Groin pain while squatting and Sumo deadlifting

[Kron]

Hi! I have been doing the beginner template and this is my sixth week. I am getting pain in my groin area(Inside of my thighs) when I sumo deadlift and squat especially when I use the "shove your knees apart" or "spread the floor" to get tight. The pain appears on the ascent and I don't have pain after training. The pain is there even at light weights.
Please suggest me what I should do. I tried replacing squats with split squats but my technique isn't good and I can't get to a true rpe 7,8 etc without losing balance etc. Thank you in advance ☺️

[Charlie Dickson]

Hi Kron,

I'm sorry to hear about the groin issue, I've had my fair share of groin strains in the past and they can be quite frustrating.

Prior to your squatting/deadlifting work for next session, give this movement a try to serve as both a warmup and to address the area a little more specifically:

Copenhagen drill: https://youtu.be/_ogKDmzKZOM?t=159

Protocol: perform 3 sets to RPE 8 / side (using the bent knee version) prior to squatting. If doing the bent knee version for reps is too painful, switch to isometric holds at the top 3 sets to RPE 9 (within 10s of failure) / side

You could also try modifying your stance width temporarily on both the squat and sumo pulls or changing exercise selection altogether (front squats/box squats instead of back squats, conventional deadlifts/RDLs instead of sumo for example). Lastly, I would recommend checking out this article for an overview on our general approach to managing these types of issues in training.

If the issue persists and you would like more individualized guidance, we do offer remote consultations and rehab programming where we can dive deeper into your training history, your goals, and come up with a more specific game plan on how to move forward. Here is the intake form

Hope that helps,
Charlie