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Reader Endure posted in StrongLifts.com Forum:
I have a really bad groin. When I try to Squat or run, a really sharp pain runs through my groin.
It’s depressing, haven’t done Squats or Deadlifts for 10 days, and can’t get closer to my soccer goals since I can’t play. So I just skipped Squats & Deads.
Why You Pulled Your Groin. Your groin, hamstrings & glutes are hip extensors. Excessive sitting can cause dormant glutes. This forces your hamstrings, groin & lower back to compensate. They get overactive, and injured.
Hamstring & groin strains are common in sports. Piriformis strains also happen (synergist in lateral hip rotation). And many lifters get back pain on Squats & Deadlifts. The cause is often the same: weak glutes.
How to Treat Your Groin Pull. Bad solution 1: static stretching, it can irritate your hip joint capsule. Bad solution 2: passive rest, no-one likes it. And neither solutions fix the cause of the problem. Better ideas:
- Soft Tissue Work. Remove the knots in your adductors. Do soft tissue work using a Foam Roller. This treats the symptoms (but not the cause).
- Warm-up Properly. No more static stretching or light jogging. Improve your hip mobility by doing dynamic stretches as warm-up.
- Hip Mobility. Split Stance Adductor Mobilization, Walking Spidermans, Lateral Squats, … Check the post on hip mobility & Magnificent Mobility.
- Glute Activation. Supine Bridges, Birddogs, X-band Walks, … Read the post on glute activation & Magnificent Mobility for more exercises.
- Train Your Legs. Speeds up recovery by flushing blood (nutrients) into the injured groin. Light Squats with a narrow stance (empty bar).
- Strengthen Your Posterior Chain. Pull-throughs, Glute Ham Raises, Reverse Hyper-extensions, Deadlifts, Box Squats, etc
4 Days Later, reader Endure reported:
My groin’s getting better, I played a whole 30 mins of soccer on thursday, feeled really good.
I’m fairly certain I didn’t pull a groin muscle, but after my first round of squats they are extremely sore, as is my glutes and hamstrings. Understand that I haven’t done squats since high school and I’m 30 - they are my most hated exercise, but after reading your site I understand the benefits and will learn to love them!
Some great advice and not very well known tips, Mehdi! Training your glutes is definitely a good way to avoid this problem in the first place, and these are some of the best ways to relieve the pain when it does happen.
thank you SO much for this. I’ve had a groin injury for the longest, and it gets really painful whenever I front squat and back squat, and it’s even made me resort to power snatching instead of full snatching at times. This will help a lot!