Back Injury Experiences?

Training Powerlifting
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About two and a half months ago, I injured my low back (I’m thinking I pinched my L5-S1 nerve), likely during a set of suspended good mornings. At the time, I didn’t think it was a very severe injury, because I couldn’t tell that I’d injured it until the next day when I was driving in my car and noticed some tingling all the way down my leg. Since I didn’t even notice when I injured it, I figured within a few weeks or so, I’d be back in commission. However, this injury has persisted to be an issue, and while the tingling and other symptoms aren’t nearly as intense as they were, they’re still an issue, and I’m not able to do deadlifts, good mornings, RDLs, and a variety of other lifts.

There’s nothing I want more than to be able to lift heavy without further injuring myself. Have any of you had pinched nerves, bulging or herniated discs, or other such injuries? How severe were they, and how long did it take to get over? This injury is really starting to get me down and be an emotional burden, so I’m hoping some of you guys might share your experience and help me arm myself with some rational information.

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The best thing to do is see a doctor man, dont fuck around with back injuries.

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[quote]KurtMondaugen wrote:
About two and a half months ago, I injured my low back (I’m thinking I pinched my L5-S1 nerve), likely during a set of suspended good mornings. At the time, I didn’t think it was a very severe injury, because I couldn’t tell that I’d injured it until the next day when I was driving in my car and noticed some tingling all the way down my leg. Since I didn’t even notice when I injured it, I figured within a few weeks or so, I’d be back in commission. However, this injury has persisted to be an issue, and while the tingling and other symptoms aren’t nearly as intense as they were, they’re still an issue, and I’m not able to do deadlifts, good mornings, RDLs, and a variety of other lifts.

There’s nothing I want more than to be able to lift heavy without further injuring myself. Have any of you had pinched nerves, bulging or herniated discs, or other such injuries? How severe were they, and how long did it take to get over? This injury is really starting to get me down and be an emotional burden, so I’m hoping some of you guys might share your experience and help me arm myself with some rational information.[/quote]

Good thing that you come here asking for advice.

I have been through exactly the same thing, but perhaps even worse. I won’t go into detail, but for the first 3 months after the injury to my lower back I could not lift anything heavy at all. Then I started with front squats, and after about 12 months, I started back squats (before that it was painful), and then finally I could deadlift again after 15 months.

I was severely depressed in the beginning, I tought I could never lift heavy again. Actually I reinjured myself a couple of times because I went too heavy too early. Not smart…

Let time do its thing, and take it gradually. If you have the money, you can seek out experts, but expect it to take some time. In the meantime, train with alternative methods. It sucks, I know, but it is the only way.

You might not like to hear this, but actually you are a lucky man, because after you have healed from this, you will appreciate the ability you have to lift so much more, that it gives you another dimension that many other lifters don’t have.

I am 100% you will become well again, just let time do it’s thing.

– stallion

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[quote]BlackLabel wrote:
The best thing to do is see a doctor man, dont fuck around with back injuries.[/quote]

Rather if one is to see a doctor, one must see a doctor that understand the needs of a lifter. I went to a doctor when I got a lower back injury, and basically he did nothing, and he knew nothing.

I am not saying that one should not see a doctor, but many MDs know horseshit about lifting injuries, and/or do not understand the needs of a lifter.

In my case I simply did not have the money to seek out professional medical care after the initial consultation, so I tought basically I was fucked, luckily everything fixed it self by time.

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I too have fucked up my back not once, but about 10 times b/c I was stupid.

My advice is to do all of the following in this order too:

Take time off
See a Dr and get xray/mri
Get some PT done and figure WHY you hurt your back. could be a tight glute, weak hammie or something wrong with your IT band or something else
Find an ART person and work on said area
Restart training, very light.
No squats/deads/spinal compression/compromising lifts for as long as it takes (varies per person)
Get a really good warm up routine and ENGRAVE it into your training. look up Eric Cressey’s articles on here on stretching, warm ups and mobility.

