I am sorry for the book I’ve written. If you get bored while halfway through, glance to the left, stare at my avatar of Hayden Panettiere’s booty, and then continue reading when you feel rested. I’m in desperate need of guidance here and want to make sure all the details are out.
I’m concerned I may have royally messed myself up and don’t have many options for professional help.
After lifting for years, squatting about 350, I stopped about a year an a half ago. I was saving for a house and between working too much to go to the gym and spending too much for membership to justify it I decided to cancel. Also my house shopping included a dream of building a home gym.
So all the time off, working too much, etc, really did a number on my health, weight, and strength. I could feel myself falling apart and I put on around 30 or so lbs of lard. I already was nowhere near lean so I am in horrible shape now. I’m settled into my new house so I decided it was time to began to build my gym.
I ended up with a really sore back a few months ago after an 8 hour non-stop car ride followed the next day by another 8 hour ride back home. My mobility was shot and I was in pain all the time. It didn’t go away after a few weeks and I decided to speed up the gym build. I’ve always found light training to help with a sore back in the past.
Since taking so much time off, my first squat day I warmed up with a few reps with just the bar, getting back into the movement. I was stiff but after 20 reps with just the bar my back felt better than it had in weeks. I started putting weight on and doing a few more reps before upping the weight even more.
I didn’t get far. I hit 135 and after one rep I knew it didn’t feel right. I sat down for a few minutes and my back was worse than ever. Could hardly stand up. even laying down, only certain spinal positions didn’t hurt badly.
That was in early October. After a few months with little to no improvement and daily excruciating pain I had done a ton of reading. Based on the data I can find I think I must have a bulging or herniated disc. Its not muscular and it was not going away. December was a good month and it began feeling better. By about Christmas I was pain free. It seemed to have healed. I went back to squatting again, trying to be very very cautious.
Starting the week of Christmas, day one, body weight only. Three sets, about 20 reps, performed very slow. Lot’s of stretching before during and after. The next day, no pain, felt great. I used the bar only, slows reps, lots of stretching, no problem.
The week went on adding weight. I was sore a few days but it was clearly DOMS from lack of training. I didn’t let it slow me down. Last week, on Wednesday, I hit 125. Loaded the weight, unracked it, and I knew. Something didn’t feel right. Went through with one rep anyway but that was probably not a good idea.
Sure enough, I’m almost right back where I started. After a few days its not as bad as it was. I have mobility but I can still feel the pain when I sit a certain way or move just right. I popped in my Magnificent Mobility DVD today and went through some drills. I am functional. I did a few sets of barbell only squats. I feel OK.
Emotionally though, I am beat down. The last few months have been the most painful of my life. Waking up to the pain and dealing with it all day is just a constant mental drain more than anything.
It seems endless like I’m cursed to have a spine that will never support more than 100 lbs. Gaining so much weight and being clearly in the worst physical shape of my life is bad too. On top of that I have a newly built home gym getting little use because I cannot support more than 100 lbs.
How does one recover from this type of injury without a doctor? I have no insurance and little money to spare. I started V-diet last week trying to shed the extra weight. I’m 8 lbs lighter than I was last week.
I know I’ll not do well in the muscle area on this diet but I need to shed the extra weight for the health of my back. I know that. I’m also going to continue with the Mobility drills, dynamic stretching, etc. I definitely have lost a ton of strength and flexibility in areas that are clearly dangerous to my health.
Besides that, I suppose I just need to go even slower on the squatting. Lift every few days adding 5 lbs each session? That will give me a month or more of every time, training, mobility drills, and healing before hitting the 125 weight that triggered the reinjury.
Am I going wrong anywhere here? What kind of rehab have other members gone through? I have no experience with rehabbing anything. I also have no been to see a doctor in 15 years. That was for a physical so I could play high school sports. I don’t plan to go to one now.
Thank You all for any help or insight you provide.