I keep pulling muscles...

[i live in omaha]

I keep pulling the same muscles no matter how much i stretch. The inner-thigh / groin muscles seem to get injured and pulled like once every two weeks. Sometimes it'll happen from doing dumbell lunges, sometimes it will happen from playing football with friends.

I don't ever pull any other muslces, just those two. I warmup and stretch like a madman (about 5-8 minutes warmup plus about 4 minutes of stretches) and i'm a pretty flexible guy for being 200+ lbs. So what's my problem?

Do i need to have a certian something in my diet that i'm missing? Do i need to target the groin muscles and work them out individually so they get stronger? Stretching isn't working, so something needs to be done.
What do you guys* think?


edit: *i use "guys" as a non gender-specific pronoun.

[JP]

mate, i used to get the same when i switched to wider stance squats. I think they just got a lot of attention from the squats and also i didn't quite find the best strentches for that area, nowdays i have quite a few which i do.

What stretches do you do for that area?

[i live in omaha]

nothing too fancy. I do some toe-touches, toe touches with splits, and some splits. i hold each position for about a count of 20. I do others, but these are the ones that would stretch the inner-thigh so i just listed them.

[sensless]

If you have a slight pull you need to take a few weeks off in order for it to heal completely. If you don't, normally the muscle will continuously get 'pulled' until it eventually rips. It's annoying as can be. Apply ice for two days to the pulled muscle and then start using a heating pad for the rest of the week. That usually takes care of the swelling and then loosens the muscle up to get it back on track quickly.

Regards,

John Jr.

[V VII Hero]

give it more time to heal. you need rest.

[Pete]

I've had one guy who kept getting groin strains while doing kick boxing. First I had him rest until the problem had time to heal, then I began to add leg adduction & abduction moves . You may have a machine in your gym, or you can use a pulley for adduction work http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Hip ... ction.html (if that's not an option you could do "Bench scissors")
You can do abduction work by laying on your side attaching weights to your ankle & lifting the leg.
I started him stupidly light, working at 20 rep range, then gradually worked up. You don't need to go super heavy & he hasn't had another strain since.

[i live in omaha]

YES pete we have those machines at my gym. good call!

So in the next couple months i'm going to add those to my lower-body, and also i got a new stretching position that i'm going to add to my stretching. i should be good to go.

thanks for the input folks.

[Pete]

Just remember to take things slow, you're in this for the long haul, so treat very much as rehab & observe extra caution. You have to start with a weight that is laughable & work up much more slowly than any normal move. better, to go up slightly too slow & waste a bit of time getting there, than go in all guns blazing & cause more damage.

[vegan hal]

i'm glad i found this old post. i've been feeling sore in my groin/left side for the past week. i find when doing squats that when pushing back up, i overcompensate with my right side and even twist a tiny bit to finish the rep. that can;t be good.

i'm going to take a week or so off from squats and do some of these exercises and extra stretches. maybe try the ice/heat too.

rather be safe than sorry.