I’ve been lifting for 12 years. It hasn’t always been pretty but the consistency and effort has always been there.
Over the years any time I’ve done a new compound exercise it’s taken me so long for my body to adapt to the new exercise. I get very sore and it interferes with my other movements. Even on the rare occasions over the years that I’ve taken short breaks from the gym I’d come back and was very sore from movements I was used to.
My most recent example is the romanian DL in block 2 of the BT. I haven’t overdone it and haven’t even attempted rpe 9 because I know my limitations. I just finished week 3 and have not been able to do rows on day 2 because my hamstrings have been too sore and the soreness has persisted on day 3 and has interfered with my DL.
In Dec 2019 I took 2 weeks off when I went to Mexico which was my first time off from the gym since I had surgery in 2017. At the time I was doing 5×5 and my squat was 235 before the break. Day 1 after I got home, again knowing my limitations, I did 185 for 5×5.
I felt as if it was my first time squatting and I was extremely sore for the next few days. After like 2 or 3 days of extreme soreness I began experiencing what can only be described as debilitating cramps in both my inner thighs that lasted for the next week and half and I had to take time off. I had difficulty walking and the cramps would be triggered by a lot of different regular movements. I’ve never experienced more pain.
Because of Dr. Jordan’s most recent injury I now suspect I likely strained or tore my adductors. But why? After lifting for so many years why couldn’t I handle 2 weeks off without regressing to a completely untrained individual? I’ve experience multiple similar situations where I’d have extremely painful cramps in my inner thighs but this was the worst.
Now headed into week 4 of Romanian DL I have to lower the weight, which has not been challenging, only because the soreness has interfered with the past 3 weeks. Why though? What can I do to avoid this situation?