Stance Change and Adductor Stress

[patasape]

Hey Coach Rippetoe,

A couple of weeks ago I asked a guy at the gym to watch me squat and tell me how deep I was getting. He told me that I was coming off my heels and suggested I widen my stance. I tried that next time I squatted and found that it felt better and more natural; however, after I finished my adductors were sore. I've been squatting in this wider stance for the past few workouts and my adductors have been sore after each workout. Today when I was warming up for my squat my right adductor was sore/tight/slightly painful (before I had only felt soreness after lifting) so I decided to skip my squats.

What is the best way to deal with this? My change in stance has been apparently been stressing my adductors. Should I back off the weight a bit and keep squatting, keep the weight the same and return to my regular progression, or something else?

I started working out 5 weeks ago and squatted 220 lbs on Monday at 5'8" and 165 lbs.

[Mark Rippetoe]

It is possible that you went from too narrow to too wide and produced some profound soreness. Back off a little to a manageable weight and work it back up. You have to train through this.

[patasape]

Alright, thanks. I'll take 30 lbs off the squat and post a video when I train tomorrow to get some opinions on my form.

[Jude]

Hey Coach Rippetoe,
I've been squatting in this wider stance for the past few workouts and my adductors have been sore after each workout. Today when I was warming up for my squat my right adductor was sore/tight/slightly painful (before I had only felt soreness after lifting) so I decided to skip my squats.


Last Wednesday I did Squats with 300 lbs for sets across. 1 hour later I felt soreness in my groin/adductor muscle. A day later I had trouble walking. It was annoying up until this morning. I have not lifted in a week. I will try tonight with reduced weights. 300 is a PR for me at age 43. I did pay a price though. My Chiro helped out with some stretches and Soft Tissue therapy this morning. I let out a string of cusses that would make Joe Pesci from Good Fellas blush. Yikes. That was painful. I feel much better now though. Doc told me to try the inner outer thigh machine once a week to strengthen the adductors and abbductors. He calls it the yes, no machine;)

[Mark Rippetoe]

The machine is a stupid idea, but that is funny.

[Jude]

Back off a little to a manageable weight and work it back up. You have to train through this.
I wish I found this post last week:http://www.strengthmill.net/forum/showpost.php?p=6939&postcount=1
I will start squatting tonight following the instructions in this post. Thanks for writing this up.

[Roland83]

When i got my stance just a tad wider and focused heaps on keeping knees out I felt the same thing ongoing after every session, but it was the stance and cue that allowed me to get proper depth and sit back and down correctly.

This thread is also proof that people who actually bloody squat don't need scientific studies and EMG readings to debate wether or not the adductors or hamstrings are actually in volved in the squat. Maybe those guys should squat too and walk round like a cowboy for a week. There'd be alot less debate.

[victorc]

Doc told me to try the inner outer thigh machine once a week to strengthen the adductors and abbductors. He calls it the yes, no machine;)

I love that the doctor told a man who squats 300lbs for sets across to use the adductor machine to strengthen his thighs.

[Christopher]

I've been having the same adductor issues since beginning starting strength; I had been doing squats completely incorrectly for too long, never having engaged the adductors with my heavily weighted half-squats. I can tell my legs are good to squat much more weight than my adductors can handle, but didn't have the sense to drop the weight to accommodate them and now have to deal with the pain on the one side for a little while.

Maybe I'll just use the yes/no machine for a while.