Pushing pancake a little to hard - pain

Hello!

I've been doint GB for 4 months now with great results (foundation and stretch series). In my abductor stretch I think I was a little to excited and pushed to hard on standing pancake (etc.) so I now have a slight pain at the side of my left knee (no pain when not stretching). I'm just wondering if and how I should adapt for this. Should I keep stretching but more carefully or should I rest? I skipped abductor stretch for a couple of weeks but the pain came back when I stretched today.

Thanks!

Nils

Hi Nils you stressed too much the gracilis. I suggest performing 2-3 times a week (maybe with some overweight) the Cossack squat from F1.

Thanks Allesandro I will do that!

/Nils 

Hello again,

I added Cosack squats to my routine, but kept stretching. Pain has actually increased a bit. 

I'm thinking I should now temporarily stop the stretches with straight legs ( pancakes etc. that's when I feel pain) and instead  focus on the Cosack squats and resting the Gracilis for a few weeks. Does this sound like a good plan?

Thanks,

Nils

Yes it is, in case of minor tear you can still stretch a bit, in case of more intense problem you need to avoid elongation.

Hi! 

Just wanted to give a short update here, in case anyone faces a similiar situation. After not improving for 3-4 months I went to see a physio therapist. He concluded that I was not injured but that I had likely had a small rupture that my body was now trying to protect me from happening again by sending pain signals. His suggestion was to ever day:

1. To massage the adductors through Foam rolling (and later kettle bell roll), he also gave deep tissue massage at 2 occasions
2. To strengthen my internal rotation (which was week, especially in my left leg) by doing the ”Clam” for 3 x 1 minute. Video

After around 3 weeks of this I started to notice improvements and I am now easing back into the middle split series, exited to get started and hopefully a little less foolish on pushing to hard in the stretches. 

Thanks for the help!

/Nils

Hi Nils.

I think i have the same issue on my right knee, caused by the same exercise. Since the last time you posted, have you seen improvements?

I have struggled with severe tightness in my right gracilis since starting GB two and a half years ago. I’ve tried a bunch of things, including actual physical therapy and different foam rolling routines.

It has really hindered my pancake work.

In the last month I started doing Cossack squats every morning—10 to warm up, then 10 more to go as deep as I feel comfortable.

My gracilis pain is almost completely gone.

The Cossack squats also helped me resolve a case of patellar tendinitis that had been bothering me for 6 months, and my hips are opening up nicely. 

Just an n=1 report, but I find them to give a great return on minimal investment! 

On 2/6/2019 at 3:23 PM, Josh Earl said:

I have struggled with severe tightness in my right gracilis since starting GB two and a half years ago. I’ve tried a bunch of things, including actual physical therapy and different foam rolling routines.

It has really hindered my pancake work.

In the last month I started doing Cossack squats every morning—10 to warm up, then 10 more to go as deep as I feel comfortable.

My gracilis pain is almost completely gone.

The Cossack squats also helped me resolve a case of patellar tendinitis that had been bothering me for 6 months, and my hips are opening up nicely. 

Just an n=1 report, but I find them to give a great return on minimal investment! 

Josh - thanks for sharing. I am struggling with something similar at this point and it certainly if frustrating as it is such a bottle neck to move forward. 

I just posted another (fairly lengthy) post about this, however when you started doing your cossacks in an attempt to improve the function of the gracilis has you achieved mastery of the deck squats? I am still stuck at the deck squats without using momentum or some elevation so I was trying to gauge how appropriate it would be to do some cossack squats throughout the week. 

Thanks again for sharing!

On 2/20/2019 at 10:38 AM, Johan Flostrand said:

Josh - thanks for sharing. I am struggling with something similar at this point and it certainly if frustrating as it is such a bottle neck to move forward. 

 

I just posted another (fairly lengthy) post about this, however when you started doing your cossacks in an attempt to improve the function of the gracilis has you achieved mastery of the deck squats? I am still stuck at the deck squats without using momentum or some elevation so I was trying to gauge how appropriate it would be to do some cossack squats throughout the week. 

Thanks again for sharing!

Personally I did not wait that long. What I was actually doing were the “side-to-side squats” which are a variant of Cossack squats. The side to side squats are included in the Middle Split stretch series, which I’ve been doing for a couple of years now, so I figured they were appropriate for my current level.

For me the issue seems to be related to some massive trigger point issues in my gracilis.

The squats allowed me to increase the ROM so I can do my stretching pain free, but I still have the trigger points.

I’ve been working on releasing them with some deep massage that seems to be helping. Foam rolling doesn’t hit the gracilis hard enough to address these for me, so I’ve been using a more focused tool.