Was doing deadlifts (SSLP) and during the first rep of my working weight deadlift, I felt a pop.
This pop was felt in the upper left ab and had no pain associated with it. I didn’t finish the set because the first thing that popped in my head was “hernia” but I thought about Dr Baraki and was like nahhhh.
I attempted the next set and I felt very minor discomfort when pulling the slack out the bar from that area so I dropped the weight to 135 and felt the same.
Did some planks and hanging leg raise to see how it feels and it felt fine.
Also made myself cough and no pain/discomfit
If I where to air deadlift and brace like I would normally, I can feel the slight discomfort, but perfectly fine in air squats.
Possible hernia or strained an abdominal muscle? Should I continue with the same weight next session or deload ?
I was also told by Dr. Feigenbaum that I brace to hard
Probably just a strain. See how it feels warming up next time. If you have to use lighter weights for a session (or a few), that’s fine.
Not trying to set myself up for a nocebo, but what are some red flags for herniation besides pain?
Just had a good laugh and it’s slightly sore in that area, hoping it’s just strained.
If you can feel a prominent bulge that you can pop back in and out.
I had something very similar recently. I had a pain in my upper abdominal that continued to get more and more severe. I spoke to my GP about this and it turned out to be due to either slight damage to the lower rib or a strain in the abs as Austin mentioned. He said there is very little chance of a hernia in this location which was good news because I had the same fears.
I have no idea what may have caused your issue, but I believe the cause of mine was incorrect placement of my belt while doing deadlifts. If I were to wear my belt a little to high I end up squealing like a stuck pig due to the pain in my rib/ab.
I was told it was OK to train through the pain within reason. I trained without a belt for a few days and it is now almost completely gone.