Thread: Squats causing pain in my left leg

Do you also get it when squatting in a narrow stance? It could be that your wide stance is hurting your hips.

Also, do you do leg abduction work to compensate for the adductor work you get while squatting/deadlifting in a wide stance?

Ice, rest, don't squat. If it keeps bothering you, go see a doc.

Originally Posted by Witchblade

Do you also get it when squatting in a narrow stance? It could be that your wide stance is hurting your hips.

Also, do you do leg abduction work to compensate for the adductor work you get while squatting/deadlifting in a wide stance?

Ice, rest, don't squat. If it keeps bothering you, go see a doc.

I get it when my feet are shoulder width apart also.
I can deadlift and legpress and not feel the pain. Only when I try squatting.
It sucks because I realy like and rather do squats then the legpress.

is it near the knee area?

I'd have a trainer look at your form when you squat just to make sure you're not messing up. Otherwise I'd hold off on leg exercises for a little while, and then try it again...

does the pain radiate down your leg, i.e. to your calf or foot?

Originally Posted by juggernaut

is it near the knee area?

No. It is the upper top of the thigh. The inner side of the left thigh.

Originally Posted by Prince

does the pain radiate down your leg, i.e. to your calf or foot?

No. It's just a small spot on my upper inner left thigh.

sounds like a tendon, possibly? does it feel like its being stretched like a rubber band?

Originally Posted by juggernaut

sounds like a tendon, possibly? does it feel like its being stretched like a rubber band?

I'm really not sure. I know it is a small section of pain though.

Do you warm up adequately?

Sartorious maybe? How is your stretching routine?

Any type of isolation movements cause pain: simple hip abduction, adduction, flexion, extension, or internal/external rotation?

Does the pain persist when doing only bodyweight squats?

When did you start noticing the pain, can you connect it to any one event, did it slowly get worse over time, did you just start experiencing it randomly, etc?

Have you suffered any injuries to that area in the past? If so, do you know the nature of the injury, method of injury, and did you receive a diagnosis from a doctor?

Originally Posted by MWpro

Do you warm up adequately?

Well I usually do 1 set of about 10-15 reps of bodyweight squats. Then I'll do the same with the bar. Then I'll add weight on the bar and that is when the pain starts.

Originally Posted by fufu

Sartorious maybe? How is your stretching routine?

I don't really strech that much before squats.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

Any type of isolation movements cause pain: simple hip abduction, adduction, flexion, extension, or internal/external rotation?

No.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

Does the pain persist when doing only bodyweight squats?

No. I feel fine when doing bodyweight squats.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

When did you start noticing the pain, can you connect it to any one event, did it slowly get worse over time, did you just start experiencing it randomly, etc?

Only when I start doing squats. Never had any other problems. I will feel the pain with the squats but then I can stop and go do deadlifts or legpresses and have no pain at all.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

Have you suffered any injuries to that area in the past? If so, do you know the nature of the injury, method of injury, and did you receive a diagnosis from a doctor?

Never suffered any injuries.

you can try doing leg presses first before doing squats. I have to do it this way, or I cant squat all on account the screwed up tendons in my knees.

How much weight do you add to the bar after the set with just the bar?

Sounds like it could be many things, sounds like a groin issue, though.

Originally Posted by Dale Mabry

How much weight do you add to the bar after the set with just the bar?

Sounds like it could be many things, sounds like a groin issue, though.

After the bar set I'll put enough weight to do 10 reps with. I would like to add more weight and squat in the 5-8 rep range but after feeling some pain doing 10 reps I would imagine it would be worse adding weight and doing 5-8 reps so I've been only trying for 10 reps.

It kind of bugs me because I feel fine after warming up a little but as soon as I put some weight on the bar and do my first rep I feel that little pain on the way up. It's very annoying.

Try warming up in smaller increments. Here is what I do...

Bar-6 reps
135-6 reps
185-4 reps
225-4 reps
255-4 reps (1st working set)

This is for front squats and my reps are lower, but you get the point.

You should also have a dynamic warm-up prior to even touching the bar.

I was thinking the same.

Originally Posted by Dale Mabry

How much weight do you add to the bar after the set with just the bar?

Sounds like it could be many things, sounds like a groin issue, though.

Today at the gym I did some streching and some bodyweight squats to warm up. I then did 1 set of squats with just the bar and felt fine. I added a little bit of weight and felt the pain again. I stopped and narrowed my stance a bit more and starting squating and there was no pain! I was able to do a full squat workout with no pain in the left leg. So squating at a wider then shoulder width stance was causing the pain in my left leg.
I'll start squating now at a more narrow stance.

Thanks everyone.

Originally Posted by NX5.0

Today at the gym I did some streching and some bodyweight squats to warm up. I then did 1 set of squats with just the bar and felt fine. I added a little bit of weight and felt the pain again. I stopped and narrowed my stance a bit more and starting squating and there was no pain! I was able to do a full squat workout with no pain in the left leg. So squating at a wider then shoulder width stance was causing the pain in my left leg.
I'll start squating now at a more narrow stance.

Thanks everyone.

It almost sounds like that could be related to hip mobility somehow. There is definitely a greater stretch on the adductor musculature (Which is where you were feeling the pain) when squatting with a wide stance like that.

What portion of the lift were you feeling the pain?

Originally Posted by CowPimp

It almost sounds like that could be related to hip mobility somehow. There is definitely a greater stretch on the adductor musculature (Which is where you were feeling the pain) when squatting with a wide stance like that.

What portion of the lift were you feeling the pain?

I was feeling the pain on the way up of the squat. As soon as I reached the top the pain completely stops. No pain going down either. Only on the way up.

Originally Posted by NX5.0

I was feeling the pain on the way up of the squat. As soon as I reached the top the pain completely stops. No pain going down either. Only on the way up.

Hrm, could just be increased adductor recruitment when you are using a wider stance. I have a feeling you may have strained a muscle though, but I have trouble understanding why nothing else at all seems to bother it. What about a sumo stance deadlift?