it has been ~8 weeks since I pulled my right groin and 5 weeks since I pulled my back (left side, about halfway up and a few inches left of the spine, probably where one of the erectors attach to my ribs) and I think I’m finally ready to go under the bar again. I’m about to go back to the gym for a back workout, and I should be able to squat tomorrow afternoon.
that being said, some of the articles on here have suggested working up from light weights until I get to my previous working weight again. question is, what kind of volume should I be doing? for instance, before my back injury, I was able to dead-stop db row 115x7 (opposite arm and knee on a flat bench). I figured I’d start at around half that (60#) and do maybe 3x10 or 4x10 as long as my form stayed correct and safe.
should I do more reps? go heavier if I feel ok warming up? or stay the course and go up in weight next week?
find your weakness(whether it’s your training style, diet, speed, or muscle imbalance) you will get 10x stronger. Starting light and working up to another pulled muscle only derails you longer.
my former training style (some RAWWWRRRRR lifting and nearly nonexistent eccentrics) contributed to my injuries along with a degradation of form (jackhammered deadlifts going for a rep record then didn’t keep chest out on last rep). also I pushed my right knee WAYYY too far out trying to learn how to oly squat when I should’ve just let it track my knee. so barring form checks those are the weaknesses I’ve identified.
I understand that knowing my weaknesses should help me from making the same mistakes again. but I shouldn’t just jump back into heavy sets should I?
you normally do lighter sets to warm-up - right? you will get to see how you feel during your warm-up sets.
i am kinda making this up… but people often think of 80% as solid work but lighter than going at 100%. maybe try and get to work sets at 80% for your first time back? but stick with 75% if that feels like work… Especially if you are more particular about your form now you should be able to get good honest work out of 75% if you focus on each rep… Maybe 75% this time if things feel good then aim for 80% on round 2 through your program… That way it will take… Couple weeks?? To get right back into things??
I was already doing that the whole 5-8 week period. I never stopped training, just worked around the injuries and used machines as needed. lol mr. popular and eeu475757649999 ripped me because they thought I was excluding free weight work and trying to progress on machines with the hack squat and HS row.
I finally went back and did bb and standing db shrugs today and bb/db rows yesterday evening (log updated) and I feel ok for now.