Little background…I’m 6 foot 2, 205lb. I’ve been squatting properly for a little over a year. My squat PR is 315x6, well below parallel, only using a belt. I used to do 5x5 and squatted 3 days per week with a wide powerlifting stance, but I had to stop that and cut down to 1x a week with a much narrower stance.
Now here’s the issue: I’ve been getting pain deep in my left hip whenever I squat, and it’s been getting increasingly more noticeable and painful week after week. It finally hit me that there’s something wrong and I stopped squatting. I did a little research and I have the symptoms of Hip Bursitis, which is the inflammation of the fluid filled bursa in the hip joint. My hip also pops when flexed and then extended, however it is not a painful pop. I saw a chiropractor about a year ago and he told me that my hips aren’t aligned properly. I went several times for adjustments, but discontinued that. The pain is sort of a piercing pain whenever I make some sort of movement with my hip. It doesn’t hurt to walk, sit, run, or even do lunges. Squats and deadlifts irritate it the most.
Here’s my question: What would you guys suggest to do about this? I figured taking about 6-8 weeks off from squatting and deadlifting will most likely help, but I don’t want this to come back (read that bursitis comes back easily) and so I’d like to prevent it in any way. Also should I see a doctor, and if so, what sort of practitioner deals with such matters? Are there exercises that I should be doing to get blood flowing in there and help recover faster? Would any particular warm-up for the hips help prior to squatting?
Any sort of knowledge or experience with this would help and be much appreciated.
Squat… How about step ups? How about step overs (step over a bar just under groin height where you lift your leg up and externally rotate it out - like a squat).
How are your hip flexors?
I have had hip troubles (which may or may not be useful to you) where lifting my leg up and externally rotating it (for squat and step overs) gave me a stabbing kind of pain.
Turned out my hip flexors were majorly tight (foam rolling and releasing them with a lacrosse type ball helped)
But then as the front of the hip stretched out my hip would jam in front and hurt…
So I needed to activate the glute medius and minimus and these tiny little hip stabilizers that lie under the glute max.
x band walks, step-ups, assisted pistols worked to activate those.
your problem might be similar… or it might not be. some stuff to try, though.
[quote]alexus wrote:
What sort of movement irritates it?
Squat… How about step ups? How about step overs (step over a bar just under groin height where you lift your leg up and externally rotate it out - like a squat).
How are your hip flexors?
I have had hip troubles (which may or may not be useful to you) where lifting my leg up and externally rotating it (for squat and step overs) gave me a stabbing kind of pain.
Turned out my hip flexors were majorly tight (foam rolling and releasing them with a lacrosse type ball helped)
But then as the front of the hip stretched out my hip would jam in front and hurt…
So I needed to activate the glute medius and minimus and these tiny little hip stabilizers that lie under the glute max.
x band walks, step-ups, assisted pistols worked to activate those.
your problem might be similar… or it might not be. some stuff to try, though.[/quote]
Thanks for the reply, i will look into hip flexor stretching
[quote]Dlouda wrote:
Anyone else with any advice?[/quote]
Here"s what I can tell you. I have been dealing with this for over 2 years now. Mine started in one hip and progressed slowly into both. All the while I was going to an Ortho and a Chiro to be told several different things, none of which have panned out. Initially bursitis was the diagnosis from the Ortho and it was quickly followed up with cortizone shots in both hips. That helped for 2 weeks, maybe less. FYI, bursitis is the fall back answer by the Ortho when the imaging is clear I firmly believe that the issue is severe muscle imbalances and/or tightness. Because it has gone untreated for so long I believe that it has started to affect other muscles in and around the hips i.e TFL ab and ad ducctors, flexors, etc. Just about anything that I do that involves hip flexion hurts like hell (getting up out of a chair or going up stairs). I feel like an old man with severe arthritis. Strangely though, conventional deads have no pain. The minute I go to trap bar deads it hurts like hell. You really need to find someone that knows what the hell they are doing and specializes in sports medicine as it pertains to things like this and has the ability to not only assess but correct the issues. I have yet to find that person around here nor can I continue to dump money into trying it. I am half way tempted to drive to see a Cressey or a DeFranco or similar to get this shit straightened out. Hate to be a buzz kill man but the point is don’t dick around trying to give different docs a chance and try hard to find one that knows his shit right of the bat, maybe a collegiate program or similar in the area has someone who can help…
[quote]Dlouda wrote:
Anyone else with any advice?[/quote]
