As a follow up to this thread, my back injury has completely healed. Time, Positive thinking and the ending of a stressful relationship brought about this change. I am so grateful that I can deadlift again, and give it my all in the gym without worrying about my back getting injured. For all of you out there with injuries keep your chin up and keep positive!
I completely separated my shoulder when snowboarding in mid January and had to have surgery. Im just now getting back into the gym, but still not at full strength. I’m still going to physical therapy which is helping a ton with getting me back to where I was. In the meantime I have been cutting a good amount of fat, and almost to my summer six pack
Ive got some lingering neck, hip, and ankle problems lingering from college I wrested in college and still have some stuff,
from then. And my work is physical too.
My neck is a mess, I have limited mobility- flexibility.
It makes it difficult to sleep- pull ups,
and any over head lifts became difficult.
My lower back is a mess too I have spina bifida occulta and it can make lots of movements hard.
I went to an excellent chiropractor worked with him in college and he changed my life. Later I went to a Rolfer. Or structural integration , she really helped- everything, my feet, my stance, my stride. my neck- shoulders.
Its very very painful, but worth it.
She moved back to Canada or I would still go.
Since then I took a full year off, I did something to my arm. And now am have some tendonitis. What I did to get over it- time off. Pilates, and yoga stretches and postures. Lots of ice, and I added swimming for some active recovery.
And as much as I want to push the big numbers
I really dont/cant.
I dropped back squats, I gave up judo, wrestling and BJJ. I can do this maybe 1 or 2x a month to keep my neck healthy. I added front squats, and the rolfer gave me some ab/lower back work that helps most of the Pilates work is very helpful. Basically I can do good, hard, work outs just not as heavy.
If you have not seen a ART practicionner or a good chiropractor see if you can try one.
kmc
Did somebody say injuries?
Mate I have a prolapse L3 that was touching the nerves to give me THE WORST pain down my back, gum, hammy and calf 
9months of treatments got me someway to getting better, Dr offered surgery then I had a ‘miracle’ weekend and everything got A LOT better. i started to OLift again, only with the bar, uping my weights by 5kg every 2 weeks.
I did 105/126Kg without squats @ 84kg because squating still hurt. New PB’s on from 100/120 after a year out with only 4months training. About 4 weeks later after that comp I found I could squat without pain.
I do a lot of back and ab exercises to help my back.
But yes I feel your pain completely. I wanted to hack off the leg the pain was that f0cking annoying…
See a Chiro. I was really sceptical but the one I saw was great. He was honest with me and said after a certain point he couldn’t improve my back anymore. The osteopath I saw was a steaming pile of crap.
I wish you a speedy recovery bro.
Koing
Chin up. At the age of 19, I could deadlift raw 530 lbs feet together and squat 470 lbs raw at a bodyweight of 165 lbs. I really hurt my back lifting and continued to hurt it for the next 2 to 3 years. It got so bad that I could not even bend over at all. I had no discernable structural problems with my back. I am going on 2 years with no back pulls. I think that you have to know your body and what works for you. Do yourself a favor and rest now.
When the back feels better start by learning what works for your body and do it. I have learned that my abs and hamstrings have continually been my limiting factor for my body. So I make sure and do a lot of stretching and ab work. I don’t train much anymore do to personal issues. But about 3 weeks ago I nailed a 460 lb deadlift and this past weekend I competed in a strongman meet with no back pulls/strains. So rest and learn.
Andrew,
I’ve been dealing with SI/Lower back pain for 4-5 months now. I’ve been to 2 different doctors, spent 2000 on chiropractic treatment, and NSAIDS. Chiro helped a little bit, but not significantly.
Start foam rolling, get ART, and focus on mobility and stability at the right joints. That said, read everything written by Eric Cressey, Mike Robertson, Michael Boyle, and Bill Hartman.
Many, if not all injuries happen when the body is unbalanced. Think of side to side asymmetries, synergistic dominance, lack of mobility and stability at different joints.
When I first injured myself while squatting after a long layoff, I could barely bend over to pick up a sock. I started reading stuff online and was looking for ways to treat the symptoms.
Big mistake. I thought inflammation and muscle strains might have been the problem. However, after spending countless hours reading from those authors I listed above, I was able to reduce my pain by 80-85% on my own.
Make sure you’re glutes are firing, focus on hip mobility, get soft tissue work done on the TFL, IT Band, quads, calves and etc, strengthen your “core” and see where that takes you.
Being injured made me realized that, you can only go so long without paying attention to the balance of your body before something goes wrong. I know this stuff is way general but its starting point.
Oh yeah,
After working on those things, I was able to go back and squat and deadlift. I make sure I properly warm up now though.
Do yourself a favor and pick up MM and I&O. Great stuff
Doesn’t seem like anyone caught my follow-up post on page 1. Whoops. This story’s ending is a happy one. Just wanted to share my experience, because as I found out, things often heal with time.
