Hello all,
I have been doing deadlifts for the past couple of weeks, and have been slowly increasing my weight as I figure out the form and my own limits. I have managed to get up to 225. However, the past couple of times I have noticed a pain on the inner leg, right next to my scrotum. Is this due to bad form or not enough stretching, or something completel different?
JF
JF,
Sorry about your pain. But you haven’t given enough info for anyone to tell what it might be. What type of pain is it (dull, sharp, burning, twinge, etc)? Where exactly is the pain in inches/cm from a joint/insertion point, belly of muscle etc. (you said next to your scrotum, but since we don’t know you, we don’t know how far down your leg your scrotum goes)? Is it a prolonged pain? Pain on concentric, eccentric or throughout the movement? What kind of warmups do you do, if any? What have you done for the pain (i.e. rest, ice, nothing yet)? Answer some of these questions and you will probably get some good answers on here. Good luck.
DB
Thanks for the advice on how to describe it.
Sorry for the innaccurate description of where it is. It is on the inner thigh, right where the leg meets my midsection. I feel it when trying to change direction while playing basketball, as well as when I stretch the inner part of the leg. I feel it after the deadlift and a little bit during the concentric motion. Also, I do a short cardio and 6-7 stretches before lifting (calfs, thighs, hamstings, back, inner leg).
Does this help?
JF
Conventional or sumo stance?
And I know it sounds odd but what kind of shoes are you lifting in? Crosstrainers, Chucks, skate shoes, etc.
I’m not an expert and its diffiult to advise on these things over the internet but my .02 is this:
Sounds like you might have tightness or a strain of the groin muscle.
Bear in mind that deadlifts and squats can really put muscles around the legs and back in particular under a great deal of tension (which is why they are so effective) so you need to be pro-active about staying injury free. The most important thing I feel (apart from using good technique with a weight you can manage) is to maintain appropriate length/tension in the related musculature by stretching.
I would suggest reading Ian King’s article on this site called End Needless Knee Pain and also if its not in the article (I cant remember off the top of my head) some groin stretches (sitting down on the floor and placing the soles of your feet so that they face each other with the knees pointing out to the sides). I would also do some gentle stretches before you lift after a general warm up to make the soft tissue more pliable.
Good luck.
[quote]Mule359 wrote:
Conventional or sumo stance?
And I know it sounds odd but what kind of shoes are you lifting in? Crosstrainers, Chucks, skate shoes, etc.[/quote]
I am doing it in the sumo stance.
Also, I where cross trainers.
Thanks!
JF
[quote]will-of-iron wrote:
I’m not an expert and its diffiult to advise on these things over the internet but my .02 is this:
Sounds like you might have tightness or a strain of the groin muscle.
Bear in mind that deadlifts and squats can really put muscles around the legs and back in particular under a great deal of tension (which is why they are so effective) so you need to be pro-active about staying injury free. The most important thing I feel (apart from using good technique with a weight you can manage) is to maintain appropriate length/tension in the related musculature by stretching.
I would suggest reading Ian King’s article on this site called End Needless Knee Pain and also if its not in the article (I cant remember off the top of my head) some groin stretches (sitting down on the floor and placing the soles of your feet so that they face each other with the knees pointing out to the sides). I would also do some gentle stretches before you lift after a general warm up to make the soft tissue more pliable.
Good luck.[/quote]
Thanks for the advice.
I think it is a groin muscle. I do stretch them out ahead of time when I lift. But last wednesday I was playing basketball and did not stretch beforehand. I think that was when I felt the first “twinge”.
Will the above article also talk about how to handle a stretched groin muscle?
JF
I don’t know if this is good advice, but it will go away as you get used to the stretch. (In my experience). I do some dynamic stretching beforehand, but I get the same pain you do sometimes afterwards and I just ignore it.
Make sure you aren’t overtraining the deadlift, and if the pain doesn’t go away after a few weeks back off from sumo deadlifting or anything else that aggrivates it for a few weeks (or move your stance in till the pain goes away). Also, if it hurts while you are doing the exercise don’t deadlift sumo that day, not only will you aggrivate it but you won’t be able to lift as much as you normally do anyways.
