Question: Ive been squatting for about 5 weeks since my last break. When I squat I usually get my hip flexor below my knee, so a tad bit below parallel, but my hips have been hurtin me alot lately, my hip flexor and just posterior to my hip bone have been in pain and it really messes me up in squats. So what can I do about this? rest? ice? stretch? strengthen? thx for any help! (forum post)
Answer: I’d be willing to bet it’s simply a tight hip flexor. I’ve seen it a lot. And, I currently have the exact same problem.
I’ve fixed mine in the past with LOTS of hip flexor stretching. And when I say lots, I’m talking about stretching it at least once every other hour. It will take a little time to completely resolve, but if you stretch that much, it will get better (assuming it’s a tight hip flexor like I suspect).
Meanwhile I would probably avoid the squat (and stuff like hanging leg raises that really use the hip flexors a lot). This will help speed your recovery.
That reminds me…I need to go stretch!
Best,
Dr Clay
i had a quesiton and i wasnt sure where else to post this.im just starting your blending size and strength program. tomorrow’s heavy lower day and i understand all of the notation of course, but i wasnt sure if for example, on squats when its 6 sets of 4, should i keep the same weight throughout at a weight where i think on the 24th rep i wont be able to do any more or should i progressively increase the reps and not work til failure (or anywhere near faliure) on any of the first few reps. or some combination…
Does stretching injure or hurt your muscles? I know for example with workouts when lifting weights in the gym, you shouldn’t try to exercise the same muscle group within 24-48 hours.
So if I do bicep curls on monday morning, I shouldn’t do bicep curls on monday afternoon. It would be over training and my body will have had no chance to repair.
Stretching I guess doesn’t break down muscle tissue? So its safe to do once every other hour?
Wes
The weight should be fairly similar. If you go up too much, then the first sets are not hard enough. I think I could best explain by giving an example, including warm-ups:
135 x 15
225 x 8
275 x 2
315 x 4*
320 x 4*
325 x 4*
325 x 4*
325 x 4*
325 x 3*
* means a “work” set as opposed to a warm-up.
Notice how you may pyramid up a tad, but even still, the first set (315 x 4) is still really tough. And in that example you’d stay at 325 just because you literally couldn’t do 5 more pounds. Then, on the last set you fell just short of 4. No biggie, four is just a guideline.
Hope that helps.