Body is falling apart?

Hi all. I am in desperate need of help because I do not know what this is all about.

I have been training for almost a decade now. Turned 32 a few months ago. Everything is falling apart.

It started with my squat. I got weaker on a week to week basis. Tried to push through it. Did not help.

Lately, I experience something strange. I can Not even complete my warm ups. Everything feels easy until I hit about 100 KG which is just 10 kg above my bodyweight. I take the bar out of the rack. Squat down. Get up brutally fast. The plates rattle. Easy as hell.

And thats it. My whole body tenses up. I can not do a second rep if my life depended on it. Not that I am fatigued or anything. My Body just prevents me from bending my hips. I can only rack bar.

And now the same thing starts to affect my bench.

What is this? HALP!

Sounds like some serious psychological shit going on here. Get it checked.

The next time you train pay attention to your jaw. I dealt with what felt like panic attacks for a year after heavy lifts and then one day I noticed that my jaw was crazy clenched while I was squatting. I think I was clenching too hard and freaked out your TMJ (think people who grind their teeth at night) which can lead to all kinds of weird symptoms in the head. As soon as I figured this out and took a second to relax my jaw during heavy squats it went away. Hope that helps.

Anything not seem right in your daily life outside of training?

Thank you for your replies.

First thing that came to my mind which could be a cause is that my right achilles tendon has been inflamed for months now. Its not going away but I dont feel it at all when squatting. The only time I feel a little pain in there is when I walk down the stairs. Could still be a reason though. Not suspect to other injuries.

I have not considered psychological reasons yet. There has been a lot of shit going on for the past couple of months including existential fear. Would not have thought that this would impact my lifting. Actually, lifting always has been therapy to fight.my crippling depression. Worked better than any doctors advice by the way. I will keep this in mind and try to calm my shit.

Maybe I'm just overtrained? Hopefully not. I can not take the thought of taking time off the gym.

I am also a heavy jaw clencher and that experience that I get from squatting and benching feels quite close to panic or fear. I just freeze up. This is new to me since I have always been the calm and cool guy.

How are you a 'calm and cool' guy if you have bouts of crippling depression and squatting/benching feel close to panic ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sid786

I can not do a second rep if my life depended on it. Not that I am fatigued or anything. My Body just prevents me from bending my hips. I can only rack bar.

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I've been afflicted with something similar for a long time; it's like I just can't make my muscles activate. Once I couldn't even lift the empty bar.

Turned out to be poor sleep and I was lifting late in the day when I was pretty fatigued. I moved my workouts to within a a couple of hours of my afternoon nap and the problem went away.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sid786

Thank you for your replies.

First thing that came to my mind which could be a cause is that my right achilles tendon has been inflamed for months now. Its not going away but I dont feel it at all when squatting. The only time I feel a little pain in there is when I walk down the stairs. Could still be a reason though. Not suspect to other injuries.

I have not considered psychological reasons yet. There has been a lot of shit going on for the past couple of months including existential fear. Would not have thought that this would impact my lifting. Actually, lifting always has been therapy to fight.my crippling depression. Worked better than any doctors advice by the way. I will keep this in mind and try to calm my shit.

Maybe I'm just overtrained? Hopefully not. I can not take the thought of taking time off the gym.

I am also a heavy jaw clencher and that experience that I get from squatting and benching feels quite close to panic or fear. I just freeze up. This is new to me since I have always been the calm and cool guy.

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Well, we can be sure that your achilles soreness isn't affecting your bench.

Based on your description, it would be something systemic, not a focal injury. Medical causes would include anemia, hypothyroidism, sleep apnea, and a million rare/exotic things that you can probably find on WebMD and which you don't have and shouldn't worry about. In my view, psychiatric/psychological issues are also medical, but most people would differentiate them for purposes of thinking about a diagnosis for you. Sleep disturbance would contribute, but your description is not typical. Depression and anxiety can also present in this way, but its also atypical. It is certainly possible to have a combination of common things going on.

I'd start with your PCP to cover the basics. Fixing your sleep and addressing your mood and anxiety are necessary, but those won't be sufficient if you're anemic or hypothyroid.