Hi,
I’ve recently started with more serious barbell training, using SSLP first but thinking of moving to The Bridge 1.0, and I’m looking for some additional thoughts based on my medical history. 27 yo male, 6ft, 148 lbs starting in mid-January, now nearing 155.
3.5 years ago I had a bad case of sepsis which lodged itself in my left hip, and ensuing muscle necrosis in rotational muscles required removal of 2 out the 6 muscles in the group, Gemellus Superior and Inferior, as well as part of Quadratus Femoris. I was told during rehab by my coach that I should perform basic specified rotation exercises to restore movement until it hurt too much, and that other muscles in the end would compensate for the lost ones. Last year I was in contact with my coach again and got this recommendation for general strength training:
“Recommended to exercise as usual without restrictions with soft start and gradual escalation of intensity and load, in addition to focusing on functional movement moments and exercises instead of specific exercises aimed at outward rotation of the hip which should be seen as supplementation.”
When I have my left leg in a closed chain it is in general okay, in an open chain such as walking it can sometimes feel a bit wobbly, but nothing too bad. In the past year, pain has been minimal.
Last week, I got up above bodyweight for the squat, and I had my best session yet in terms of trusting both sides equally (I’ve noticed a tendency to lean too much on the right leg at times). A few days later though I was out walking and I felt like something snapped, for lack of a better word. Not severely, but I did notice right after that the leg felt a bit more unstable in an open chain, and that there is a slight stinging sensation at times. The one training session I’ve had since I abandoned the squat at about 60% of the set weight during warm-up due to a combination of fear, slight pain, and slight discomfort.
I understand that this is a question for medical professionals to look at in person, but in general based on a scenario where I would get a diagnosis that nothing has really changed from before, what could be a recommended approach from a LP standpoint when it comes to listening to my body, and how to increase load etc.? Given discussions I’ve heard from Jordan & Austin that pain is not always an indication that you are unable to train, I’m trying to balance fear of causing problems with missing out on progress.