I’m 26 but often feel like I’m 76.

[fencer]

It’s got to the point where I feel like my body is just different to everyone else’s. Maybe I am in the bottom percentile. Now I’ve always been naturally good at sports despite always being very slim. I was good at football (not the American kind), tennis, squash, running, jumping and my favourite sport of fencing. Take fencing as an example, it requires a lot of explosive lunging and jumping and I’m pretty good at it (reached a national standard). But my body is still weak as fuck and always in pain. I can do any sport and perform it well but will ache for days with little nagging injuries.


Whenever I start a lifting program my body hurts a lot. Even with very light weights and reasonable form (had my form observed by a fairly well known powerlifter) it’s not long before my joints and ligaments hurt and I feel completely beat up. My knees are the biggest nagging injury. I’ve seen three physiotherapists and they each said different things. Also had an MRI scan which said no damage. I pretty regularly have a groin strain, tight hips, tight hamstrings, ankles often hurt, neck often hurts, slouched shoulders and maybe ATP too. I have a desk job as well which probably doesn’t help these things. So every time I start lifting it’s not long before I skip a session due to these injuries and soon enough I’ve missed weeks and progress is back to where I began. Even rest seems to leave me in pain. The icing on the cake is I realised recently even my aerobic conditioning has got worse so I wanted to do a long steady run at a speed where I could hold a conversation. I run for 30 mins at 8 KMPH (FYI I am 6’1 and 174 lbs) and I have to stop due to pain in my ankle and back… Ignoring the dull pain that’s always in my knees. Fuck. So maybe it’s not even weightlifting that’s beating me up but even a slow jog?


Now I really don’t want anyone’s sympathy. I guess I’m just wondering if anyone can relate to this and offer some suggestions. I’ve tried and failed for 9 years now to get fitter and stronger. I’m not going to give up though as I’m pretty fed up of being in pain 24/7. I should also mention I eat healthily (mostly Mediterranean diet) and sleep well. I look up youtube videos like ‘ankle mobility’ or ‘Anterior Pelvic tilt’ but I have so many issues it’s hard to know where to start and how to fix several issues in one go. I could go to another physiotherapist but unfortunately my funds are limited and they never helped me much in the past. I just wondered if anyone out there can relate and how did they fix it?

[Charlie Davies]

That's how I felt when I tried to run SS as if I were a young man.

After fixing my form, diet and sleep, I still cannot recover from workloads much over what a coach might prescribe for someone 70 years old (I'm 51).
Happily, lifting like an old guy leaves me feeling pretty good, and gaining strength at a glacial pace.
See: The Barbell Prescription for old-guy programming.

You could try that, but it seems like a shame to stay weak when you are only 26.

Being young and poor, and living under the NHS, I assume you cannot check or fix your T levels.
Have you tried not being skinny, and sleeping more?

[fencer]

Being young and poor, and living under the NHS, I assume you cannot check or fix your T levels.
Have you tried not being skinny, and sleeping more?

Yes, I originally bulked from around 160 but started to gain more fat than I wanted (most likely due to missing training sessions).

Testosterone levels are not something I’ve really considered. Do you think I could have low levels? I could go to a doctor and ask.

Going forwards I’m going to go back to lifting 3 times week. I guess I’ll just try and do a full body mobility routine every day along with extra ab/glute work and see if that gets me anywhere.

[Royce Nichols]

Going to have to see some videos of your form to make sure everything is fine. If you want real solid technique advice, post to the SS Coaches Q&A. Follow the sticky guidelines to the letter. You're still exceptionally underweight. 6'1 174 and fat? No, you're just way under muscled. Stop running. Stop wasting time with ankle mobility, anterior pelvic tilt, and all that other silliness you mentioned about mobility. Focus on getting your body weight over 200 and all your lifts up.

