Gluteus Medius Tendonitis

[JustinK]

Hi Rip,
Started experiencing some pain in my hip around my adductors when squatting and pushing out the knees a few weeks ago; pain got a little more acute each time I squatted, even without weight, and persisted post-workout. Got an MRI and the verdict is gluteus medius tendonitis. Doc gave me the standard speech about not squatting below parallel, not going heavy, hitting PT, etc.

2 Questions: 1) After I got the MRI reading, I googled that tendonitis and one of the results indicated that it's sometimes difficult to distinguish between that and the trochanteric bursitis you've mentioned on a few occasions. Does that sound about right to you?
2) Would Starr's rehab protocol hold here?

Thanks for reading.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I think you're confused about where your adductors are. It doesn't really matter if the inflammation is in the bursa or the tendon insertion, because chances are that both are inflamed and they are both treated the same way. I'll give to $3 million if you find a PT that knows what to do about this. The high-rep thing will not work, since volume with bad mechanics is what causes the problem anyway. I amazed that you wasted MRI money on this. Somebody else paid for it, right? Read my posts about it again.

[Kyle5000]

Wow, I'm pretty sure I've got the same thing, have since July, and I've been trying to figure out what the hell it is. I've gone to the doctor a couple of times and they keep trying to tell me it's referred pain from my lower back. I've tried different things, none have worked. Rest makes it feel all better but then once I squat a couple of times it reappears. Squats are really the only thing that bothers it, which sucks, because I want to squat 3 times a week. It seems like it's the bounce out of the bottom of the squat that causes the most pain for me.

I'm only 23. Does it make sense that I'd have this condition at such a young age? Rip, I know you said you stopped competing because of it, but you still squat heavy on a regular basis. How do you manage it?

[Mark Rippetoe]

I don't think this is age-dependent. I have had this within the past 2 years, and it seems to come and go. I can't determine a pattern. Wish I was more useful here, because this shit has been a problem for me too for a long time.

[Kyle5000]

I don't think this is age-dependent. I have had this within the past 2 years, and it seems to come and go. I can't determine a pattern. Wish I was more useful here, because this shit has been a problem for me too for a long time.

I first got it back in July one day when I was deadlifting, and it's weird because it hasn't bothered me doing deadlifts or any other lift since, it only hurts when I squat. I trained through it over the summer and I was able to push through it during my training sessions, but I remember it was very uncomfortable at home all summer, just bending over, going up and down stairs, sitting down and standing up, etc. Then I basically took September off and it went away completely, but as soon as I started squatting again it came back, and that's how it's been ever since. If I don't squat for a couple of weeks, it goes away. Then when I start squatting, it gradually gets worse and worse the more days I train and the heavier I go. It really sucks. I'm 5'8", 173 lbs and I want to get much bigger but this is a bit of a roadblock.

At least I know what it is now. I've been squatting again the last couple of weeks and it's not so bad right now. I'm going to work on stretching it a lot and maybe try to find a good PT.