Here"s what I can tell you. I have been dealing with this for over 2 years now. Mine started in one hip and progressed slowly into both. All the while I was going to an Ortho and a Chiro to be told several different things, none of which have panned out. Initially bursitis was the diagnosis from the Ortho and it was quickly followed up with cortizone shots in both hips. That helped for 2 weeks, maybe less. FYI, bursitis is the fall back answer by the Ortho when the imaging is clear I firmly believe that the issue is severe muscle imbalances and/or tightness. Because it has gone untreated for so long I believe that it has started to affect other muscles in and around the hips i.e TFL ab and ad ducctors, flexors, etc. Just about anything that I do that involves hip flexion hurts like hell (getting up out of a chair or going up stairs). I feel like an old man with severe arthritis. Strangely though, conventional deads have no pain. The minute I go to trap bar deads it hurts like hell. You really need to find someone that knows what the hell they are doing and specializes in sports medicine as it pertains to things like this and has the ability to not only assess but correct the issues. I have yet to find that person around here nor can I continue to dump money into trying it. I am half way tempted to drive to see a Cressey or a DeFranco or similar to get this shit straightened out. Hate to be a buzz kill man but the point is don’t dick around trying to give different docs a chance and try hard to find one that knows his shit right of the bat, maybe a collegiate program or similar in the area has someone who can help… [/quote]
[quote]Dlouda wrote:
Anyone else with any advice?[/quote]
Here"s what I can tell you. I have been dealing with this for over 2 years now. Mine started in one hip and progressed slowly into both. All the while I was going to an Ortho and a Chiro to be told several different things, none of which have panned out. Initially bursitis was the diagnosis from the Ortho and it was quickly followed up with cortizone shots in both hips. That helped for 2 weeks, maybe less. FYI, bursitis is the fall back answer by the Ortho when the imaging is clear I firmly believe that the issue is severe muscle imbalances and/or tightness. Because it has gone untreated for so long I believe that it has started to affect other muscles in and around the hips i.e TFL ab and ad ducctors, flexors, etc. Just about anything that I do that involves hip flexion hurts like hell (getting up out of a chair or going up stairs). I feel like an old man with severe arthritis. Strangely though, conventional deads have no pain. The minute I go to trap bar deads it hurts like hell. You really need to find someone that knows what the hell they are doing and specializes in sports medicine as it pertains to things like this and has the ability to not only assess but correct the issues. I have yet to find that person around here nor can I continue to dump money into trying it. I am half way tempted to drive to see a Cressey or a DeFranco or similar to get this shit straightened out. Hate to be a buzz kill man but the point is don’t dick around trying to give different docs a chance and try hard to find one that knows his shit right of the bat, maybe a collegiate program or similar in the area has someone who can help… [/quote]
Well damn, not the reply I wanted ha ha.
[/quote]
I know right. You don’t realize how MD’s that work in the same profession can be worlds apart from each other in experience and knowledge until you have to start looking for one. Find one that either lifts or works with lifters or collegiate and above athletes.
Could use any other suggestions to this issue other than finding an experienced doctor. I am not at the point where I cannot sit without pain, or train legs.
I have had a very similar experience. I have tried anti-inflammatories, hard core physical therapy, and a cortisone shot. None of those approaches worked materially. Since then, I have tried to incorporate more unilateral moves in my leg training. I do single leg squats as part of my HFSW training. I have incorporated single leg deadlifts in my training as well.
I slso realize that I have to strengthen my glutes in realation to my back and core. I cannot do a single glute/ham raise naturally yet. The unilateral excersises appear to be helping. I can finally sleep on my right side at night, which I could not do for 9 months because of right hip pain. I think once I get back in balance I can get back to going heavy on Squats and Deadlifts again.
[quote]ATLRGC wrote:
I have had a very similar experience. I have tried anti-inflammatories, hard core physical therapy, and a cortisone shot. None of those approaches worked materially. Since then, I have tried to incorporate more unilateral moves in my leg training. I do single leg squats as part of my HFSW training. I have incorporated single leg deadlifts in my training as well.
I slso realize that I have to strengthen my glutes in realation to my back and core. I cannot do a single glute/ham raise naturally yet. The unilateral excersises appear to be helping. I can finally sleep on my right side at night, which I could not do for 9 months because of right hip pain. I think once I get back in balance I can get back to going heavy on Squats and Deadlifts again. [/quote]
So you suggest strengthening the glutes will help? What kind of exercises should I do?
[quote]ATLRGC wrote:
I have had a very similar experience. I have tried anti-inflammatories, hard core physical therapy, and a cortisone shot. None of those approaches worked materially. Since then, I have tried to incorporate more unilateral moves in my leg training. I do single leg squats as part of my HFSW training. I have incorporated single leg deadlifts in my training as well.
I slso realize that I have to strengthen my glutes in realation to my back and core. I cannot do a single glute/ham raise naturally yet. The unilateral excersises appear to be helping. I can finally sleep on my right side at night, which I could not do for 9 months because of right hip pain. I think once I get back in balance I can get back to going heavy on Squats and Deadlifts again. [/quote]
So you suggest strengthening the glutes will help? What kind of exercises should I do?[/quote]
Go to the Kai Greene Thread, he has a 5 part leg series video on youtube. It’s not about hip pain, but the glute section is very thorough and explains what you would need to do to feel it.
