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Thread: Upper hamstring / glut pain from squatting.

  1. #1
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    Default Upper hamstring / glut pain from squatting.

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    hey guys, I've seen some similar posts to mine but I wanted to explain my specific symptoms and hopefully get some confidence about what I'm dealing with here.

    I have a pain that's been really hard to locate... it hurts when I walk, hurts when I jump, hurts JUST AFTER I rack my squat weight, but doesn't really hurt while I'm squatting. I can feel it a little in an awareness sort of way while squatting but not until I rack the weight does it feel like it's tightening up painfully.

    I've embarrassingly had my girlfriend mash her knuckles all around my gluts to see if I could figure out precisely where the pain was coming from and the only really sore spot was what my internet anatomy skills tell me is the "Tuberosity of the ischium." I'm sure that can be off but it seems to be sore there if I'm sitting and lift my legs up and press down into it.

    The other thing I notice is that when I'm getting into the deeper end of the squat-- around the range of motion between +/-5 degrees around parallel, I feel a slight pop as if a tendon or something is sliding from one side to the other over that Tuberosity of Ischium area, and then it goes back when I stand up. I'm assuming that this might have something to do with the irritation I'm feeling.

    Any thoughts would be most welcome. I've been following the Practical Programming Novice program pretty religiously for about five months now and, as you all know, injuries are pretty discouraging so I'm looking to get back on track!

    thanks!

    Edit: A guy at work seems to think I have some IT band syndrome which seems to make a little bit of sense based on what I'm feeling. I *have* felt the pain go up my butt a little to my lower back, which is apparently where that band ultimately connects. But I don't feel it go up so much-- mostly it's just aching in that region I described before. And now I'm wondering if that popping I was describing is actually the IT band?
    Last edited by jerji; 06-23-2010 at 05:27 PM.

  2. #2
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    oh, I should also mention that my assessment from reading this forum is that I should probably be doing the Bill Starr rehab protocol.

    I can't make it into the gym every day to do it properly, so I've modified the normal warmup->3x5 programming that got me this far and for my last two sessions, I've just been doing really high rep sets with incrementally more weight, like 45*25, 55*25, 65*20, 85*15, 105*10. That sorta thing.

    I'm a bit torn because I'd love to try the Bill Starr method properly but I'm not sure how to adjust it given that I can only go to the gym three days a week, hence why I'm doing the mutant method mentioned above.

  3. #3
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    Man it could be 100 things. mine in that area is actually a glute tear and tendon issue. Yours may be the same. One would thing if it was the origin of the Biceps Femoris Muscle it would hurt like a bitch as you pulled that muscle out in a dead lift or squat.

    It very well could be an IT problem. test it out get on a foam roller and roll that IT band. Its likely going to hurt like a bitch when you roll it. That's normal but means you need to work it out.

    I would also urge you to take the time since this has been a persistent problem to visit a good soft tissue therapist and find the root of it.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Phil Stevens View Post
    Man it could be 100 things. mine in that area is actually a glute tear and tendon issue. Yours may be the same. One would thing if it was the origin of the Biceps Femoris Muscle it would hurt like a bitch as you pulled that muscle out in a dead lift or squat.

    It very well could be an IT problem. test it out get on a foam roller and roll that IT band. Its likely going to hurt like a bitch when you roll it. That's normal but means you need to work it out.

    I would also urge you to take the time since this has been a persistent problem to visit a good soft tissue therapist and find the root of it.
    oh, thanks man. It had been so long that I thought I had just gotten ignored (I realize I suck at writing concise questions :P).

    I was feeling some similar pain while deadlifting a while back so I'm pretty curious about your biceps femoris comment. I've tried foam rolling multiple times and, honestly, I can't seem to find the spot to roll on to really cause pain so I guess that rules out ITBS?

    It's really sapping my progress. I didn't even hit the gym today since it's so discouraging but I don't feel like getting the run around from docs guessing random shit either. For now, I'm just popping vitamin I, icing, and doing copious air squats. Seems to be getting better slowly. I think I just really fucked myself since I felt it pretty severely a couple fridays back but powered through it and pushed myself to another PR set, when I really should have just backed off. dumb asses will be dumb asses I suppose :P

    thanks very much for your reply. I'll look into your suggestion

  5. #5
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    Just an update for anyone who's in a similar boat and found this post in search:

    I ended up getting discouraged and took two weeks off (my partner was in Korea so that made it easy to "rest" instead of Bill Starr it up). My butt was just not feeling any better. It got to a stable, mostly-healed place but never really seemed to go beyond that.

    I started doing lots of body weight squats around the house or whenever, even in the elevator (alone!) going up and down at work :P I was trying to isolate what exactly was causing that popping in my left butt-bone area when I hit the bottom of the squat. As I mentioned before, consistently I notice this if my stance is too wide, but to go much more narrow would barely even be shoulder width. So I have about a 5 degree range of motion where I have to stand to cause it.

    I also notice that if I sit back really far before bending my knees at all (I think this is correct but I don't have my copy of SS with me right now), and then let my knees bend forward properly, it also doesn't pop, though subtle variations on this still seem to cause the popping.

    I've been back in the gym now for two sessions. I just deloaded by 10% and started 3x5 again but I'm keeping the weight there for a while. So far, these two sessions haven't actually made the injury *worse* so I'm thinking that's a good thing.

    I've been lifting mostly barefoot but I ordered a pair of Rogue 2010 Do-Wins which will arrive this wednesday. I'm looking forward to seeing if they help because hip angle and knee position definitely seem to affect whether or not I hear the pop and hopefully these shoes will help me correct it, though I certainly wouldn't want the shoes to hide a form problem.

    FYI, I did look into the anatomical charts for the biceps femoris muscle. It definitely seems possible that this is what is injured, since I feel the pain right around its attachment point (just to the left of my left butt bone) but no amount of foam rolling or anything reveals a particularly painful spot.

    So my current plan is just to continue squatting at this weight as long as it isn't making it hurt anymore and hope that this rehabs it nicely. I should probably also post a video to check my form since you guys are awesome. My only fear is that, by delaying proper rehab, I've allowed some scar tissue to form but I'm mostly optimistic about that going away in due time.

  6. #6
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    Is it above or below the ischial tuberosity? If it is just above, more into the glute, there is a common trigger point there that could be causing the issue. The popping sound could be from the TP releasing or from the tight muscle (glute) flipping across the tuberosity. I would bet its the latter.

    Sit on on the ground on a tennis/lacrosse ball, find that spot, and beat the shit out of it. Dynamic stretching will help and may release it. Static stretching will help only have a TP session with the ball.

    If it is below then it may be the adductor. The same advice applies, but you will need a hard chair.

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