Possible muscle tear?

[elVarouza]

Hi Rip,

I know you can't usually say much on these things over the internet but this seems common enough that I hoped you might be able to give some insight.

I was squatting earlier today, about 3 hours ago now. Weight was relatively heavy at the time (435) but nothing I hadn't done before. On the descent, a couple inches from the hole, I felt something pop in my left leg near the knee. I put the bar on the pins and called it quits at the gym.

Since then, there has been no bleeding or bruising but soreness in the area has been increasing. Walking is fine, but taking stairs is unpleasant. If I go 2 at a time it'll hurt, but nothing excruciating.

See image here; I'm pointing out the location of the most soreness/pain:


The soreness/slight pain extends down to my knee, mostly on the side of my leg and under the big, lumpy quad muscle you see. It might look like there's discoloration in the image but that's the lighting. There's really no discoloration at all.

I've torn a muscle before, something in my shoulder during OHP, and I remember instantly losing all strength in the arm and instantly being in pain. Here, I didn't lose strength (I probably could've stood back up with it but decided to bail) and aside from some soreness there isn't pain. I'd describe the sensation of what it felt like to be similar to rolling your ankle; it kind of felt like something popping out of place then back.

Have you ever heard of or experienced anything like this in you or your trainees?

Thanks for reading.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Not enough info here to comment. Could be an adductor magnus tear, a few fibers. Don't know.

[elVarouza]

I appreciate the reply. I understand it's difficult to assess these things over the internet.

The soreness seems to be localizing more towards the quad, the sartorius I'd guess. I'll probably treat it as a muscle tear and start aggressively rehabing it in a couple days. I'll find out one way or another if it's a tear or something more benign.

It's silly how these things happen. The weight wasn't anywhere near a PR and there were no warning signs whatsoever. No soreness, no pain, nothing. In fact, my squats have been feeling great the past couple weeks. Then, in about 5 seconds, it's kissing goodbye to probably at least a month of training.