Cant remember - have a look but I doubt it. Its just one of those articles which everyone lifter could do with reading and the stretches in it will certainly help you to maintain appropriate length/tension in the groin muscles.
[quote]cap’nsalty wrote:
Make sure you aren’t overtraining the deadlift, and if the pain doesn’t go away after a few weeks back off from sumo deadlifting or anything else that aggrivates it for a few weeks (or move your stance in till the pain goes away). Also, if it hurts while you are doing the exercise don’t deadlift sumo that day, not only will you aggrivate it but you won’t be able to lift as much as you normally do anyways.[/quote]
I am new to all this, so how much training would overtraining be? Is it different for each person? How can I tell if I am overtaining something?
Currently, I deadlift twice a weak when I do my lower body work. Does this seem like too much? Should I substitute Squats and/or lunges for it every now and again?
Also, this is off topic to some degree, but I recently had an experience doing seated military presses. Basically, I could do 115lbs 10x3. The next time I went to lift, I could basrely get through the 5th set. Is such a decline in performance a sign of ovetraining?
Thanks so much for your help so far!
JF
[quote]will-of-iron wrote:
Sounds like you might have tightness or a strain of the groin muscle.
[/quote]
I’d second this. I’m not a Dr. but many years back (16 yrs ago) I had a bad groin strain that kept me out of work for 2 weeks, along with a few days of excrutiating pain. Every once in a while, I still feel a little twinge kind of what and where you’re describing. It’s nothing major and I don’t worry about it. If it’s not bothering you too much, I would suggest going to regular DLs for a little while and backing off a little on load. It would probably be even better if you took a week off from anything that puts stress on the groin.
Good luck,
DB
[quote]dollarbill44 wrote:
will-of-iron wrote:
Sounds like you might have tightness or a strain of the groin muscle.
I’d second this. I’m not a Dr. but many years back (16 yrs ago) I had a bad groin strain that kept me out of work for 2 weeks, along with a few days of excrutiating pain. Every once in a while, I still feel a little twinge kind of what and where you’re describing. It’s nothing major and I don’t worry about it. If it’s not bothering you too much, I would suggest going to regular DLs for a little while and backing off a little on load. It would probably be even better if you took a week off from anything that puts stress on the groin.
Good luck,
DB
[/quote]
Thanks DB,
The actual problem did not begin with the deadlift, but when I did not stretch before playing basketball a week ago. I play every Wednesday evening. I played last night and it felt much better, but nwo I got shin sp[lints all of a sudden. First time in my life. I think for the benefit of both my groin and my shins I will take next Wednesday off.
I have a question about normal deadlifting. First, can you usually lift more or less in the non-sumo stance. This will help me figure out where to start.
Thanks for the help!
JF
It’s difficult to say. It depends on your build, weakness, etc. I personally can pull just about the same both ways.
[quote]dollarbill44 wrote:
will-of-iron wrote:
Sounds like you might have tightness or a strain of the groin muscle.
I’d second this. I’m not a Dr. but many years back (16 yrs ago) I had a bad groin strain that kept me out of work for 2 weeks, along with a few days of excrutiating pain. Every once in a while, I still feel a little twinge kind of what and where you’re describing. It’s nothing major and I don’t worry about it. If it’s not bothering you too much, I would suggest going to regular DLs for a little while and backing off a little on load. It would probably be even better if you took a week off from anything that puts stress on the groin.
Good luck,
DB
[/quote]
Hey,
Just for a quick update. I have been stretching the heck out of the area whenever I do anything and I have moved to a regular deadlift stance now. There is still a little twinge there, but nothing much. I thought this morning I would try to move back to the sumo stance, since I am just more comfortable doing it that way. I did not even do one rep and I new that the groing strain would not appreciate my efforts.
I moved back to the regular stance, and I felt a small twinge once, but other than that, not a single problem. I think that I will just stay with the regular stance from now on. Thanks all!
JF