Hamstring old injury (asking on behalf of athlete friend)

[brazilsp]

Little background on my friend. He's almost 400 pounds (very big guy, fat), but also an athlete and competitor in his sport (forgive me if I don't go into too much detail for his anonymity).

He has a strong upper body (benches over 400 pounds), he's 24 years old. Around 13 years old, he tore his hamstring and it never really good good again (never did much physiotherapy, etc.). To this day, he still feels pain and gets bad soreness if he works out his hamstrings (assume from scar tissue).

He's not american and where he lives there is not much education as to strength training. This lead him to having a 400lb+ bench, yet he probably can't deadlift much more than 225 (maybe even can't), not to mention squats.


So I am now on another 4 month streak of linear programming and he was impressed with my gains and asked me to show him the routine/program. But he was unsure due to his hamstring injury.

I'm positive that adding a few hundred pounds to his squat and deadlift would make him MUCH more formidable in his sport, and his situation is a big hindrance to him.

My question is, what's the best way to go around with such an old injury (over 10 years ago) that he's neglected to work through all these years? He'll probably I assume have lots of soreness and maybe bruising if he dives straight into linear progress on squats and deadlifts since he's neglected it so long (I'm assuming here, I could be totally wrong).


Any advice so that I can relay it to him when helping him out with a basic strength program when approaching the heavy posterior chain movements?

Thanks.
Mat.

[Mark Rippetoe]

It's going to be very hard for a huge enormous fat guy to manage a hamstring injury 10 years after he hurt it. He starts by losing 15 pounds so that he can get into efficient positions to deadlift and squat, then he deadlifts and squats. Massage/ART may be useful for the hamstring.

But he's not going to do any of this, because he's a big enormous fat guy. He lacks the discipline.

[BigA]

Rip,

Suppose someone tears a muscle, doesn't rehab it properly and ends up with scar tissue. If they re-tear the muscle in the same place and rehabbed it properly, would they be in a better position than before the re-tear? Would re-tearing the muscle break up the scar tissue, thus giving them the opportunity to force the muscle to heal correctly? This is just hypothetical of course, no one wants to tear a muscle.

[Mark Rippetoe]

You will re-tear the muscle belly at the scar/MB interface. You will not tear the scar in a way that makes it possible to make the scar go away.

[BlackCoffee]

Hello, I also had a question regarding a back injury.

A couple months ago I was squatting and felt some slight discomfort in my lower right back. My back was completely fine outside the weight room but it made squatting and especially deadlifting very painful. I dropped the weight on squats and quit deadlifting. The injury has continued linger. The low back healed enough that I was able to start deadlifting again and so I started ramping the weights up on squat and deadlift. The back pain has actually got worse and I now have pain in my right hip as well. Do you know what would cause this?

I would assume I should probably start over using light weight (relative to my current ability), wear a belt for every set, and use good form, while putting on some weight/drinking plenty of water and doing a little bit of self rehab via pvc pipe and stretches.

I listened to your podcast on the time table of minor tweaks and their response to weight training. Should I be particularly concerned this is still lingering and not responding positively to weight training?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Sounds like you need an actual diagnosis.

[risepmj]

I have a sprinter friend who has a hamstring tear that doesn't go away about 10 years even he tried everything except surgery and serious strength training(though i wonder what if he develops more leg strength by a strength training).and i've seen some sprinters who have same issues fixed by an only surgery.
But I and my some fellas who have a some hamstring issues have fixed by a Squat,DL and vicious massage.I'm not sure actually if scar tissues embedded deeply like him.I think trying Sqaut,DL,stretching and ART(vicious massage) are worthwhile.

[Suwannee Dave]

I am really curious about the sport in which the 400 lb guy participates. It must be something that does not require running, and that weight may be an advantage. The only thing that comes to mind is Sumo Wrestling, but it would seem those guys need good lower body strength. Anybody have any other ideas?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Well, the guy is a household name, whatever his sport. Anonymity is necessary.

[MBasic]

I am really curious about the sport in which the 400 lb guy participates. It must be something that does not require running, and that weight may be an advantage. The only thing that comes to mind is Sumo Wrestling, but it would seem those guys need good lower body strength. Anybody have any other ideas?

+1 staying tuned in . . . . for curious.

guy who is "good" at his "sport": a 24 year old with a 1.1xBW bench; and a 0.6xBW deadlift?

I'm guessing bowling

. . .I'm guessing bowling