The Rehab Guy: Q&A
Q: My chiropractor, a former amateur bodybuilder (so no stranger to the weightroom), told me recently that I shouldn’t train my 14-year-old soon-to-be brother-in-law with anything more than bodyweight resistance. He argues that, for someone who’s still growing, their bones/joints/etc., are still shifting and can be permanently set out-of-whack by too much external resistance. Granted, I was planning on having him mainly do negative push-ups, planks, chin-ups, and goblet squats with a dumbbell for the first few months, but it’s hard to imagine leaving out those goblet squats because of those kinds of fears. Sounds an awful lot like that “lifting weights stunts your growth” old wives’ tale to me. Is there any actual sound basis to this in any research you’ve ever heard of? Do you have any smarter ideas on how to train a 14-year-old athlete that wouldn’t cause problems down the line? Thanks in advance!
A: Man you guys are really trying to piss me off today!
Ask him what kind of forces are imposed on your child’s joints every time they run, cut, land, etc.
Then, ask him how much stress is placed on them in the weight room using light-to-moderate loads (they shouldn’t be doing 3 RM’s at this point!)
The bottom line is, normal sporting movement places far more stress and strain on the body than smart weight training.
Unfortunately, this is one of those old wives’ tales that just won’t die. I appreciate the fact that he’s looking out for your child, but quite honestly, there’s no literature to support his stance.
–Mike
Q: Starting about 2 years ago, I started developing pain in my left hip and groin. As any powerlifter would do, I kept training through it. Fastforward 2 years, and I can’t squat at all and I am constantly aware of the issue. I foam roll constantly and stretch my hip flexors repeatedly throughout the day. I’ve started weekly art treatments and backed off training with no loaded squatting. If I do try and squat wide, the groin hurts. If I narrow my stance, it hurts my IT band. I’ve asked PTs and my art provider for their opinion, but have not gotten to the core of the problem. Any ideas on where to go from here would be great!
A: Jesse,
If you’re doing all those things and not getting better, I would bet cash money on the fact that your groin/adductors are actually long and weak.
Basically, you feel like they’re stretched/strained, while on the outside of your knee, the IT band and VL are stiff as boards to boot.
I’d imagine if you did some dedicated adductor strengthening, you’d feel much, much better. Check out my “squat” post on my site sometime for a demo on my favorite adductor strengthening drill.
–Mike
Q: I have a bone growth in the back of my right heel. I believe it’s called a heel cup. I’ve been struggling with it for over a year and after anytime I jog or run or heaven-forbid sprint on it, it hurts for about a week. I’ve tried icing and stretching it so far. But, no matter what, it always gets inflamed the day after any sort of run. Will this always be the case? Will I never be able to sprint again? How do you get rid of this nagging pain? Sometimes it hurts even to walk.
A: I actually bruised me heel in high school during baseball/volleyball season. Yes, I realize my man card just got revoked.
Regardless, that and turf toe were the two WORST injuries I ever had with regards to debilitation.
Have you spoke with your doc about this? I’d imagine they’d want to cut it out, but who knows?
Regardless, I feel your pain man – hope you can figure something out!
–Mike
Q: I’ve been walking like a duck my whole life and just realized how much damage I’ve done. I have almost no internal rotation in my hips. What are some stretches or things I can do to fix this?
A: LOL – duck walk, powerlifter walk, it’s all the same!
Start by foam rolling your glutes religiously.
Next, you can static stretch them at numerous times throughout the day.
I would also work to drive internal rotation in your warm-up – we use exercises we call windshield wipers in both a prone and supine position.
Basically, hammer the sh*t out of that mobility until it loosens up. Chances are your hips AND your lower back will thank you!
–Mike
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Mike Robertson is the President of Robertson Training Systems and the co-owner of Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training (I-FAST) in Indianapolis, Indiana. Mike has made a name for himself as one of the premier performance coaches in the world, helping clients and athletes from all walks of life achieve their physique and sports performance goals. 
That chiropractor would probably freak out at this story of a 13-yr old girl power lifting.
Always great information Mike. Iv’e had pain, sensation in the center of my sternum area which transfers directly to the middle of my back. The sensation makes me feel like I need to pop my chest every so often. The only thing I can think of is costochondritis. I have had this for months now and even laying off the weights for 2 weeks and taking an anti inflammatory the pain still comes and goes. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Mike!