[Aaron Montgomery]

The program isn't easy to run if you're underweight (174lb @6'1" is underweight for lifting purposes). Not sure what your goals are, but if getting stronger is your primary goal, I'd suggest you quit running and try to put on at least 1lb/week of weight. I'm 6'1", 30, and weighed 130lb in 2011 (am 209lb now). The best thing I ever did for my achy knees and back was quit jogging, gain weight, and lift heavy. I'd suggest running SSLP while aggressively gaining weight, and then switch to an HLM template (Andy Baker has tons of free info out on this). I used to do tons of research on special exercises and stretches, and spend money on chiropractors and sports massage, but it was a waste of time and money. Getting my bodyweight above 180 and my squat and deadlift above 300lb fixed a lot of my random aches and pains, headaches, and posture problems. Not eating enough definitely contributes to feeling worn out and achy.

It's worth mentioning that you should probably get your testosterone levels checked. I ground myself into the dirt the first couple times I tried running SSLP, and found out that I had the hormone profile of someone in their 70's. If you have super low T levels, getting back into the normal range has enormous benefits for recovery.

[fencer]

Going to have to see some videos of your form to make sure everything is fine. If you want real solid technique advice, post to the SS Coaches Q&A. Follow the sticky guidelines to the letter. You're still exceptionally underweight. 6'1 174 and fat? No, you're just way under muscled. Stop running. Stop wasting time with ankle mobility, anterior pelvic tilt, and all that other silliness you mentioned about mobility. Focus on getting your body weight over 200 and all your lifts up.

Some good points. I’ll look into getting my lifts filmed but I don’t go to the gym with any friends and the people in my gym aren’t the friendliest. You are right that I am underweight (also at around 18% body fat atm) so under muscled is probably the best term. 200 would probably be a bit much for me as a fencer but I do want to bulk to 190.

I actually don’t run at all due to the knee issues I have. I did want to start adding some conditioning to my workouts to try and improve my aerobic capacity. From what I’ve read small conditioning sessions should only help lifting and not harm it?

Regarding the ankles and hips mobility stuff, I’m not sure how I can ignore it when these issues are what leave me in pain daily and stop me progressing my lifts. It’s hard to increase my squat when I have a pulled groin that struggles to open up along with knees that feel like they are going to give way.

[Charlie Davies]

Fix your recovery, or *reduce* stress. You must stay inside your recovery budget.

What you want *more* of is sleep and food, maybe T.
What you want *less* of is running, extra ab/glute work, etc.

[fencer]

Fix your recovery, or *reduce* stress. You must stay inside your recovery budget.

What you want *more* of is sleep and food, maybe T.
What you want *less* of is running, extra ab/glute work, etc.

Well I sleep around 9 hours a day. I can’t really increase that except for weekends I guess but I usually get up once I’ve woken up.

I also don’t do any running or ab/glute work at the moment. I don’t plan to do much running due to my knees. Ab/glute work I’m interested in because it could help my hip/knee/ankle situation. Squats alone haven’t managed to fix it so far.

[Royce Nichols]

Look man, this all reads like somebody who is doing way too much, lifting with improper technique, and not having enough recovery substrate around to fulfill all these activities. Checking your T levels may certainly help! You have to get creative with the way you film if you're unable to get somebody to film you. I understand you like fencing, but I think you should take it easy on the fencing and aerobic work. Give yourself a few months (at least 3, your LP could last longer) to run your novice progression, focusing on gaining weight and getting stronger. proper squats and shoes will help your ankles, knees, and hips. Do the program, ok?

[Fiddler]

Regarding the ankles and hips mobility stuff, I’m not sure how I can ignore it when these issues are what leave me in pain daily and stop me progressing my lifts. It’s hard to increase my squat when I have a pulled groin that struggles to open up along with knees that feel like they are going to give way.

If you are actually getting pulled muscles from doing SS, there's an extremely high probability that your form is seriously messed up or you are not doing the program, or both. That's just a fact. I'd suggest that you start over from scratch, learning the lifts correctly and getting them checked at least by the SS coaches on line, then titrating your initial weights, and getting your diet in order. (I've done that, more than once, and ended up way ahead.) Often problems arise when we labor under false assumptions, and we are generally really bad at rooting out our own mistakes. As much as it may offend our self image, a qualified, objective coach can make seemingly insurmountable problems evaporate.