Leg Adductor Overstretching

Hello,

I think I know what I need to do but I'd like to solicit some feedback from the community to make sure other more knowledgeable folks agree. I'm new to GST and have found that my straddle flexibility is really bad. I'm working through the stretch series right now and doing one of the preparatory exercises (Stiff Leg Windmill MN/PE1>iM) in foundations. I'm pretty familiar with stretching discomfort because I've regularly stretched other muscle groups so I can tolerate it just fine. I've been having some pain though in my right leg adductors- most of it concentrated very near the knee capsule- that feels a bit sharper. I can feel things "moving around" when I do some of the stretches which isn't necessarily painful but it's unnerving. I'm a bit concerned that I may be overstraining some of the connective tissues for my adductor or gracilis near the joint. Because it's semi-hard tissue and it may take a while to heal and adapt, I'm thinking that perhaps I should take a whole month off of the straddle, windmills, and other adductor stretches. Does that sound reasonable or overly cautious? 

I would advise continuing, just back off a little. The intensity should be to the point of discomfort but not pain. Remember, we're remolding connective tissue, which is a slow process. Patience and persistence is required. It takes 6 months for connective tissue to regain 90% of it's pre-injury strength after surgery. I seem to recall Coach Sommer saying that the first phase of adaptation to GST takes 200-210 days.

Unless there is residual pain, backing off is what you want to do. 

In the case of the windmills this can mean, using no weight at all, and just working on figuring out the movement so it doesn't give you that unnerving feeling. It might even mean not going a far down and using some sort of support at the bottom, like the seat of a chair.

Thanks guys. I appreciate your insight. I'm not so afraid of discomfort from stretching. It was more just the intensity/sharpness. Not having as much experience with reconfiguring/working on connective tissue, I wasn't sure if the pain I was feeling was an indicator I had done some minor damage and needed to give the whole thing a bit of rest. I'll continue all my stretching but do it with a little less intensity.