Great stuff mike !
The guy that can’t squat very well may have a joint issue like I did for years. From the earliest days of doing legs I endured constant groin issues, then quad and lower back and hamstring issues. Not till I was about 45 did it finally hit the wall and try to dislocate on me. Go to a sports doc and see if you have a joint issue and adjust what you’re doing in the gym. It’s not all doom and gloom though, so be positive. Hip resurfacing has allowed me to squat and deadlift what I desire to do, it works miraculously well and after 30+ years of training I finally learned how to work legs correctly.
Mike,
It is always great to see your articles as they are very informative and get right to the point. My question is about where in your program should one add the adductor strengthening drill. Thanks.
I can’t seem to locate this adductor exercise on your site. Do you have a link?
Thanks Mike!
Mike, is that video clip your favorite adductor strengthening exercise or do we need to find it on your site somehow? Link? Thanks!
Mike, I apologize if that’s video posted of the adductor exercise. My work blocks videos, so I wouldn’t know. If so, disregard the request for a link. I’ll be able to view when I get home.
Thanks.
Hi Mike, I have the exact same problem as Brady Cooper. Really intense pain in sternum and rhomboids. I googled the symptoms and costochondritis came up, any idea what this could be?
Mike, I’m having issues with back pain (around L5-S1) when I squat heavy. I have been taking steps to correct going into lumbar flexion in the hole by widening my stance, opening up my hips with mobilizations, rigorous soft tissue work on my adductors, and various activation drills for the hip abductors and external rotators (monster walks, clams, etc.). I also have switched to box squats most of the time while keeping a neutral spine throughout. My PT thinks I may have a disc issue which I’m afraid my be a herniation. I also get some discomfort around the iliacus/TFL area when squatting. I have no problems with the deadlift. I know this is a lot, but is there any hope for me to continue squatting competitively? If so what do I do?
i also had a duck walk for many years. the foam rolling/lacrosse ball work and stretching helped correct it. my toes are still out when squatting but not to the same degree. supine knee pull to opposite shoulder worked wonders for it as well as the pigion pose
In 2004 I read an article by a podiatrist at Active.com that said George Bush walked like a duck and that would cause excessive pronation that could lead to problems up the chain. I walked and ran like a duck and tried to fix that by consciously internally rotating my feet when I ran. I had talked to the podiatrist but can’t recall whether or not he told me to do that. Not too long after that I began suffering from peroneal tendonitis and have had it off and on since then. A visit to a well regarded PT led to the discovery that I had retroversion of the hips (I forget how many degrees) and therefore my feet would always be somewhat externally rotated even if I worked on improving internal rotation.
I believe it was Maurice Greene, one of the worlds top 100m runners, who runs with externally rotated feet. Of course that raises the question whether or not he could have run faster if they were straight, but he may have retroversion of the hips as well. It’s highly likely that someone with the access to the best sports medicine people that the problem was noticed and everything possible done to correct it.
Many problems are anatomical and can’t be fixed through stretching and strengthening. E. G. my right femur and tibia are both 1/4 inch shorter than the left. The point is sometimes you should get things checked out by a professional before you try and fix it yourself, especially when your own attempts seem to fail.
Hey Mike,
Good info. Comment on the squatter issue – he should set up with a solid weight and check to see if his feet are parallel. I have seen, me too, a few guys with similar problems who place their dominant foot a little forward of the other and cause the IT / adductor issue you noted.
Question – did you come up with any good solutions to the turf toe issues from HS. I have a couple soccer players/sprinters with turf toe that causes considerable problem and taping is only a partial and temporary help.
Lift Big! Pat
does anyone know how i can submit a question for mike?
My left hip is higher than my right hip. Occasionally it causes pain and I will go to my chiro for an adjustment and I’ll be better for awhile. Recently, I’ve begun doing more cardio (to aid in weight loss) and my left knee has started to hurt as well. Hip pain is on the left outside to just below my glute and knee pain is top, front. The step mill in particular aggravates my knee. Also, after 15-20 minutes on the treadmill or step mill my right quad tightens up midway up my thigh. I am 20-30lbs overweight, which I’m trying to lose and have a desk job. Any idea what is going on and what I can do to make it better?
Thanks!