Coming Back From Back Injuries

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
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Hi guys,

I’m a 94 kg lifter, been training consistently for 4-5 years. Last year I accomplished a 125 kg snatch and 152 C&J @ 92 kg in competition.

However, shortly after I had some issues in my life and couldn’t train properly, as a result I was not stretching, training with focus and having enough time to “enjoy” the sport. I started to feel some pain in my lower back, went to the doctor, they found a very small disc bulge in L5-S1. I stopped training for 9 months, did lots of stretching and swimming, and slowly it went away.

Right now I’m trying to come back to where I was. My question is if any of you had this type of spine injuries, how this affected your training and how did you cope with it?

-What kind of exercises do you do to keep your spine healthy?
-Do you take any special care when doing the lifts?
-Is it ok to feel some discomfort from time to time?
-Any advice to keep things going well?

Right now I’m starting light, I’m going to the pool to do some light swimming two times a week and training three-four times a week. My body is responding well, I’m doing squats with 100kg easily, but I’m afraid of overdoing it.I did some research on the forum and found some threads, but almost all of them are from guys who injured themselves squatting or doing other things (not oly)

Any advice/experience will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks

-Rottweiler-

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2004 I hurt my back doing a DL that I should have gave up on, but didn’t. End result my L4 is bulged. Huge discomfort for months (couldn’t touch the floor, I was at least a foot away, where before the injury I could touch palms flush without stretching, crazy pain when coughing or sneezing). It wouldn’t go away, 9months of rehab, seeing a chiro and one miracle weekend the pain died away a lot, started to lift again and I hit PBs pretty soon. Granted I was at 100/ 120 at the time so I made a few kgs on each lift.

Tips:
-HAMMER AB WORK OUT. By this I mean heavy decline ab work out, do them weighted later on.
-Wear a belt. I use to NEVER wear a belt and even after my injury I didn’t and it would relapse sometimes and it would just go and I’d be out of action for 2 weeks or so. I only started to wear a belt in 2011 and it has hugely cut down on the number of times my back has gone.
-Keep up with the stretching
-Discomfort is going to be part for the course. Early on it use to be painful but I think you just get use to the pain or it dies down a bit? You either want to lift or you don’t. Just manage the pain and get on with it.

I am not a Dr!!! The Dr wanted to operate on my back but I wanted to not do surgery as no one has ever recovered from back surgery to hit their old PBs let alone make new PBs.

Good luck and you can hit PBs! Last year I hit 128/ 158 at 97

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Hi Koing,

Thanks for the advice! A couple of questions:

Regarding the belt,

-Do you use it all the time, heavy stuff, or just PB attempts? Only C&J or also Snatches?

Regarding the Ab work,

-Many people told me to do tons of it, I’ll probably do some before lifting to warm up and the main part of it after training to keep my abs fresh for lifting.

Stretching is always good…
As for the pain, you either want to lift or you don’t (like you said) Actually my back feels better after training than before (I’m pretty sure it has to be with the hamstring stretch when front squatting, etc).

Again, thanks for the input, and keep up with the good work! Your numbers are solid

-rottweiler-

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y0 brotha, i effed up my lower back when I was 18… suffered for years… In time i learned to work around it and accept it. I workout most of my body like a beast. im 31 now and i just started doing barbell squats again for the first time in 13 years. I had several relapses which were freak’ish. The last time was when i played handball at age 23… couldnt walk for months, i was afraid to do cardio or workout and gained over 70 lbs… i fought through it and bounced back. I see it like this, you and only you know your limitations. Slowly work your way up. Only certain workouts will aggravate or provoke a relapse. find out which ones do that to you, and from there just be careful and be patient. if you cant do a certain workout, forget about it and move on.

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[quote]-Rottweiler- wrote:
Hi Koing,

Thanks for the advice! A couple of questions:

Regarding the belt,

-Do you use it all the time, heavy stuff, or just PB attempts? Only C&J or also Snatches?

Regarding the Ab work,

-Many people told me to do tons of it, I’ll probably do some before lifting to warm up and the main part of it after training to keep my abs fresh for lifting.

Stretching is always good…
As for the pain, you either want to lift or you don’t (like you said) Actually my back feels better after training than before (I’m pretty sure it has to be with the hamstring stretch when front squatting, etc).

Again, thanks for the input, and keep up with the good work! Your numbers are solid

-rottweiler-
[/quote]

Belt I use to only wear when squatting but the past 18months I’ve been wearing it for all of my OLifts. Once I put the belt on, it doesn’t come off until I finish my exerise. So I put it on for the warm ups on the squats and it stays until I finish. Same with the Sn and CJ. I only take it off afterwards. I have BS 201 without a belt and FS 180 without a felt, tripled 170. My trunk isn’t going to get much stronger and wearing the belt just makes me safer. I have only had one relapse in the past 2yrs.

Decline sit ups with weights is my go to exercise for abs.

Oh yeah I do 2 sets of good mornings with just the bar before I start squats and olifts. This is after my dynamic stretches at the start of the session.

A good exercise I like to do it lay on my front and have my heels touch my bum alternately. I do this about 20x. Then I have my knees bent at 90* and have my heels go either side of my body. I do this slowly and controlled. Repeat for 20x. I then do the same but on my back so my knees and ankles are raised parallel to the floor. They go either side of my body. Repeat.

Try changing your sleeping position as well. Do not sleep on your front if you can avoid it, it really hyperextends your back as your hips tilt forwards.

Good luck and keep it up. You will be able to hit new PBs :slight_smile:

Koing