It being a lower back injury, I was quite discouraged by stories of lifelong pain. But here’s one lower back injury that did heal! After probably a year and a half of constant worry and many many reaggrivations, it has completely left me. That being said, I learned alot from it!
A few days ago I deadlifted the 1rm that injured me almost two years ago with much better form than the last time I did it. My body is also much more balanced strength wise this time around. It was definitely sweet, sweet victory.
Torn rotator cuff my freshman season of football in college 2nd game of year. out for season…
Recovered, came back next season ready to play, THEN
Thoracic nerve damage down my neck before the 1st game, out for season, then
I finally stayed healthy to play a game… 2 long years but i made it through…very frustrating but so glad its over…
Good luck
Find out whats weak and strengthen it. This is the key to recovery and surpassing your previous goals. Just because your body recovered and you can perform the lift again doesn’t mean you solved the problem in the first place. Find out the imbalance and correct it.
In the case of the back, strengthen the glutes and the hamstrings: reverse hypers, hypers, ghrs, romanian deadlifts, etc…
When you get back to your regular lifting program, emphasize good form and be conservative on your weight progressions and know when to deload to avoid further injury. I cannot tell you how many damn times I could have deloaded and avoided an injury just because I got plate hungry.
And above all, keep your body mobile and flexible. This is the key to reducing injuries.
I am back lifting heavy after years of being interrupted with lower back issues and a neck nerve injury affecting my entire shoulder/arm.
Tips:
Try everything there will be no magic bullet, it will be a combination of things.
Surgery is a very last resort ive seen people do it when all they needed was some stretching and strengthening
Dont listen to PT’s. MOST are clueless
Remember, pain is not ALWAYS a bad sign. It may be that your stretching out scar tissue etc
For your lower back i’d say the best bet is flexibility and core strength. Never listen to popular medical opinion of lifting heavy things with the legs, this only weakens your already atrophied area. Lift like your instinct tells you, bend over and pick the damn thing up. Other options:
Chiro
Yoga
ART
Hanging upside down to decompress and re-align
L5/S1 Lumbosacral spondylosis, L4/L3, L1/L2 Disc degeneration = tweaked back in a squat 1 year ago.
Couldn’t tie shoes, could hardly walk. Spent the last year recovering and getting almost back to where I was before.
P/T-- went once. Waste of time.
Found a Chiro with a CSCS and sports background who ‘understands’ that “You’ll never squat again” is not an acceptable answer.
Full details:
http://www.T-Nation.com/tmagnum/readTopic.do?id=2149580
An update: I injured myself deadlifting 425 that day almost two years ago. Since my injury healed I found a good chiropractor that works with alot of powerlifters/athletes. He’s helping me correct the misallignments I have and subsequently the muscular imbalances. The muscle tension scans were enlightening, as it seems that almost all my injuries have stemmed from this one cause.
Today I deadlifted 490 with relative ease, and much better form than I used to use. I’m stronger in every way than i’ve ever been. I’m also improving at a rapid rate!
For everyone who’s having a rough time with injuries, keep your chin up and continue taking care of yourself! I also recommend looking for a good honest chiropractor/doctor who will help you diagnose your problem, whether it will be in their hands to fix it or not.
That’s cool man. Add me to the list of people who had/have the same issue you had.
over a year off from deadlifting due to lower back pain; FROM deadlifting.
i’ve just stuck with training, my core, single leg stuff, foam rolling.
working at a desk job is really holding my progress back; so much to the point that i wanna quit! lol
[quote]B rocK wrote:
working at a desk job is really holding my progress back; so much to the point that i wanna quit! lol[/quote]
do you like your job?
i have a back injury that is starting to recover nicely so far, but i worked a job this summer that i KNOW held me back from healing, now i have two shifts left before i go to school but i sincerly wish i had quit it earlier…not just because of the back also because i fucking hate the job.
Something to consider maybe
Broke 500, awhile after thinking i’d never deadlift again. Injured myself doing a single of 425 back then. 500 with no pain at all now.
congrats Andrew on the PR.
i was wondering if you could share with us exactly how you got your injury healed (what kind of exercises did the doctor put you on, etc.).
many of us have had back injuries and could sure put your info to good use.
thanks.
A about two years ago I detached my labrum and tore my part of my rotator cuff in half. I was pretty much fucked for a long time. I lost just about all function in my left arm because it was too painful to move. I was getting about 3 hours a sleep a night and started to lose my mind. I had to wait about three months for surgery.
After surgery it took about 9 months before I could become active again, and I thought I would never train again. Well, I decided fuck that shit. There isn’t anything which can hold me back, and now I am the strongest I have ever been. I still get some pain in my shoulder and when I get old it will be royally fucked up, but you only live once. I would rather have a battered weathered body and be a grizzled sonofavbitch when I am 60, then be the epitome of old man health.
high rep low weight hyper extensions seem to really help my lower back muscles stretch out, especially those around the sciatic nerve whenever I feel a tweak in my back.