BACK-SJ | Go The Distance — 20-Week Comeback

THE

Card

In the gym? Open it, do it. Pick your week and day — every line is the full prescription (sets · reps · load · how), no scrolling. Tap "why »" on any line to jump down to the deep explanation. Your training maxes are pre-filled (last camp's numbers) so the weights show in real kilos — and they auto-progress each 4-week block, like 5/3/1 is meant to. Edit any of them under "Set maxes." Everything below (RD·00 down) is the manual for the days you want the full story.

RD · 00

The Fighter & The Opponent

189cm

Reach / Height

93kg

Walk-in Weight

Cover Fullback

20wk

The Full Fight

5–6/wk

Training Days

2/wk

Physio · Separate

THE MISSION: Not to manage the groin — to solve it. Beat the pubalgia by loading it back to health, rebuild a robust left ankle, and arrive at the healthy season fit, strong and hard to break.

🥊 Scouting Report — The Opponent

Case File · Left Groin · "The Thing That Won't Quit"

Left Groin · main event

Adductor tendinopathy at the pubis + low-grade fibrillar strain of the adductor longus. Doha class: adductor-related groin pain.

Both Hips · the terrain

Cam morphology (FAI) both sides — worse on the RIGHT, the pain-free side. So the bone isn't the driver; it's a shared-load co-factor.

Left Ankle · the old scar

ORIF after a distal-fibula fracture, 3 yrs ago. Stiff link — and it's on the same side as the groin. Lost dorsiflexion dumps load up-chain onto the pubis.

The Tale of the Tape

On & off ~1 year. Not limiting — you play through it, just sore the next day if you push. That's exactly why it never healed: under-loaded, not over-used.

Doctor's read: no improvement felt for ~4 weeks · improving but not fully recovered until ~16. The worst thing you can do is stay still. STRENGTHEN glute med + max, adductors, hamstrings, lower abs · STRETCH psoas, adductors, paravertebrals · yoga. — This plan is built on exactly that.

RD · 01

The Fight Plan

Three acts across 20 weeks. The spine of the whole thing is one idea: a strong adductor is a protected adductor — active loading beats rest and beats the passive machines (that's what the physio's magneto is: a helpful adjunct, not the cure). Copenhagen adduction is the driver; the morning squeeze-test is the gauge. When it's sore you pull the cutting / kicking / frontal-plane volume — never the strength.

Weeks 1–4 · out of season

Act I
Base Camp

Build the base. Up to 6 days, no matches. You won't feel better yet — and that's the plan.

Weeks 5–16 · in season

Act II
Go The Distance

The long grind. Train Wed, play Sat/Sun, load the groin round by round while the season runs.

Weeks 17–20 · in season

Act III
Title Fight

Healthy. Performance S&C + a minimal prevention dose you keep for life.

🔔 WEEK 4 — First Flicker. Don't expect relief here. The tissue is adapting silently. Staying patient is the work — no ramping out of impatience.

🔔 WEEK 16 — The Bell. Doctor's & the literature's "recovered" mark: same loads, minimal-to-no next-day soreness. Pass the return-to-play gates and it's over.

RD · 02

The Three Acts

Ring the bell to scout each act's training week. Every day, in every act, assumes the daily baseline: morning squeeze-check · adductor isometrics · 8–12 min mobility (psoas half-kneel, cat-cow, supine twist, supported adductor, knee-to-wall + calf) · a 5-min dynamic warm-up before any lifting. The 2 physio sessions/week slot in separately.

RD · 03

Corner Work — The Repair

The rehab spine. Load is the medicine — but graded, monitored, never spiked. Everything below is gated by the squeeze-test (RD·04). Golden order of operations: earn each step, don't skip to it. The adductor pulls the pubis down; the abdominals pull it up — so we train the anterior wall as hard as the adductor.

