Jordan, The Client

I train. A LOT. Those closest to me and potentially many of my followers can see that training isn’t something that I want, but something that I need! Aside from the physical benefits of training powerlifting and capoeira, practicing both allow me the opportunity to disengage from work and focus on myself. Nonetheless, it is inevitable, in my opinion, that those of us who train a sport or exercise recreationally will experience some form of musculoskeletal injury along the way. This could be in the form of a mild muscle strain or, in some cases, something more significant that makes it difficult to train through. Insert my current situation.

In late May, I began to notice incredible soreness in my right buttcheek (buttock/glute, to be more proper) and superior patellar pain. They seemingly came out of nowhere, but I began to feel discomfort during my squats and sometimes just sitting for an extended period of time. I had been trying a few exercises for a while, but decided to see my friend (also a physical therapist) for an objective perspective on things. 

Despite the fact that I coach, coaches need coaching as well! I never pretend to have all the answers and it is so helpful to have another perspective on how you can improve your condition. One of the things that stood out from my session with him was that he noticed a 3 cm difference in quadriceps circumference in my right quad! Perhaps, this is one of the reasons my knee, later diagnosed as a quadriceps tendinopathy, could have developed! Well, that and repeated practicing capoeira stunts toward my stronger side. 

So for the past month and a half, I’ve been incorporating hip internal rotation strengthening exercises at end ranges of motion (hovers and frog pose are two of them) along with following a patellar tendon protocol starting with 3x15 reps of assisted pistol squats, which I hate, and progressing to 6 reps with heavier weight. It’s starting to feel better, but still uncomfortable between 60-90 degrees of knee flexion. 

I haven’t stopped training as the pain doesn’t occur under loads that aren’t touching my 8-10 RM on squats and none while doing capoeira. Over the next few weeks, I hope to steadily increase load with the pistol squats and will hopefully be able to perform an unassisted one soon. I’ll keep you posted!

Reference: Malliaras P, Cook J, Purdam C, Rio E. Patellar Tendinopathy: Clinical Diagnosis, Load Management, and Advice for Challenging Case Presentations. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2015 Nov;45(11):887-98. doi: 10.2519/jospt.2015.5987. Epub 2015 Sep 21. PMID: 26390269.