Training through and around Injury - Squat ATG

Apologies for the lack of activity recently, but I have myself been very busy and also injured. I injured my left adductor after a heavy session of squats. At first I thought it was just a pain that signals under training, but continuing to train made it worse.

Basically, the reason why I have the injury is due to muscle imbalance, where my left adductor was not relatively strong compared with my other leg muscles. This was a major blow to my progress.

How have I coped?
Fortunately the injury wasn't too bad, so a weeks rest was taken and I am currently actively recovering. I am now squatting Ass-to-grass (ATG) as opposed to parallel. I am doing this because it sets a threshold that can be met every time so that every workout is consistent in that the muscles that should be worked get worked on every rep. With parallel squats, it can be very easy to differentiate the 'hole' position each rep (It is difficult to keep consistent with the bottom position). ATG squats ensure you hit the very bottom every time. 

As I am recovering, I am having to use substantially lighter weights than before. Same workout principles though, lots of volume, make up for weight with reps. I vary the weight between sets, with reps ranging from 20 to singles.

Olympic Strength

Some of the strongest people on the planet are Olympic (oly) weightlifters. Some of you will be thinking, yeah that's obvious thy're the best at what they do, whereas others will wonder why; considering they aim to improve two lifts - the snatch (SN) and the clean and jerk (CJ). Although Met-RX have The World's Strongest Man Competition, traditionally the Olympic weightlifting champion is considered the strongest man in the world. 

Put it this way, many Oly lifters can get and hold a weight over their heads that is heavier than most people's mixed grip deadlifts.

The two lifts work the entire body, requiring flexibility, a ton of power and strength. Over the next few weeks I'll be looking into a few Olympic training principles. However, I do want to avoid the two lifts as its not something I'm particularly interested in performing myself.

Just an insight into the strength and power these guys/girls possess, take a look at Ivan Chakarov. The following video is almost 2 decades old yet he could casually squat ass-to-grass 3x Bodyweight for a triple - the result of determination, perseverance and damn hard work. Enjoy!