① The Adductor — isometrics → Copenhagen → cable

🩹 Adductor Isometrics — early pain relief + entry load

Block	Lever	Dose	Effort	Frequency
W1–2	Short only — ball between the knees, hips/knees bent	5 × 30–45 s holds	60–70%	1–2×/day
W3–4	Long-lever (ball at ankles, legs straight); add 45°	5 × 30–45 s	70–80%	1×/day
W5–20	Long-lever	5 × 30–45 s	Hard	Pre-training & pre-match primer

🥊 Copenhagen Adduction — the driver (earn every level)

Block	Level	Sets × reps	Freq	Gate to start / advance
W1–2	None yet — isometrics only	—	—	Short-lever iso pain-free first
W2–4	L1 knee-support hold → L2 lift bottom leg (iso-biased)	2 × 6/side	2×/wk (up to 2–3 off-season)	Short-lever iso ≤3/10, settled by next AM
W5–8	L3–L4 long-lever (foot on bench)	2–3 × 8/side	Mon/Tue · 1×/wk congested weeks	0° + 45° squeeze ≤2/10
W9–12	L5 raised → L6 full eccentric (3 s lower)	3 × 10–12/side	2×/wk, early week	Squeeze ≤2/10 before any full-lever eccentric
W13–16	Full Copenhagen	3 × 12–15/side	1×/wk maintenance	—
W17–∞	Full — for life	3 × 8–12/side	1×/wk forever (prevention)	—

THE CABLE RULE: direct standing cable / machine hip-adduction starts in W5 — NOT before. In W1–4 the only direct adductor work is isometrics (+ the iso-biased Copenhagen from W2). From W5: cable on the left ankle, adduct across midline, 3–5×10, 1 s in / 3 s out, heaviest pain-free load, 2–3×/wk non-consecutive; +5–10%/wk only as the squeeze test allows. The machine is the same tool with a dial you control — start light (3×15, 3 s lower), build to 3–4×8–12 by W8–12.

② The Supporting Cast — doctor's strengthen list

💪 Build These — they offload the pubis

Target	Weapons	Dose & 16-week progression
Glute medius	Side-lying abduction (heel-led) → mini-band walks → standing cable abduction	W1–4 3×12–15 near-daily + band walks; W5–12 cable 3×10–12, 2–3×/wk; W13+ heavy 3×8. Keeps the adductor:abductor ratio honest — but only chase it once adduction loads (W5+).
Glute maximus	Hip thrust (shallow ~90°, finish in posterior tilt + squeeze) → B-stance / single-leg	W1–4 bridges → SL bridges; W5+ 3–4×8–12, 2×/wk. Pure hip extension — safe for the cam, safe for the adductor.
Hamstrings	Nordic curl (build off-season so the DOMS lands with no matches) + RDL / trap-bar → single-leg RDL	W1: 2×5 → W2: 2×6 → W3: 3×6–8 → W4: 3×8–10; in-season 1×/wk, always ≥48 h from a match (Mon). Halves hamstring-injury risk.
Rectus abdominis / anti-rotation	Dead-bug + TA draw-in, plank → body-saw, Pallof, ab-wheel/fallout, reverse crunch / 90-90 heel lowers	Dead-bug near-daily; the rest 3×/wk. Avoid straight sit-ups / full crunches early (they spike the symphysis). Hanging knee-raises later, below the pinch.
Left ankle (post-ORIF)	Knee-to-wall DF drill, straight + bent-knee calf raises, seated soleus, tibialis, balance → plyo readiness	Daily W1–4, then maintain. Close the L↔R gap to <1.5 cm · build to ~25 clean single-leg heel raises left before left-side plyos.

The science: Hölmich's landmark RCT — active adductor strengthening beat passive treatment for return to sport. The Copenhagen Adduction program (Harøy, BJSM) cut groin problems ~41% in footballers and builds the exact eccentric adduction strength that's missing. The Nordic curl roughly halves hamstring injuries. Warwick agreement / FASHIoN trial: structured physio is the correct first line for cam-FAI — the bone is not a sentence.

RD · 04

The Squeeze Test

Your daily dashboard and the gate on everything. Lie on your back, squeeze a ball / your fist (a blood-pressure cuff is even better) between the ankles/knees and rate the left groin 0–10 — at 0° (legs straight) and 45° (peak-force, knees bent). Log pain and how it compares to the right. Decisions come from 0° and 45° — a 90° test can pinch the cam and confound the reading, so treat it as context only. Test every morning, and the morning after every match or hard session.

🟢 Green

≤3/10 and back to baseline by next morning. Keep loading — or progress one step (one variable at a time).

🟡 Amber

4–5/10 but settling within 24 h. Hold the level. Add NO cutting / kicking volume this week.

🔴 Red

>5/10, lasting >24–48 h, or climbing week-on-week. Drop one level + add a rest day.

