1month layoff and Insane Soreness

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Ok. So here’s the thing. Yesterday I followed Andy Baker’s advice at SS for what to do when coming back for something like 1 one month layoff. I had been out for about a month with a bad case of cellulitis on my left leg (I got bit by something just below the knee, and the infection and inflammation spread all the way down to my foot until antibiotics stopped it). Don’t know if this is relevant, but I was on a 2,000mg amoxicillin/500mg clavulanic acid per day for about 10 days. The doctor said that this could somehow temporarily affect my muscles, though mildly. Anyways, I had my first workout yesterday with about a 20% (or more) reduction on all the lifts.

For example, a month ago I was squatting 140kgx5x3. I was pretty much stuck on that, so I had become convinced that my novice LP was done. At any rate, yesterday I went for 110kgx5x3. Brutal. Got them all with good form but my legs felt like they were about to explode and the last two reps felt like 100% of my max. I had nothing in the tank after that. Yet I did 50kgx5x3 comfortably on the press (less than a 20% reduction from 60.8kgx5x3, which where I was at a month ago) and 125kgx5x1 somewhat comfortably on the dead lift (more than a 20% reduction from 165kgx5x3, which where I was at a month ago). Only my legs are sore. Mild soreness on my shoulders, but not too much. But my legs… it’s in insane. It hurts to walk down or up the stairs, and even to sit down. Yes, that kind of crossfit soreness.

Nutrition was good as usual: breakfast was 4 whole eggs, 1/3 cup of bacon, 1 cup of oatmeal, 1 banana, 1 glass of orange juice, 5g creatine (all at around 6:45am), then 5g bcaas at 8am and a slice of bread. Started the workout at 8:30am.

My question: I am supposed to train tomorrow? I’m trying to get back into the three-day a week schedule. How do I best deal with, or overcome as quickly as possible, this soreness? I have no idea how I am supposed to squat being this sore. So, should I train tomorrow? Rather, should I squat tomorrow? I could also train on Friday (squat, bench press, dead lift).

Let me just say that it is incredibly frustrating to see how much strength I have lost after having put in the work for 3 months. 125kg used to be an easy warm-up set for the squat, and so was 125kg for the deadlift. Anyways, any advice and recommendations would be much appreciated.

2

Provided that your doctor suggested that it was okay- I would train, yes.

It is not surprising to me that after a month of not training that coincided with an infection requiring antibiotics has resulted in significant detraining. It is also not surprising that the detraining is more noticeable on a lift you were much more developed in and that this is not linear across all lifts. Finally, it is not surprising that an off-the-cuff percentage drop recommendation was not predictive of how you would do.

Nevertheless, I would train anyway and make sure to follow up with your doctor as needed if there are any hints that your infection has not been thoroughly treated.

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Thanks for the response @Jordan_Feigenbaum . I have two questions:

  1. I trained today. Worse than Tuesday. Here’s what I was able to squat: 100kgx2x2 and 90kgx2x1. Quit after the second rep of the third one, which was lighter than the first two. After the first two reps of first squat work set (I had done the proper warm up sets), I had to stop and do some hamstring stretches as it felt like I was about pull a muscle. It didn’t get any better after two reps on the second set. The weight felt quite heavy (which, again, I feel like it shouldn’t have and pisses me off) but I could’ve gotten 5 reps if I had pushed through. It just felt like I was about to pull a muscle every time I went down and up, and still sore (quads, harmstrings, etc.) and couldn’t get my form right. After I went down to 90kg and still felt unusually uncomfortable, I simply stopped squatting for the day out of fear of injury. Had no problems on any of the other lifts though I went way down on the weight: bench press 77.5kgx5x3 (I was at 93.5x5x3 a month ago) and deadlift120kgx5x1. Neither as easy as a month ago, but didn’t feel like I was close to failure at any moment. Any idea as to what the hell is going on with my squat, particularly my legs or thighs or whetever? I did play basketball yesterday evening, maybe this fucked me up? No conditioning I suppose. I plan to rest the whole weekend. What do would you recommend for Monday as I get back on the three-day training schedule? Should I do the weight I did today or pick up where I left on Tuesday (i.e. 110kgx5x3)?

  2. I forgot to ask when I first posted this: do I have to begin my novice LP all over again? I suppose your answer to 1 will probably answer this one too.

My doctor has given me the green light to train again, so now I just have to figure out how the hell to get back. Thanks in advance!!!

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For some reason my response was not approved, which is a pity as I had detailed today’s training and the problems I had due to soreness (and possibly fatigue) during the squat. All other lifts (20%-25% reduction) went well. So I’ll just keep this one short. Do I have to start my novice LP all over again and, if so, how much should the weight reduction be? Given my Tuesday workout and my body’s reaction to it, which was the subject of my original post, maybe I should go for a 30% of what I was squatting a month ago (i.e. 140kg)? I got the green light from my doctor to train again, though no advice as to how to get back into this kind of training. Thanks a lot! @Jordan_Feigenbaum .

5

I don’t understand why you’re squatting heavy doubles after a month layoff. I realize they aren’t “heavy” compared to your prior training numbers, but you’re also coming back after a month of detraining.

There isn’t a specific amount of weight reduction we can tell you to start from. Especially since you have these issues with soreness, I would start by working up to an easy set of 5 for a few sets. You can do something LP-style for a few workouts to get back on track, and reassess after a week or so.

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Perfect. Will do. Thanks a lot.