Couldn't Squat today... Please tell me this "Just happens" sometimes

[brucedelaney]

Title says it all, but I'll explain in detail.

I'm doing a slight variation on Stronglifts. It's basically SL 3x5 with the Accessory Exercises from JasonDB's routine for cutting. My work weight for squats was supposed to be 240 Pounds.

I started warming up my squats like I always do with just the bar. When I go into the hole for the 3rd squat I get this terrible pain in my left knee. I can get back up but it hurts. When I get up it goes away. So I think I just need to stretch it out and all will be well. I finish up the warmup set and then shake it off and walk around for a minute to loosen up some. Then I do the next set go down, no problem go down again... oops little twinge there... go down the third time and OWWWWW..... Same pain again. I finish up the warmup set in hopes it'll stretch out and go away. No such luck.

I walk upstairs, walk around a bit, go back down to my gym, leave the squat bar on the pins go down into the squat position with my hands on the bar. (no weight at all) 1, 2, 3.... OWWWW there it is again....

Needless to say it never went away, I tried with my knees pointing in several directions as well. Nothing makes it go away.

Skipped squats and did the rest of my workout... took some ibuprofen will try again Wednesday....



PLEASE TELL ME THIS JUST HAPPENS SOME TIMES....

(but, only if it really does...)

[brucedelaney]

80 Views and no words of encouragement or discouragement?

[Corbi]

80 Views and no words of encouragement or discouragement?

$hit happens, I have had similar deals while doing zercher squats. I don't push it and stop doing them, come back 3-4 days later and all is well with the world. Don't sweat it man.

[Brackneyc]

All kinds of things "happen." Give it a few days, and re-visit. I have a pain in my elbow. Happens every few months. It happens. I rest it, and get back to it when I can. Train smarter, not harder.

[Smelly bull]

Coupla thoughts...
1. Not every workout is a home run
2. If it hurts, stop.
3. Is the pain consistent or is this the 1st time it has happened? If the 1st time, what has changed since the last squat session?
4. What is your leg routine? There may be another exercise causing the problem.
5. Record your squat form and post it. There could be a form problem. Not trying to be an a-hole, but is this a huge weight for you? Form can fall apart with heavy weights.

Lotta variables, 1st thing is do you next session and see if there is pain.

You while you did not indicate that you will do this...don't **** out and say you have a deformity and you cannot squat unless you try to fix it 1st. I wrenched my back an easy 10 times over a period of two years before I finally grooved the lift.

Best of luck.

[bodyhard]

It really depends on what kind of pain you are experiencing could be nothing could be something, only time will tell. But if the pain persist don't try to work through it, find out what it is before you make it worst. Pain is your body telling you something is wrong, how wrong that wrong is, is what is truly important.

[TJC85]

What you're describing is what I've been feeling since about the age of 29 or so. I can still squat occasionally but
I have to switch to leg press (sled) most of the time (and only if I place my feet more toward the forward (top) edge
on the foot plate). It sucks because I really like squatting. See if switching to leg press works for you and if so, do
that exclusively for about a month or so and then try squatting again.

[2nd_chance]

80 Views and no words of encouragement or discouragement?

Don't whine.

[BLaaR]

I tried with my knees pointing in several directions as well. Nothing makes it go away.

There really is only way your knees should point, and trying to force it in other ways is a sure way to mess things up even more.

Take a break from the squats for 2 weeks and if doing body weight squats still hurts, then go see a sports medicine doc or orthopedic surgeon.

Good luck. Hope nothing is seriously wrong.

[brucedelaney]

Coupla thoughts...
1. Not every workout is a home run
2. If it hurts, stop.
3. Is the pain consistent or is this the 1st time it has happened? If the 1st time, what has changed since the last squat session?
4. What is your leg routine? There may be another exercise causing the problem.
5. Record your squat form and post it. There could be a form problem. Not trying to be an a-hole, but is this a huge weight for you? Form can fall apart with heavy weights.

Lotta variables, 1st thing is do you next session and see if there is pain.

You while you did not indicate that you will do this...don't **** out and say you have a deformity and you cannot squat unless you try to fix it 1st. I wrenched my back an easy 10 times over a period of two years before I finally grooved the lift.

Best of luck.

Yeah I did stop, as for form it was fine, I only had the bar on back w/o any weights at the time... Yes 240 is a PR for me but I never got there since I was getting the pain on warm up.

As for continuing to squat, I thought I was pretty clear that I was upset that I couldn't squat yesterday.

Don't whine.

^^^ Thanks, that made me LOL, Repped

There really is only way your knees should point

I mis-spoke, I meant I tried it with my toes pointing in multiple directions just to find out it was limited to my normal squatting stance.

Anyhow, I took some ibuprofen, and have been stretching my knees for the last 24 hours... it's doing much better and I even remembered that I had bumped it pretty hard a couple days earlier. I can't see any reason that I shouldn't be able to squat in my next workout session.

[Smelly bull]

Yeah I did stop, as for form it was fine, I only had the bar on back w/o any weights at the time... Yes 240 is a PR for me but I never got there since I was getting the pain on warm up.

As for continuing to squat, I thought I was pretty clear that I was upset that I couldn't squat yesterday.



^^^ Thanks, that made me LOL, Repped



I mis-spoke, I meant I tried it with my toes pointing in multiple directions just to find out it was limited to my normal squatting stance.

Anyhow, I took some ibuprofen, and have been stretching my knees for the last 24 hours... it's doing much better and I even remembered that I had bumped it pretty hard a couple days earlier. I can't see any reason that I shouldn't be able to squat in my next workout session.