THE ONE-LINE RULE — WHEN IT'S SORE: pull the frontal-plane volume — cutting, kicking, lateral bounds — and the adductor-dominant lifts (squat depth, split squats, single-leg RDL). Keep the non-adductor barbell strength — hip thrust, trap-bar, press, row. You never stop lifting; you steer the groin load. Because there's a tendinopathy in there, low stable pain (≤3–4/10) that settles by morning is OK to train and play on — pain-free is not required.

Return-To-Play Gates

Pass these ~W13–16 before you call it "solved."

Pain-free through the battery: palpation, resisted adduction, adductor stretch, full sprint, cutting/T-test, sport-specific kicking, full-effort adduction.
Squeeze symmetry: left ≥ ~90% of right · adductor:abductor ≥ 0.90 (target 1.0–1.1).
HAGOS ≥ 75/100 on all subscales (re-check W1/4/8/12/16/20).
A full team training + a match with no next-day flare.

Red Flags — Regress / See The Doc

Not everything is "push through it."

Sharp / stabbing (not dull) pain during a kick or cut → stop, regress a tier.
Morning pain >5/10 not settling in 24–48 h, or worse week-on-week despite easing.
Squeeze strength dropping / asymmetry widening despite loading (possible true tear).
Pain at the midline pubic bone, or on cough / sneeze / sit-up, or a bulge → rule out hernia.
Deep front-hip catch / click / lock / C-sign clutch → get the hip assessed; don't force deep pivots.
No change at all by ~8–10 weeks of honest loading → re-image / re-assess, don't grind on.

RD · 05

Loosen The Chains

Coach's recommendation (your call): you asked for my take on the yoga — here it is. A short daily mobility habit plus a 15–20 min flow 1–2×/week (2–3× out of season). It's the adjunct wrapped around the loading, not the cure. Two hard rules for you specifically: (1) keep all left-adductor lengthening gentle, supported, pain-free (≤3/10) — a reactive tendon wants load, not aggressive stretch; (2) your cam hips hate loaded deep flexion + internal rotation + adduction, so favour hip extension (psoas) and skip the deep end-range poses. Swap for a real class/app if you'd rather — the targets stay the same.

Note to you & the physio: the doctor said "stretch the adductors," and we're deliberately keeping that gentle and supported early (loaded lengthening via Cossacks comes later, ~W6+). That's an intentional, evidence-based tweak — not ignoring the order. Static dose: 30–45 s × 2–3, most days, after training. Pre-match = dynamic only.

Iliopsoas · #1 Yield

Extension moves the hip away from the cam — lean in.

Half-kneeling hip-flexor stretch WITH a posterior pelvic tilt — tuck the tailbone / squeeze the down glute before you lean, torso vertical.
Do not arch the low back and shove the hips forward (that cranks the spine you were told to lengthen).
W1–4 floor → W5–12 rear foot on a bench (couch stretch) → W13+ add an overhead reach + contract-relax.

Adductors · gentle now

Load-led, not stretch-led — especially the left.

Reclined bound-angle (Supta Baddha Konasana) with bolsters under BOTH knees so the hips barely open — 60–90 s, left tension ≤3/10.
Early on this replaces aggressive butterfly / frog — the thing to avoid is hard end-range stretch on the reactive left adductor (that's your actual symptom, not the cam).
From ~W6+: bodyweight Cossack squats — loaded lengthening at partial depth, knee over toe — as the left tolerates.
From ~W6+: weighted bound-angle (your "indio con KB" — light KBs on the knees) — the loaded progression of the reclined version. Light load, left ≤3/10, ease on the exhale. Not in weeks 1–4.

Paravertebral · lumbar

"Tapa vertebrales" — the low-back muscles.

Cat-Cow 6–10 slow cycles (a warm-up staple).
Supine gentle twist 30–45 s/side — knees together and low, no cranking into deep rotation.
Modified child's pose (bolster under the chest, knees together) for lumbar length, not hip depth.

Hip Rotation & Control

Physio's add-on — the gap this plan didn't cover.

90/90 switches 6–8 slow reps/side + a 20–30 s hold each way — restores hip internal + external rotation.
90/90 active front-leg lift 2 × 6/side — turns that new range into control.
Quadruped hip CARs 3–5 slow circles/side — own the full pain-free range.
Hip airplane 3 × 5/side — single-leg rotational control (bonus: feeds the left ankle).
Cam rule: active > passive · all pain-free · never crank the back hip into deep internal rotation — a front-hip pinch (C-sign) = back out. 2–3×/week or as a lifting warm-up.