If I were to follow my advice after my initial injury, I’d probably be back playing with heavy weight within 8mo to a year. Instead I fucked off, hurt myself in the gym a ton (as well as picking up my 5lb puppy) and am feeling good (fucking finally) about 2.5yrs later.

Dont’ fuck off. Be smart. But this is all just text, take from it what you will.

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Reverse Hyper

/thread

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[quote]coolnatedawg wrote:
Reverse Hyper

/thread[/quote]

If only I had access to one, or was able to improvise one…

Stallion, thanks for sharing your experience, and also serious respect on the squat videos you post. Were these videos from after your injury? If so, this gives me a lot of hope that I’ll be able to train heavy again.

Brock, that’s all some good advice. It’s sort of frustrating that when I injured my back, I was training specifically to avoid a back injury; strengthening my glutes, hamstrings, abdominals, correcting my anterior pelvic tilt, doing lots of soft tissue work, stretching, mobility, etc. I’ll definitely learn from your repeated re-injuries and take it cautiously.

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If you think that you’re pinching on your L5/S1, remember to check your pelvic tucking when squatting down that might be due to tight hamstrings. Hamstring flexibility is also important when it comes to back health. You see APT causing harm when standing from excessive arch, but when squatting down, PPT from tight hammies will cause your lower back to round.

I think that the sitting down on a chair position is a nightmare position: you shorten both your hip flexors and hamstrings, making your hips stiff like a brick.

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with respect to your hips/pelvic area tucking, i found that if i got to parralell that (with both squatting and pullin’) that my hips start to tuck under. so i have to watch that and be very
careful of it.

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[quote]stallion wrote:

[quote]BlackLabel wrote:
The best thing to do is see a doctor man, dont fuck around with back injuries.[/quote]

Rather if one is to see a doctor, one must see a doctor that understand the needs of a lifter. I went to a doctor when I got a lower back injury, and basically he did nothing, and he knew nothing.

I am not saying that one should not see a doctor, but many MDs know horseshit about lifting injuries, and/or do not understand the needs of a lifter.
[/quote]

True. Most docs (sports med orthopods) I’ve worked with weren’t good withe backs and weren’t good with lifters. I’ve seen a lot of good back docs, but as Stallion stated, they didn’t understand the needs of a lifter. Along with having a doctor familiar with the needs of lifters, it is important to find a good physio who understands the needs of the lifter.

It would be great if there were a thread or database that lists lifter friendly healthcare providers.

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Find a gym that has a reverse hyper or if you are serious about rehabbing the injury and lifting again, buy one. I think Westside barbell sells a home/econo version.

What has worked for me? Reverse hypers, foam rolling, ART, pull throughs. More recently band traction and band stretching. Hamstring and hip mobility/flexibility are key and the root of many back problems. That is something you can do on your own and often so try it. I know some guys who swear decompression therapy saved them but it didn’t do much for me. Good luck.

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[quote]anakayub wrote:
If you think that you’re pinching on your L5/S1, remember to check your pelvic tucking when squatting down that might be due to tight hamstrings. Hamstring flexibility is also important when it comes to back health. You see APT causing harm when standing from excessive arch, but when squatting down, PPT from tight hammies will cause your lower back to round.

I think that the sitting down on a chair position is a nightmare position: you shorten both your hip flexors and hamstrings, making your hips stiff like a brick.[/quote]

A very good call on the hip tucking on squatting. I used to have a lot of that, although before my injury it had been getting better (mostly due to a lot of training for core stability). Once I start squatting again, I will keep an eye out for any tucking. I don’t think I’ll be squatting for a while, though. I also think I have mildly tight hamstrings, so I’ll try to add more dynamic stretching.

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band traction and foam rolling, basically non stop all day. i fractured my L3 2 summers ago and it sucked. i’ve just recently been able to get back into squatting heavy weights.

I am glad it happened to me. Something that takes you out like a back injury would be enough reason for a normal person to give up the quest for strength. I’m going to get an 820lb deadlift in a few months. Fuck normal.

