Cannot seem to lift heavy anymore

[Winston123]

The pain is holding me back

I feel as though I am approaching a dark place.......... Been training for almost 3 years now passionately, relentlessly. I come from having many injuries and fucked up posture and I have worked with chiros, physical therapists, massage therapists, stretching therapists... You name it. But I can't seem to get these injuries resolved. Despite all the side work I have been doing to correct them they seem to be getting worse as I succumb to the necessary increases in weight.

About 2 months ago I felt like I reached a peak, my strength was drastically increased and I was pain free. But since then my joints have all just started to feel FUCKED. I can't seem to go lift without some kind of joint/muscle pain or discomfort whether it's ankle, knee, calf, hamstring(strained it squatting tonight), wrist, shoulder(particularly front delt and traps) or upper pec around the coller bone.

I love the bodybuilding lifestyle now. This process of getting into the best shape of my life has undoubtedly made me the best man I have ever been. I'm stressed about the muscle/joint pains because it makes me feel like I'm going to have to give it up, am I just not cut out for this? If I keep pushing through this it feels like I'm going to be on my way to the ER in the next year or so.

 

[BoBoy]

You need a training break - stop weight training for 2-3 weeks ; you wont lose much if any, but when you start lifting again you should find renewed joint comfort and vigor . I now do this every 3-4 months and it works .......I had mass training burnout & joint/muscle pain before. ~Bo

 

[Winston123]

I just took 2 weeks off and nothing changed :/

 

[Manticore1]

I have dealt with the same thing for a year now. I love to train heavy and it was a major blow to my ego. The only way that I have been able to put on mass is every rep I will hold full contraction for 3-5 sec. I have been able to use a lot less weight and haven't had the severe tendinitis as before.

 

[3J]

what are your current stats??

age
weight
height

you have to get to the bottom of whats causing the injury and that could be a long list of things

 

[Winston123]

what are your current stats??

age
weight
height

you have to get to the bottom of whats causing the injury and that could be a long list of things

21
186
5'11

What would you suggest I do?

 

[nah444]

It sounds pretty bad Winston. I used to get massive pain in my knees after squatting - this at one point go so bad it flared up all the time - even when walking. I eventually found that I was twisting my body slightly while squatting - once I stopped doing this the pain went away. Yours sounds a lot worse than anything I ever had but maybe try lowering the weight a bit and really concentrating on your form and see if it helps?

 

[Winston123]

My body definitly does twist when I squat because my hips are out of alignment so I am getting adjusted regularly, what did you do to stop the twisting while squating? I try to focus in on it but I feel that I need more to reverse the twist.

 

[nah444]

I lowered the weight by a considerable amount (halved it) and had my friend who i trained with at the time and spotted the twist, really drill in the correct movement. I wasn't keeping my core tight enough and sometimes doing a sort of good morning movement and pushing out to one side a bit - i dont know how i didnt snap my shit at really heavy 1 rep weights.. It took a lot to get over the bad habbit i got into - using a mirror to practice without any weight on rest days and having a training partner who knows what they are doing while I trained helped me correct it. When I was confident my form was correct I was able to start upping the weight again slowly without pain.

Edit: Just an Idea - are you using any kind of strapping when you lift heavy? Your joints and soft tissue might not be strong enough for the big weight you are doing. Might be a good idea to try protecting your joints a little while lifting and see if this makes a difference over the long term.

I hope you find something that works out for you buddy.

 

[catalyst]

You could post both your training and your diet. We all tend to stagnate after a while as we fall into the trap of doing what is comfortable instead of what is necessary.