I know you said you do awesome squats but you don’t. Your hips hurt, get the i’m perfectness out your mind.
Most likely no one person will be able to automatically diagnose you. The popularity of weight training, has made injuries unique to every person. Chiropractors think the whole world is out of adjustment, the whole world is. Doesn’t mean your not supposed to be that how unique your body is, certain muscles need to be out of balance to balance out whatever bone length variations you have. One or two adjustments can be helpful, too many are pretty useless and some can be detrimental. Doctors tend to have fall back answers – bursitis — tendonitis — arthritis — … All have one thing in common inflammation.
Inflammation is a horrible gremlin, it’s like once you get it, you always have to worry about it. There are three main causes for it overuse, poor diet, poor movement( random injury can fall under here). Being that you don’t have a specialist you have to find which one applies to you. Tricky thing is you don’t want diet to get rid of it alone. It’s kind of like a mask. Like taking ibuprofen. You also have to learn which pains to push through and which to hold back. If this lasted this long then your squat and your way of squatting shouldn’t be done anymore. Work around it do squats that you can do, Front, wide stance, whatever. If you were high volume lower it, 6-10 every other day 60%. Concentrate focus on the hip muscle though. Learn about heat and cold. It’s application can greatly speed healing.
you probably didn’t need any of this, the post earlier said something about hip stretches and foam rolling, that and a little time is probably all you need but you asked for more.
One last thing, you can take yoga or one of those girly crosstraining aerobic classes. They retrain your body to move and get blood flow to all parts. You don’t have to do them forever but a short cycle of them have helped most athletes at one point.
Appreciate the responses, i will look into the video. I squatted for the first time in 5 weeks yesterday and didn’t go past 2 plates. I did a long warmup including stretching, foam rolling, walking, and vertical/broad jumping before I got to the squat rack. I also narrowed my stance a bit which seemed to help. I squatted pain free, so I believe that warming up properly was what is needed. I never used to do any of that, i’d warm up by squatting the bar, 95, 135, etc…
Hopefully this is the answer for me
Have you checked yourself for structural issues like Mortons foot or a leg length discrepency?
Here’s my personal experience so far with hip/leg/glute pain from squats/deadlifts.
I’ve done foam rolling, pvc rolling, lacrosse ball rolling. All help loosen up triggered muscles like the piriformis, glutes, IT band, IP muscles, QL, etc… Question is, what’s the root cause. I’ve been diagnosed with a leg length discrepency. I also have a Mortons foot where the 2nd metatarsal is longer than the first.
I’m not a doctor, but it makes sense that skeletal imbalances can lead to muscle imbalances and can all get worse under load. I’ve had squat sessions where the next day my right side was screaming and some quick work on the glutes with a lax ball relieved it all. I’ve learned to be very careful on form and can squat and deadlift without problem. I progress slowly and can treat my pain. I wear a heel lift, but there’s still something off (mortons foot I believe).
I’m looking at whipping up some shoe inserts similar to the ones sold below using sole inserts and some adhesive rubber strips from McMaster Carr.
Treat yourself with triggerpoint therapy, continue to stretch and warm-up, but ultimately there’s something causing your pain and tight muscles. That could be a form issue (video yourself), a structural issue, progressing up in weight too fast, or a combination of all of these.
Thanks for the response! My left foot’s 2nd metatarsal is indeed longer than the first lol! Never thought that could affect anything however? I don’t have a leg length discrepancy, however my hips aren’t aligned properly according to a chiropractor. I’ve squatted for the past two weeks pain free because of change in stance and thorough warming up and stretching and mobility work for the hips.
I firmly believe that the issue is severe muscle imbalances and/or tightness. Because it has gone untreated for so long I believe that it has started to affect other muscles in and around the hips i.e TFL ab and ad ducctors, flexors, etc. Just about anything that I do that involves hip flexion hurts like hell (getting up out of a chair or going up stairs). I feel like an old man with severe arthritis. Strangely though, conventional deads have no pain. The minute I go to trap bar deads it hurts like hell. You really need to find someone that knows what the hell they are doing and specializes in sports medicine as it pertains to things like this and has the ability to not only assess but correct the issues. I have yet to find that person around here nor can I continue to dump money into trying it. I am half way tempted to drive to see a Cressey or a DeFranco or similar to get this shit straightened out. Hate to be a buzz kill man but the point is don’t dick around trying to give different docs a chance and try hard to find one that knows his shit right of the bat, maybe a collegiate program or similar in the area has someone who can help…