Hi to everyone. I want to know how many of you who read this site, especially the section (injuries and rehab), who had herniated disc (L5, S1) ever returned to training at the gym?. How did and they do it and what kind of exercise? What type of exercises they excluded from their previously training and what they brought back the current training? I’d like to hear some real stories. Thanks
I did my L5 S1 last june,
June - july : stopped training all together (yes upper body as well) for 2-3 weeks, at the time didnt even know that it was a bulging disc, learned it later in august. Used anti- inflammatory pills.
july - september: Dropped all forms of squats & deadlifts. Concentrated on bulgarian split squats & other lunges. At august i had an MRI after things weren’t feeling right for months and found out the bulge.
september- jan: Football season, so lifted 2-3 times a week, not much lower body, still single leg stuff
Jan: During 4 weeks winter break, i did front squats for the first time which felt good. So we can say got back to front squatting
Jan - march: Football season cont.
March - June: On top of front squats, i’ve added trap bar deadlifts and they were alright too.
And finally starting from this june, i started back squats & sumo deadlifts again. Although i started wearing a belt for heavy sets and try to keep my form perfect, my strength is still not where it was before but building back up.
Dont think i’ll ever get back to conventional deads anymore, doesnt worth the risk
What really made a difference for me was reverse hypers. I can say they literally saved my life. I was in hospital not being able to walk properly 20 days before my pre season. 2 weeks of 4x a week reverse hypers and i was back to full contact football.
Also i rolled out, stretched & mobilized everything, every day. This is very important as well, since something tight somewhere else can cause pain/discomfort in your lower back. In my case it was the glutes.
Also fully firing glutes during the main lifts is crucial as well
Hope it helps & dont listen to bullshit physios that tell you you’ll never get back
Mine said i should never deadlift more than 40-50 kgs… Now i have 315 x 5 sumo and 375 x 3 trap bar, coming from a 440 conventional.
Take things easy, dont jump back straight in to it.
I’d say first make sure your mobility & flexibility is amazing and strengthen your back and core with isolation exercises. Then make sure your form on the main lifts is perfect.
Thanks a lot for your post, I hope it will help me,All the best