Starting Strength - Squats and warm ups

[survivorman]

I have been dong SS for about 3 months and hae made some good gains in Stength which I am happy about. I have had a couple of set backs one possibly involving an old injury (not sure yet going for an MRI in about two weeks praise God for the NHS).

I am 6ft 3" weigh about 200lb and have a quite a bit of fat (23/24%) and I was doing 177lb (60kg + Bar) 3x5. I think this was too much for me and tbh I think my form suffered aswell (I got all involved in the numbers :/ ). When I use alot of a high amount of wieght and squat I get pain in my goin and I seems to intensify as on he upward part and if If come up fast/not slow the pain is even more intense any had a similar experiance before?

When I am Sqautting I do 4-5 warm up squats but I dont do any stretches in fact I never do any stretching so im thinking stretchin on my of days aswell as before squatting will help? has anyone got any advice? tbh I am feeling a little demotivated, but only a little!

[essinger]

I'm not a SS guy so I'm not sure what that program says, but I prefer to warmup a lot more for squats than that. I do about 10 minutes on elliptical first. Then I hit 3 warmup sets of 40% X 10, 60% X 8, and 80% X 6. I generally feel any discomfort in an area other than the target muscle group is a bad sign.

[rob440]

I give you credit for at least doing some warm up, I see a lot of guyy start at 2 or 3 plates for their first set.

When you first start squatting flexibility is a big issue. If you have never bent your body into that shape why would it be able to do it? It takes a while for you to become flexible enough to keep your form right especially if you intend to go deep. Work at that a little if you already havent. For warmups I do a set holding onto the bar where I exaggerate the depth and stretch, then I do a set with bodyweight only then 135. In the past when back squating I always went 1 plate 2 plate 3 then 4 then 5 and up. I dont go heavy like that any more due to injuries from an accident but I always do that kind of a warmup scheme on any heavy movement. It takes time but I feel that it is a good idea.

If you have pain get it checked out.

[FastCatChamp]

Stretching for me does nothing. My flexibility issues involve my hip joints. I have not found any stretches that really help. I am usually fully functional on squats by my third warmup set (Im also on SS). My first couple warmup sets look like half sqauts and some other half-ass reps, but Im down to the mats by my first work set. Two days later the cycle starts over. Doesn't matter what I do for stretching. Im with you Survivorman, please help us inflexible few!

[survivorman]

Thanks guys for the advice.