Newbie with groin pull

[Dale C]

Hey gang

I am a 62 new convert to the SS program. I've lifted in the past but never stuck with any program for an extended period of time. I decided to jump on the SS program and start from scratch.

I was making smooth progress from an empty bar to 165 3 x 5 on the squats. No great shakes but I haven't done full squats in 10-15 years.

Last week, I felt a sharp pain in my left groin. The following day it was tender but has gotten better over the past 4 days. In reviewing the board, I see reference to the Bill Pearl program for recovery. It seems people were abusing the program and it appears Rip took it off the board. It is supposedly in the archives but I couldn't find it. I did find a copy here: How to Rehab Muscle Strains and Tears | The Art of Manliness

Is this the program referred to on the board? My question is it says "4) no other heavy work that will interfere with the system-wide processes of healing the tear." Have you folks cut back on all other work during the rehab process?

Dale

[Dale C]

Hmmm 100+ views but no posts. Love to tap into the groups experience and wisdom!

[Dalton Clark]

Key with injuries is to perform the movement if you are capable but not to load it to a point where it can cause further damage. I have experiences a similar (and potentially identical situation) to what you have described. I once attempted even a very light 135 pound squat (I was squatting 265 at the time, 23 year old male), on a very tight feeling gracilis muscle and it partially tore. Not fun. You don't want that. I kind of take the Starting Strength linear progression and substitute 'effort' for 'discomfort'. So I'll start with a bar, do some sets and feeling tightness is normal. If it isn't severe discomfort I will increase it. Once you judge it as approaching pain AT ALL, stop. Go up next time. The point is not to improve strength but to keep the muscle in use and to aid in it healing itself.

To address this, typically groin pulls etc result from a wide stance or toes too far out. Form check?

[drwillie]

Exact same thing happened to me six weeks ago; right gracilis. We dropped my weight down a bunch, made sure I was warming up well with light, medium, then heavy sets, the heavy sets being a good bit lighter than the weight at which I'd injured myself. I just last week got back to where I was when the injury happened but I did get back there.

Go slow, do all your warm-up sets and back down your levels for awhile.

(Keep in mind that I'm a beginner and just do what I'm told.)

Thanks, Peter Nathan.

[grimtrigger]

I had a similar injury in a similar place. Not sure it was from Bill Pearl, the rehab protocol I did was called the "Starr Rehab Protocol". I was up to 255x3x5 squat when it happened. I went down to the bar only for 25 reps and did 25 reps adding 5 to the bar every workout up until I started really struggling, then went to 20 reps, 15 reps, etc until I was back to 255.

Those first weeks SUCKED. There was pain, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, but I think it was the best thing for my particular injury. I have no lingering issues and am happy with the results. Your mileage may vary.

[Dale C]

I'm an idiot. It was Bill Starr NOT Bill Pearl!! DOH!

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm curious if any or all of you dropped all other work: deads, presses and/or bench? Also, how long did it take to get back to the weight that injured you?

[Dalton Clark]

I just stayed put on the other lifts. I figure that I don't have to use resources if I am not trying to adapt to something new. About 2 weeks.

[grimtrigger]

I did all the lifts. It took me about 8 weeks to get to pre injury weights. Took about 3 weeks before the pain subsided. I can't stress how fucking painful it was to squat, but I did it anyway. Glad I did.

[Peter Nathan]

I had a bad aductor pull with significant bruising. I switched to squatting parallel dropping back to about 30 % for longer sets ~ 15 x. I also did rack pulls instead of deadlifts. Massage, warm baths, and easy stretching helped. It took about 2 months to get back.

[Masher]

Hey gang

I am a 62 new convert to the SS program. I've lifted in the past but never stuck with any program for an extended period of time. I decided to jump on the SS program and start from scratch.

I was making smooth progress from an empty bar to 165 3 x 5 on the squats. No great shakes but I haven't done full squats in 10-15 years.
...
Is this the program referred to on the board? My question is it says "4) no other heavy work that will interfere with the system-wide processes of healing the tear." Have you folks cut back on all other work during the rehab process?

Dale

Hey Dale,

I've had trouble with groin pulls being new to the program as well. I think what we have in common is the "no full squats for 10-15 years" prior.

I had to de-load back to bar only (45 lbs) and just crank out reps. Did that for a couple of weeks while I was out of state on vacation and traveling, slowly working through a bastardized version of the Starr protocol. I did some bench press along the way, but my focus was high-rep squats and not much else.

I also found some PT videos on YouTube. Performing some deep, painful cross-fiber massage of the strained area is supposed to help the scar tissue re-align properly as well. After all that I'm still not even squatting my bodyweight (that was a few months ago, but I've had other injuries in between to deal with too).

In retrospect I think I should have started this program with lower weights, gotten a lot more repetitions and seasoning before squatting my bodyweight or higher. My groin didn't have enough time to adjust to the heavy weight and deeper range of motion. I've had a history of groin pulls in my youth, so maybe that had something to do with it too. Good luck!