Hey Doctors,
I’m am really hoping you can help me out with this. I keep injuring what I assume is my adductor and it’s getting me down.
Training history: 8 years serious. 1RM’s: Squat 185kg, Bench 132.5kg. DL 220kg. Weight: 98kg. 39 yrs old.
Background: I first injured what I assume to be my adductor 2 years ago, likely with a recovery/intensity mismatch. It took me a good 12 months to regain 90% of my progress with the first 6 moths of that being limited to only squatting roughly 60kg without pain. I reinjured it again (less severely this time) about 3 months ago this time likely due to a recovery/volume mismatch (I did A LOT of squatting at 100kg for a Xmas challenge) or perhaps a technique change (I was starting to widen my stance out again because everything was feeling good and historically I’ve always squatted better that way). And then, today, I have tweaked it again (immediate sharp pain which dissapated quickly) while doing warmup 5’s at a stupidly low RPE of 5 or 6, I stopped straight away, possibly due to paranoia, and feel like I need to re-evaluate everything.
The most irritating part of this is the lack of warning signs… on all 3 occasions, there was no sign of discomfort or fatigue before the injuries occurred.
The painful bit: It is located on the inside of the thigh in a muscle that runs from beside the scrotum to the medial side of the knee. The pain itself is about halfway between these points, however the entire structure always feels ‘tight’ and I am getting a mild snapping sensation from high in the groin (like a tendon is rolling over something) when squatting but also when my leg and torso are at 90 degrees (like a straight leg deadlift).
Things that make it worse: Fast powerful concentrics (it seems a little better if the squatting/deadlifting is slower and smoother but that could be due to less weight). Wider stance. Pushing forcefully into the floor on a conventional deadlift. Anything that resembles a sumo stance.
Things that make it better: Squatting narrow takes some stress off the area (however, I have longer femurs and this tends to pitch me forwards a bit more than I would like). Smooth, tempo like work (2 down, 1 pause, 2 up) doesn’t seem to hurt as much but is kind of less specific and self limiting. Deadlifting from 3" blocks (ie: no leg drive)
Questions:
What is the best way to go about rehabbing this?
How can I stop it from happening again?
Are there any specific exercises I can do to strengthen the area?
Please halp! I would really like to make some progress and not constantly feel like I’m going backwards. The only thing stopping me from going completely insane is the fact that my bench is slowly and steadily increasing.
P.S: I have seen an MD here in Australia (after the 1st occurance) but got the standard response: stop lifting weights, start stretching and by the way take these opiates for the pain… For the record, I didn’t follow any of these recommendations…
P.P.S: I have been bingeing the podcasts and really liking them. It’s nice to see some discussions based on something other than ‘beliefs’ or anecdotes…