. I ignored it at first but felt it again when I was lying on my bed. It shows up for about 5 seconds to a minute then the pain goes away. It randomly occurs (also after I practice bodyweight squats) for at least 4 times a day these past 5 days (It's Tuesday now). Yesterday I took my squat and deadlift down to 150 lbs because I got scared that it would turn into something more serious.

Because of this, I revisited the book, articles, and SS Youtube videos about the Squat and noticed that my knees are more forward than the correct position. I kept on practicing bodyweight squats during the weekend and tried executing it with TUBOW too. I feel the exact pain after my practice sessions. But no pain or struggle performing my work sets for the squat or any of the lifts. Even on the day I squatted 180 lbs with wrong form I felt no pain during the work sets. Am I just being a paranoid about the pain or I should stop first and rest for a week?

Thanks!

[Nick D'Agostino]

I would keep progressing. If things felt fine at 150, just start from there and build back up. The key idea you need to take in is that the presence of pain does not mean that you damaged yourself. It is more useful to think about pain like an alarm going off, telling you that you "might" be in danger. Because this alarm system is imperfect, it often goes off when you are not in any real danger. Our thoughts, specifically worrying that things might get worse, can make the alarm system more sensitive and cause it to go off sooner. The best thing you can continue to do here is train. Adjust the load if you're having a bad day not to create an exacerbation. Every rep that you complete with little to no pain is evidence you are presenting to the alarm system that you are going to be ok.

I would not do a bunch of volume of bodyweight squats practicing your form between sessions. Effective practice can only be done in loaded environments. To practice more effectively without the presence of a coach, I would film yourself doing a work set, immediately review it after the set, and come up with a plan to execute in the next set. If you deviate from the model, do not freak out. As you already noted, you could see deviations in your technique, and you are not experiencing pain. Just redirect your focus to working on whatever emerged during the previous set.

Also, when using a TUBOW and take it away for your work sets, make sure you continue to visualize that it is still there, and you are trying to accomplish the same task of touching without knocking it over.

[Andrew Figueras]

Hi, Nick!

I followed your advice and trained today. I used TUBOW on all my warm-up sets and took it away during my work sets. There's a lot more practice that should be done but I think it's better than my previous execution of the Squat. My other knee felt a more consistent but mild pain this morning so I think I really am being tricked by my brain about the "dangers" it senses because I did not have a hard time executing 155x5x3 earlier. One thing I changed though is that I did 180x5x1 deadlift earlier and decided to not continue deloading it. Would that be fine?

Also, I recorded all three sets of my Squat which I think would be best if I post in "Technique" thread too spot the mistakes I can't see when I study it myself.

Thank you so much for you response, Nick! Most of my worries and anxiety about it are gone now and can think better about my training. I hope the pain goes away completely soon. You were really helpful! I hope you're having a great time

[Nick D'Agostino]

You're welcome man I'm glad I was able to provide some reassurance. Keep progressing the deadlift from 180.

[Andrew Figueras]

It was a relief that it was okay to continue progressing the deadlift! Thanks so much, Nick!