I’ve just been put in my university powerlifting squad, and upped the training intensity and the weights quite a bit.
Doing a no belt, no suit box-squat with bands last Sunday, going for my second max single, I got a massive stabbing pain in my lower abs about 4 inches up off the box. I finished the lift, but the burning/stabbing pain lasted a minute or two. I moved on to the assistance exercises with no recurrence of it, but the next day it was still quite painful.
The doctor said it is probably a muscle tear, not a full hernia, due to excessive strain It may take 6 weeks to heal properly, and until then I mustn’t strain too much. Max bench training yesterday was fine, but dynamic squat session is coming up tomorrow…
Unless it’s very serious, stopping squats/deads completely is out of the question. So I’m thinking I should just squat 3 or 5 rep maxes, which are much less strain and abdominal pressure than max singles?
Also, should I do extra ab work to strengthen the weak area (I’m assuming it was weak abs that caused it)? Or should I rest my abs to let them heal?
If its your honest advice that I stop squats or cause myself serious injury, I will, but that means off the squad til next year, and I’ve worked like a bitch to get on it.
Thanks