🧘 The 15–20 min FAI-safe Flow — hold 5–8 breaths each, ease on the exhale

#	Pose	Target / cue
1	Cat–Cow ×6–8	Spine warm-up
2	Low Lunge (Anjaneyasana)	Psoas — posterior-pelvic-tilt cue, don't arch
3	Half Splits (Ardha Hanumanasana)	Hamstrings — soft front knee, hinge don't round
4	Downward Dog (pedal the feet)	Posterior chain + ankle dorsiflexion
5	Warrior II	Wide open-hip stance (external rotation) — cam-safe
6	Triangle (Trikonasana) *	Adductor + lateral chain. Add from ~W9; rest/short the LEFT before that
7	Open low-lunge twist	Gentle thoracic rotation — rotate away, knee stays put
8	Supine figure-4 (reclined pigeon)	Glute / external rotators, no joint compression
9	Supta Baddha Konasana (props under knees)	Supported adductors + hip flexors
10	Supine gentle twist	Paravertebrals / QL
11	Modified child's pose → short Savasana	Down-regulate

SKIP / HEAVILY MODIFY (cam, both hips): deep Lotus / half-lotus · cranked end-range Pigeon (use the supine figure-4) · deep Malasana squat & Frog · Revolved Chair / deep revolved lunges (flexion + IR + twist) · hard knees-to-chest compression. Golden rule: a sharp, deep pinch at the front of the hip (the C-sign clutch) is impingement — back out immediately, that is not a stretch to push through. * Triangle stretch-loads the left adductor and side-bends over the stance leg — the exact motion we're protecting — so it waits until the left is loading pain-free.

RD · 06

The Iron

You still get strong through all of this — you just steer around two things: the cam pinch (loaded deep flexion + internal rotation) and the healing left adductor. Run a 5/3/1-style wave off a conservative Training Max (~90% of a pain-free 1RM) so intensity self-regulates and low frequency survives alongside football. In-season, protect match day: 2 lifting days, heaviest lower early in the week. The Card up top turns these waves into real kilos and steps your Training Max up +5 kg (squat / deadlift) or +2.5 kg (bench / press) each 4-week block automatically.

★ The Waves — % of Training Max

Wave	Set 1	Set 2	Top Set	Note
A · 3×5	65×5	75×5	85×5+	Rebuild volume
B · 3×3	70×3	80×3	90×3+	Intensify
C · 5/3/1	75×5	85×3	95×1+	Peak — in-season, cap AMRAP at 2–3 reps in reserve
D · deload	40×5	50×5	60×5	Every 4th week / congested weeks

Green-Light Lifts

Hip extension = kind to the cam and the groin.

Hip thrust — your safest heavy option. Load it freely; progress to B-stance / single-leg.
Trap-bar deadlift — upright torso, less flexion & lumbar shear.
RDL → single-leg RDL — hamstrings + paravertebrals.
Box squat to a symptom-free depth, heels on a 5–10 mm wedge (also fixes the stiff ankle), stance ~shoulder-width, toes out 15–30°. Set the box ~1–2 cm above where the front-hip pinch starts; lower it a few cm every 2–3 wk only if fully pain-free.
RFE split squat / step-up 3×8–12/leg — fix the L↔R gap; allow a small heel lift on the left.

Handle With Care

Not banned — just not now, or not deep.

No chasing ATG depth or 1RM PRs during rehab — depth is earned by pain-free weeks, not the calendar.
Defer heavy SUMO deadlift — its wide stance loads the adductor magnus you're rehabbing. Light only in W17–20 if you want it.
Low-bar (more hinge, less deep flexion) is a fine, slightly cam-gentler alternative to high-bar — either works with the depth cap.
In a flare, these adductor-dominant lifts get modulated too (shorter range / lighter), per RD·04.

🏋️ Lifting Structure By Act

Act	Lifting days	Shape
I · W1–4	3–4	Build + rehab window. Lower (box squat + RDL + glute-med + core) · Posterior/push (hip thrust + trap-bar + split squat + abduction + Nordic build + core) · Upper (press/row/bench + core). Stagger new stimuli — don't turn Nordic, Copenhagen, squats & hinge all on in week 1.
II · W5–16	2	Protect the match. Mon heavier lower (box squat wave, capped AMRAP + hip thrust + cable adduction + abduction + core + Nordic ≥48 h from match). Thu hinge/upper (trap-bar or RDL + split squat + rows/press + curl + 2nd abduction dose + one anti-rotation set). Hardest Copenhagen early week.
III · W17–20	2–3 + power	Add jumps / med-ball / trap-bar speed pulls, single-leg hops, reactive cutting. Optionally reintroduce a little deeper squat / light sumo. Copenhagen drops to 1×/wk maintenance — forever.

