Frequent muscle strains

[Gbraddock]

I’ve been running a NLP since mid November 2019. Strength gains have been good and form is improving every workout. I’ve been to a squat and deadlift seminar and have had my bench press form evaluated by an SS coach in person. Programming wise I have been super compliant and not greedy with trying to increase weights too quickly.

Problem is...the last week I have been suffering muscle strains. Minor gracilis strain on last squat session (3rd work set) with a weight I was managing well. Minor lat pull last deadlift session during warmup. Damn it! Finally, today was bench press and had a slight pull in my pec on first work set. Shit pisses me off because all these strains happened with weights I can move relatively easy.

Rest, stress, etc are good (at least good as they’re gonna be). Diet could always be better but protein intake and hydration are good.

I’m wondering if the damn statin I have to take is causing these problems (heart attack 2015). I take CoQ10 and don’t have any myalgias or weird cramps to speak of. However, I saw some Studies suggest statin users report increased incidence of muscle strains (not talking myalgias or myopathy here). Dr Sully or Will perhaps have any experience in dealing with this phenomena? Maybe it’s something else and I’m not seeing it. I can say I can’t keep doing this and managing work and family life. Hopeful for some direction here!

May as well run a damn constant Starr Rehab protocol LOL!

[Gbraddock]

Details:
45 yo male
5’10” 210lb

Working sets: 3x5
Squat: 275
DL: 315
Press:150 (stalling as of last session)
Bench: 200 (deloaded 2 times due to minor strains in left pec); usually hits in low 200s; have had a RIGHT shoulder recon in 2017. Rotator cuff, subacromial decomp and biceps tenodesis.

After settling my emotions (pretty pissed at end of week) and sifting through some data, I’m thinking I would benefit from the following:

*Obviously Starr rehab protocol for squat, deads, and bench) which I’ve already started and it is going well.

*proceed by ta mping back up to around 80% of current lifts on the rehab protocol to where I was and then switching to the 4 day split outlined in Barbell Rx where I continue LP on a longer rest interval. 2 sessions of each lift per week (page 209 I think in the book)

Looking for your thoughts here and much appreciate any feedback. If it is the statin, I have to continue taking it so it’ll be a matter of managing stress and better management of body fatigue. Hopefully on the right track here.

Thx in advance!

[Will Morris]

What separates myalgia from a muscle strain?

[Gbraddock]

What separates myalgia from a muscle strain?

Well technically I reckon myalgia would be a symptom of a muscle strain Will.

But when I have taken a statin for 5 years with no statin induced myalgias and have one during a set of squats, deads, and bench press with a ten day span, it makes me wonder if the statin May be giving me a proclivity for them? Or maybe I just accumulated stress from workouts and hit a point where my body said “enough”.

So I was troubleshooting this in my mind thinking I perhaps need more recovery time in between sessions so I proposed a possible 4 day split from page 209 of BBRx. Looking for feedback on this thinking from those who may be in a position to opine.

[Will Morris]

Well technically I reckon myalgia would be a symptom of a muscle strain Will.

But when I have taken a statin for 5 years with no statin induced myalgias and have one during a set of squats, deads, and bench press with a ten day span, it makes me wonder if the statin May be giving me a proclivity for them? Or maybe I just accumulated stress from workouts and hit a point where my body said “enough”.

So I was troubleshooting this in my mind thinking I perhaps need more recovery time in between sessions so I proposed a possible 4 day split from page 209 of BBRx. Looking for feedback on this thinking from those who may be in a position to opine.

I have not come across anything that links statins to more frequent muscle strains, but, this is certainly a knowledge gap for me because the population I deal with on a daily basis are typically not on statins. I do know of statins inducing myalgia which is something I see far more frequently than actual muscle strains in the clinic. For every 100 patients referred to me with a "muscle strain", 105 of them just have myalgia. That isn't to say, though, that myalgia can't be painful or debilitating.

Do you have any localized spasm in the area of the pain?

4 day splits are wonderful programs for the vast majority of people.

[Gbraddock]

I have not come across anything that links statins to more frequent muscle strains, but, this is certainly a knowledge gap for me because the population I deal with on a daily basis are typically not on statins. I do know of statins inducing myalgia which is something I see far more frequently than actual muscle strains in the clinic. For every 100 patients referred to me with a "muscle strain", 105 of them just have myalgia. That isn't to say, though, that myalgia can't be painful or debilitating.

Do you have any localized spasm in the area of the pain?

4 day splits are wonderful programs for the vast majority of people.

Yeah it’s a localized spasm or “pull”. Remains sore for a few days before responding well to Starr Rehab.

I really appreciate the opinion on the 4 day split man. Seemed to me to be a reasonable idea in my case. I’ll roll with it

[Will Morris]

Yeah, that seems indicative of a low grade strain. Perhaps bad luck....maybe overtraining....who knows, but that would not be necessarily expected in a normal situation.

[jbackos]

I was on Atorvastatin and had the same issue - frequent grade 1 strains. It got bad enough that one day I strained a forearm muscle turning a door knob. I basically told my doctor that I’m no longer taking the statin, whether he prescribes it or not. I now control my cholesterol by proper nutrition.