Corked thigh from squats/ grips for deadlifts

***battlefields*** · Posted On: 2/16/2012 5:07pm

Yep, I did it. I was sure I had stretched enough this particular time, but I am really flexible so I am pretty lax when it comes to stretching. I legit did a lot of stretching compared to what I have been doing lately, because there was a couple of steroid abusing muscle tanks doing shoulder shrugs in the squat rack (**** THAT **** PISSES ME OFF... calming down).

Background: Stronglifts 5x5, accelerated from 60-70kg because I felt I was sandbagging, went from 70-75 then 75-80, then increments of 2.5. Haven't deloaded yet, reached 92.5kg last night (**** yeah, more than my ideal bodyweight and fast reaching my actual bodyweight, which is around 102-105kg but at this rate of fat loss I'll be hitting the under 100kg mark again real soon) and although it was hard, I managed to push through the entire 5x5. My left knee is probably not as strong as my right, but since lifting this hasn't caused me problems, however my right leg does seem to compensate regardless of my conscious attempts to balance between the two. It is my right thigh that is corked.

Should I just massage it and continue to load weight next session (tomorrow morning)? I am really keen to hit 100kg squats by the end of next week and this might be causing me to overlook something seriously wrong, so want a second opinion. The muscle only feels corked while walking, it has range of motion and doesn't "hurt" as such. Thoughts?

Also, my deadlifts have been suffering lately because my hand grip is poor. In fact, I have extremely thin forearms for someone my size, my wrists have always been very thin as well, although, other than deadlifting the 130kg barbell, I haven't had much problem with gripping things in the past (lol, intended innuendo).

I notice that some people have one palm facing outwards, one inwards when deadlifting. For me I think this would counter the "roll" of the barbell that seems to break my grip when I lift it. I don't seem to have much trouble actually lifting that amount of weight other than having to readjust my grips when it hits the bottom, which is obviously messing with the technique. I seem to remember somewhere in the program saying that the palm inward/palm outward thing is not good, but that could just be my mind playing tricks on me. Should I be using the inward/outward grip?

**jspeedy** · Posted On: 2/16/2012 5:46pm

I'm interested to see what replies this thread gets. I'm recovering from a patella fracture and eventually I'll return to a squat program. Right now because of my injury my right leg overcompensates for the healing left. This become obvious after a short run.

For now my kettlebell seems to be doing a good job of catching my left leg up to the right. Maybe you could try out some kettlebell work to even your legs out a bit. Just a thought though, we'll see what everyone else thinks.

As for deadlift grips you might have to re-read what stronglifts says. I think I recall them advocating a palm up/palm down grip and alternating hand position between sets. I could be mixing it up with Pavel though.

I've always had girly wrists too. I don't even like wearing most men's watches because of my girl wrists. I figure they'll beef up with everything else if I keep lifting.

**mrh80** · Posted On: 2/16/2012 6:21pm

If your grip is a weakness then you need to work your grip more.

For your quad I would back off it is not worth an injury, you can always squat 100kg later. You really want to fix this imbalance before it hits you later on down the track.Pistols or bulgarian split squats focusing on your left knee would be good to balance out leg strength.

Static stretching before weight training is not recommended as it weakens the muscle (source Kurz).

**captainbirdseye** · Posted On: 2/16/2012 6:33pm

Originally Posted by mrh80

If your grip is a weakness then you need to work your grip more.

How would you do that? I was under the impression that wrist curls and suchlike were unnecessary and the best way to improve grip strength was through lifts like deadlifts?

**HereBeADragon** · Posted On: 2/16/2012 7:10pm

You should be using the over/under hand grip when deadlifting at least for the heaviest lifts, there are different grip variations but this is the standard deadlift grip. I'm kinda wondering now if you may have other form issues in the deadlift and squat. Have you had any coaching in these lifts?

As to grip yes the answer to a weak grip is building a stronger grip and yes deadlifting can build a strong grip. Its a matter of using different lift variations to build the grip. These are some of my favorites. http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2009/04...ns-brooks.html

Another source if you want real hand strength is John Brookfied http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/opencms/GripTips/

***battlefields*** · Posted On: 2/16/2012 7:52pm

I've been complimented on my squat form from trainers and other weight lifters, so I am relatively confident my form is not an issue. However, upon reflection, my desire to keep on loading and push the weights may be overriding my notion of perfect form. I will deload to 87.5kg next session and ensure my form is perfect again.

Goddammit, HereBeADragon, here I was about to answer your post by telling you I have perfect form and be quite insulted that you dared question it, but then I thought about it and I have been on this major quest to get over 100kg (a couple of years ago I got to 97.5kg and then had to quit because of health reasons, it's in my training blog here, check it out if you want) so I have kind of blinded myself to overexertion and not concentrating on my form, just being happy to hit the bottom and push back to the top. Pride getting in the way and all. Cheers for making me think it through.

Regarding deadlifts, my form is fine, it is literally just my grips and the more I think about it, the more I realise that over/under will completely negate the "roll" out of my hands. Seriously, 130kg is relatively easy, I'm straining, but not too much. I'll also look at grip variations. Thanks.

**HereBeADragon** · Posted On: 2/16/2012 11:56pm

Happy to be of help, I'm a real pain in the ass like that. I always look for problems in form first and then move forward from there because 90% of the time thats where the sticking point lies. I've never been one for the barbell squat (my knees are ****) but I've gone up to about 575lbs on the deadlift. You don't get there without injury unless you take a lot of care on your form.

**ChenPengFi** · Posted On: 2/17/2012 12:16pm

Corked?

edit: As in this?
http://www.physioadvisor.com.au/9155...ysioadviso.htm

**elipson** · Posted On: 2/22/2012 4:37am

Foam roll the muscle and give it an extra day off if it doesn't feel right.

As for grip, do more pulling exercises. LOTS of them! Seated rows, lat puts, barbell rows, and TONS of chin ups/pull ups. If chin ups are too easy, start doing weighted chin ups.

I do a push/pull split, and at the end of every pulling day my forearms are fried.