RD · 07

Reintroducing The Fight

The football actions that load the groin come back in a fixed order, each gated by the squeeze test — 0° and 45° ≤2/10, gym adduction pain-free & climbing, morning soreness back to baseline. Change one variable at a time (angle → speed → volume), cap increases ~10–15%/week. Kicking is the highest adductor risk — it comes last.

Aerobic base & linear running — the furnace

Runs through the whole plan — W1–4 builds the chronic-load base that makes everything else safe. This is the one kind of fitness you can push freely while the groin heals: keep Zone 2 (30–45 min, conversational) frequent and add volume when the week allows. Want more air? Reach for extensive tempo (straight-line 8–12 × 60–100 m @ ~70–75%, walk back — big aerobic hit, no cutting / kicking load) and the bike — your secret weapon for hard intervals that spare the groin entirely. Straight-line before anything multidirectional.

Change of direction — the arc ladder

Start when 0° + 45° squeeze ≤2/10 (~W5+): large-arc curved runs → 45° → 90° → 110° → 180° cuts. Begin ~6–10 changes at 60–70%. Stay upright, drive the pelvis to turn — don't side-bend the trunk over the stance leg or force deep flexed pivots. Reactive/mirroring cuts come last (~W13–16).

Sprint & deceleration build

Strides 60→70→80→90→95% across sessions before any max sprint. Planned decelerations first, then reactive. Your stiff left ankle shifts braking load up-chain — build the brakes deliberately (~W9–12 strides → W13–16 max sprint + max decel).

Kicking ladder — LAST

Short inside-foot passes 10–15 m → medium 20–30 m → driven/long balls → max instep shots. Start ~20–30 reps at 50–60%; advance effort → distance → volume, only when the next-morning squeeze stays green. Long switches / max clearances (your CB pattern) normalise ~W12–16. Never max-kick the day before a match.

THE LOAD GUARDRAIL: log RPE × minutes each session. Keep this week vs your rolling 4-week average between 0.8 and 1.3, never over 1.5 (spikes are what re-tear groins). Your top spike risks: a second weekend match, a midweek friendly, or a heavy long-kicking session dumped onto a match week — say no to those. The ratio only becomes meaningful once you've banked ~3–4 weeks of history (from ~W4).

RD · 08

The Corner

Reading The Body

"It ain't about how hard you hit…"

The recovery signal isn't day-to-day pain — it's the same load producing less next-day soreness across the 20 weeks.
Morning squeeze + 24-h soreness steer the next week (RD·04). Test after every match.
Order of cuts when tired: extra field volume → cutting/kicking → adductor-dominant lifts. Last thing you skip: the warm-up, isometrics & squeeze-check.
Re-test the ankle (knee-to-wall cm + heel-raise reps) every 2–4 weeks and close the gap.

Fuel & Recovery

Tendons adapt on sleep, not supplements.

Weight isn't part of this plan (that's your separate cut) — but for the record, lighter = less hip/groin joint load. Trimming toward your 90 → 87.5 kg goal helps.
Go gradual during the heavy rehab blocks (W1–16) — don't crash-diet through the loading window or you'll cost strength & tendon repair. Chase the lower number harder in Act III.
Protein ~2 g/kg to protect lean mass and feed tendon/muscle repair.
Sleep 7.5–9 h — the whole 16-week timeline runs on it. Carbs around Wed training + the match. Creatine 5 g/day is a fine, cut-friendly adjunct.

HARD RULES: load, don't rest — but never spike · earn every progression with the squeeze test, don't skip to it · one new variable at a time · when sore, pull the frontal-plane & kicking volume, keep the non-adductor strength · a sharp front-hip pinch = back out, that's the cam · no felt change at week 4 is success, not failure · the maintenance dose (Copenhagen 1×/wk + squeeze check) is for life — that's what stops the relapse.

GO THE
DISTANCE.

Back-SJ · 20-Week Comeback · Statics Console Inc.

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