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[quote]StormTheBeach wrote:
band traction and foam rolling, basically non stop all day. i fractured my L3 2 summers ago and it sucked. i’ve just recently been able to get back into squatting heavy weights.

I am glad it happened to me. Something that takes you out like a back injury would be enough reason for a normal person to give up the quest for strength. I’m going to get an 820lb deadlift in a few months. Fuck normal.[/quote]

Congrats on such a huge pull, man.

A fracture must have been totally horrible. At least it’s reassuring that things like that heal eventually.

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Kurt, it seems you and I share the same injuries…

I have had a herniated L4-L5. Had surgery on it back in 93. If I didn’t have the scar, I would never know I had it. In 98 I herniated L5-S1. I rehabbed it (if I only knew in 93 what I knew in 98) by hanging from a pull up bar a lot. Doing dips, etc… and laying around. It was so bad if I stood too long my leg would burn and go numb. I stayed off my feet as much as possible but did everything I could do that didn’t aggravate it.

I since learned the importance of form, the importance of strong abs, and the importance of not having tight muscles. I also bought a reverse hyper pro and it sits in my garage gym and gets used whenever my back hurts… great investment because you can’t put a price on your back health or general health.

I wonder if the back problems caused hip problems…

I have found that actively contracting my hip flexors in the bottom of a squat helps with pelvic tucking…but aggravates them. Catch 22…

See a doc and take the time to heal… it’s the best you can do.

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I’ve been training through low back problems for many years. The best results I’ve had are from working with a chiropractor.

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Blake, it’s quite reassuring to hear you were able to rehab a full herniation. My injury is nowehre near as serious as yours were.

I also had an opportunity to talk to my uncle, who is a doctor, on Christmas. He’s going to refer me to a PT for my back and hip issues. I am glad to hear this, because at first, when I heard the suggestions of going to a doctor, it made me hesitant, because even if they take X-rays or other scans and figure out exactly what the issue is, it doesn’t really make any difference unless they’re going to do surgery. My injuries are nowhere near that serious.

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Full herniation of L5-S1, goop spilled out into the nerve channel. Flat on the back for 3 weeks limited mobility for 3 more. Dropped right foot numb toes all that good stuff.

As soon as I could sit upright got 3 opinions on it and an MRI. 1 wanted to operate immediately-ish, 1 left it up to me and the third said leave it alone.

I walked a mile and a half to that last appointment, foot flopping al the way.

As soon as I could be upright with enough pain to bear, I started seated and inclined upper body stuff. When I got to the point I could bend over some I started hip belt squats and body weight squats. When I could touch my toes I started up deadlifts again. I did a lot of spinal decompression stuff - laying over an exercise ball and rolling about on it. Mid body work: situps, side bends when possible.

If after a DL or SQ session it started hurting again I just pulled back and took extra days of rest or lightened the weight a bit.

2 years on I’m still setting PRs and despite what a Physical Therapist said to me (“You’ll never have 400 lbs on your back again”) I’m squatting around 400 lbs, DL 500+ on a good day and still moving up. Still have weakness in the leg and foot, but I do what I can do. It still hurts but I regard that as the price of my own stupidity in the first place, doing unsafe exercises sloppily.

I think the worst thing one can do is to stop lifting after the injury. The second worst is to take a Doctor’s word as gospel. Find out what you CAN do and do it. It often leads to being able to do more. It’s the accepting the limitation of injury that keeps you stuck.

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Slipped disk in september. Went down during DL warmups and got carted to the hospital where they filled me up with pain killers and muscle relaxants and sent me home. I started benching again two weeks later. i took 8 weeks of bench only. Every week id rack pull and squat the bar to see where i was at. after about 6 i could squat the bar without pain. i can also pull sumo without pain. no conventional until after my april meet. i think the key is to be smart, listen to the body. i went on squat from bar, 95, 135,185 etc and now am almost back where i was. hit a 565x2 in briefs two weeks ago. Just be smart, thats the best advice i can give you. hope it works out for you.