I did speed/plyo’s/weights last night and have fairly severe DOMS today. I think the DOMS are primarily caused by SLDL’s. Have any of you guys experienced similar soreness from including SLDL’s?
When I do not perform this excercise and do say rev leg press or ham curls I experience very little to no DOMS after the workout. When I incorporate SLDLs I get it fairly severely.
Also I experienced a bit of soreness in my groin doing back squats last night so I performed Front squats instead. What is your opinion on front squats? Do you think they are useful for a sprinter?
If I continue to aggravate my groin with backsquats I might sub in front squats combined with step ups in my training.
Do you have a wide stance? Do you flair your feet? Do you do abduction/adduction swings during warm up?
Front squats limit hip flexion (and load) and hit the quads a little more. I have found with SLDL’s that a load that is very comfortable in the gym can cause heavy soreness later. I do not consider them a particularly ‘safe’ exercise since if the spine flexes all the load is taken by ligaments and connective tissue. >>> Injury!
Do you have a wide stance? Do you flair your feet? Do you perform abduction/adduction swings during warm up?
Front squats limit hip flexion (and load) and hence hit the quads a little more. I have found with SLDL’s that a load that is very comfortable in the gym can cause heavy soreness later. Additionally I do not consider them a particularly ‘safe’ exercise since any spinal flexion causes the load to be transferred to ligaments and connective tissue (rather than spinal erectors).
What would you reccomend in place of SLDL’s?
I normally do not have any groin problems, just been irritated the past couple of days. You can probably blame my wife for that hehe
Sorry Chris, I forgot to warn you that SLDL can cause some pretty severe DOMS. You should ease into them slowly. After you make them part of your regular routine, you should not experience DOMS any more than you do for any other exercise.
The key to doing SLDL ‘safely’ is to keep the movement from the hips and not flex the spine. This will mean that you will generally only be lowering the weight to about knee level (depending on your hamstring flexibility.)
i find sldl as essential to my strength program, however ive been doing them a long time and have very above average flexability.
one of the reasons i would recommend them is that it hits (depending on your range of motion) from behind the knees to right under the buttocks. working all parts of the hams ive found is important having expirienced ham pulls (these take a long time to recover from).
xlr8 is right though, until your flexibility improves watch not to push the range of motion too soon, but gradually increase it before you add more weight.
another hint i find useful when showing others how to do it is do not keep your knees completely locked straight cause it can cause direct stress on the back of the knee, not really where you want to be pulling with. rather keep your legs only slightly bent.
Thanks guys, XLR8 no problem on the SLDL’s. I like them a lot they just cause a lot of DOMS for me. I am pretty flexible and pretty strong in the hams but I think the combo of speed/plyos in spikes with SLDLs was a little too intense at first. Might do 2 light sets of SLDLs till everything gets used to it hehe.
I really love fronts, I would replace backsquats with fronts if I could hehe. (Also incorporate stepups, high pulls and deads to balance the gains) I used to be able to front squat (buried) more than I could backsquat hehe
Cheers,
Chris
ps- I always keep my knees slightly bent and start the movement from the hips. (If that makes sense)
Also I read some studies in a mag, that there is no difference is recruitment patterns between front and back squats. SO choose which one you like to do. I know it goes against the grain, but that’s what the studies say
I prefer RDLs. I think you need to have a careful look at a program that consistently causes DOMS. You say you don’t get DOMS unless the SLDLs are done. Is it the SLDLs or is it the additional load that they represent? First, you could try RDLs. If DOMS persist (assuming you do the RDLs right) you need to modify the program to lighten the training load so that the DL of choice can be included without DOMS.
Thats a good point about volume, I will have to take a look at that.
Any pointers for RDL’s?
I think the problem is I am using to wide a range of motion pausing for too long at the bottom (about 1 second) and then coming back up. The eccentric portion of the lift is what is causing it I bet.
I will experiment and try RDL’s and let you know what I find out.
tonight I did a 10 minute jog and 8x120 with 30 seconds rest and much of the DOMS is gone now. Tomorrow will be the real test.
RDLs will cause lots of DOMS for the first 2 weeks, but will go down if you do them regularly, just start but doing them with the bar to pre-condition the hams, and then after that it should be OK
I find RDLS “easier” if I deadlift the weight up to do them rather than taking them off the rack and walking back, it just feels heavier when done like this. Also go for quality rather than weight, its a very stressful movement on the CNS when done too heavy. I like to go up on my toes, choice is yours, and I whip em up pretty quickly, almost like doing a cleanpull.
Use a hookgrip instead of straps if possible, its better this way I find. personal preference
I prefer to do the first session of any new exercise with just the bar, and then next session jump up to a heavier, but still light weight, and then on the 3rd go to a comfortable load.
this minimises DOMs and you learn the form quicker.
