sweetbobbyray

Switched from high to low bar squat a few months ago and recently have been dealing with tendonitis in the left elbow (lateral epicondylitis, mostly). I presume this is on account of poor hand/arm positioning: I’ve been using a narrower grip, but my wrists would tend to slide up and over the bar. I also suspect the left arm in particular is affected because of imbalances from college baseball (I was a pitcher and have worse external rotation, better internal rotation in the left/non-throwing shoulder). Unsure if this imbalance is detectable in my form.

Here I am trying a grip that feels fairly wide, but as narrow as I can go while keeping my hands/wrists somewhat in place. Is this acceptable, given my physiometry (long forearms, fairly broad shoulders)? Or is it likely to lead to further elbow issues?

355x5 @ 6’7”, 330 lbs, 30 yrs old. (I dropped 10% off my previous max of 385x5 a couple sessions ago to work on fixing my grip, since the elbow pain was hampering not just squat but other lifts too.)

Mark Rippetoe

I see no problems with this grip.

sweetbobbyray

Good to hear and thanks for having a look, Coach.

I went up to 365x5 for three sets across on Monday with the same grip, and the elbow is feeling less pissed off. Will continue working back up and supplementing with pull-ups.

david1981

I have been training for a couple of months on the SS program and have gradually been progressing.

At first I didn't notice any problems but eventually I started feeling tension and stiffness in the pelvic area. This turned into a difficulty with erections, pain when passing urine and some lower back pain. After several months of resting this has improved a lot, but the issues immediately come back as soon as I start any form of even slight training.

I saw several doctors, did an MRI, ruled out inguinal hernia or spinal issues. It turns out that my pelvic muscles are overly tight and inflamed due to the extra pressure that lifting and the valsalva maneuver put on the pelvic floor.

I've heard of many people with pelvic floor weakness, but I hear much less about pelvic floor stiffness, especially in men.

Has anyone encountered this?

Mark Rippetoe

The fact that this is the first time I have ever heard of this in 42 years of work in this business leads me to believe that you have a bullshit diagnosis. I could be wrong, but I'm not.

jfsully

Not sure what you mean by “pelvic area” exactly, but this could be pudendal neuralgia. For this to be caused by Valsalva alone would be hard to imagine. You may have some unusual anatomy and a predisposition to this.

You will just have to figure out your limits with a thoughtful coach who can help with good technique and programming.

david1981

Interesting...googling the topic brings up a couple of websites saying that resistance training, pushups, pullups, and abdominal muscle exercises can over-stress the pelvic floor if people have tight pelvic muscles - but that's all I could find on the topic.

if you don't believe in this diagnosis, what would be your hunch? I had the MRI checked by multiple doctors and I haven't had any issues before starting weight training. I've been to multiple urologists and orthopedic doctors none of which could find any issues.

resting helps, but doing any kind of exercise, even simple air squats brings back the issue

Will Morris

This says more than you know. Sometimes, we must accept the fact that there is no diagnosis to be made. I’ve been in Physical Therapy for quite some time, and your reported diagnosis is outside anything I’ve ever heard of, and, quite honestly, the explanation of what causes the issue sounds like standard PT BS diagnostics. Give a diagnosis that one could not possibly test for or assess, make it seem like the patient requires specialized help, and continue billing insurance. The truth of the matter is this, yes, squatting, deadlifting, etc will help stabilize the pelvic floor, but there is no hypothesis I know of where the pelvic floor muscles can adaptively shorten in response to training.