As I said, **** happens, shake it off.

What does your leg routine look like? Details will help figure out what exercise might be causing a problem.

[brucedelaney]

As I said, **** happens, shake it off.

What does your leg routine look like? Details will help figure out what exercise might be causing a problem.

I don't have a leg routine per say. I'm doing a variation of SL 5x5 with some additional upper body stuff. So technically my leg routine is squats 3 times a week and Deadlifts every other workout.

[Smelly bull]

I don't have a leg routine per say. I'm doing a variation of SL 5x5 with some additional upper body stuff. So technically my leg routine is squats 3 times a week and Deadlifts every other workout.

Very familiar with the routine...an adaptation of bill starr's 5x5, its a good program. What style of deads...conventional or sumo? Sumo destroys my knees...

Best of luck.

[brucedelaney]

Very familiar with the routine...an adaptation of bill starr's 5x5, its a good program. What style of deads...conventional or sumo? Sumo destroys my knees...

Best of luck.

Conventional Deadlifts, No reason to change it up at this stage of my progress. I still very much in the noob stages and feel that the KISS method is definitely the best for my workouts. Not only that since I workout at home I find the barbell compound exercises to work very well with the equipment I have at my disposal.

[MoldyGopher]

Dan John says that he applies a 'Rule of Fives' to his workouts - of every five, 1 will be 'good', 1 will be 'poor', 3 will be 'average/forgettable'. Bad times happen, just chalk it up and move on.

[JOHN GARGANI]

(Don't whine.)


^^^ Thanks, that made me LOL, Repped

and YOU are repped for that...why? because you took a dose of hardcore tough love from one of our staunch regulars and instead of having a hissy fit like some other weak minded posters, you turned it into something positive...

kudos....

[NorwichGrad]

OP,

The good news is, YES, this just happens sometimes.

The not so good news, and notice I did not say 'bad', is that as we continue to kick father tim's ass we also tend to forget we are no longer winter groundhogs (or whatever season and animal analogy is used in your home state). Because of our age and life's grounding and pounding, we are a bit more susceptible to feeling discomforts and pains every now and then.

You should consider adding prehab routines to your training, and make sure you warm up thoroughly... And most importantly, continue to properly squat. Because they really do cure erectile dysfunction.


Edit: Plus one on posting vid. You might be doing something that you think is 'minor' yet major enough to cause injury..

[brucedelaney]

OP,

The good news is, YES, this just happens sometimes.

The not so good news, and notice I did not say 'bad', is that as we continue to kick father tim's ass we also tend to forget we are no longer winter grounhogs, or whatever season and animal analogy is used in your home state. Because of our age and life's grounding and pounding, we are a bit more susceptible to feeling discomforts and pains every now and then.

You should consider adding prehab routines to your training, and make sure you warm up thoroughly... And most importantly, continue to properly squat. Because they really do cure erectile dysfunction.

Thanks, and I realized it might be an "Age" related issue which is why I had decided to post this here. Fortunately since last night I have stretched my knees out and the pain seems to have worked itself out. I was honestly quite scared that I was injured, I wouldn't know what to do if I couldn't do my squats.

[DocHoss]

When I go into the hole for the 3rd squat I get this terrible pain in my left knee. I can get back up but it hurts. When I get up it goes away. So I think I just need to stretch it out and all will be well. I finish up the warmup set and then shake it off and walk around for a minute to loosen up some. Then I do the next set go down, no problem go down again... oops little twinge there... go down the third time and OWWWWW..... Same pain again. I finish up the warmup set in hopes it'll stretch out and go away. No such luck.

I walk upstairs, walk around a bit, go back down to my gym, leave the squat bar on the pins go down into the squat position with my hands on the bar. (no weight at all) 1, 2, 3.... OWWWW there it is again....

Well, since the pain comes in rep 3, I suppose you could just do sets of 2 reps.....

Joking aside, I hope that stretching and warming up takes care of the problem. Also hope I can squat that much some day.

[tsoden]

Title says it all, but I'll explain in detail.

I'm doing a slight variation on Stronglifts. It's basically SL 3x5 with the Accessory Exercises from JasonDB's routine for cutting. My work weight for squats was supposed to be 240 Pounds.

I started warming up my squats like I always do with just the bar. When I go into the hole for the 3rd squat I get this terrible pain in my left knee. I can get back up but it hurts. When I get up it goes away. So I think I just need to stretch it out and all will be well. I finish up the warmup set and then shake it off and walk around for a minute to loosen up some. Then I do the next set go down, no problem go down again... oops little twinge there... go down the third time and OWWWWW..... Same pain again. I finish up the warmup set in hopes it'll stretch out and go away. No such luck.

I walk upstairs, walk around a bit, go back down to my gym, leave the squat bar on the pins go down into the squat position with my hands on the bar. (no weight at all) 1, 2, 3.... OWWWW there it is again....

Needless to say it never went away, I tried with my knees pointing in several directions as well. Nothing makes it go away.

Skipped squats and did the rest of my workout... took some ibuprofen will try again Wednesday....



PLEASE TELL ME THIS JUST HAPPENS SOME TIMES....

(but, only if it really does...)

Are you sure you have the correct foot position? Quite often the smallest adjustment can either cause the biggest pain or the most comfort....

[brucedelaney]

Update:

Last night I did all of my warm up sets of squats and did three sets of my heaviest warm up weight which is only 185 and everything felt good. No more pain. Thank you everyone for the encouragement and suggestions. I was truly in a panic when I thought I might be injured.