No Pain No Gain

Training Training Logs
841

[quote]frozenkilt wrote:
Normal? Ok, in the interests of full disclosure I’ll preface this with “If you don’t actually have a bulged disc, it won’t take as long.” but it probably took a solid 18 months before “normal” kicked in fully. I was probably back to mostly normal within 4 months, but I never really felt as stable as before and there were a few relapses in there until the 18 month mark when I finally discovered reverse planks and my whole core stabilized literally within a week or two.

The injury happened in January of 2007. I got back to full normal in June of 2008. I got back into the full swing of mostly heavy training in September of 2009 (I spent September 2008-March 2009 actually focusing on conditioning for a changeup). 2010 was a full on year, no problems, lots of strength, etc.

So short answer: longer than you want.

First thing you HAVE to do is figure out what you did, though. And I would actually avoid your chiro until then. If you have an actual disc issue, you don’t want manipulation through your spine. You need a good sports physiotherapist and if possible some traction to relieve the pressure.

Then it’s a matter of fixing the damage.[/quote]

Each realignment starts with 10mins or so of traction

842

[quote]frozenkilt wrote:
Oh shit, you’re laughing then. I don’t trust many chiros, but if yours has that down, stick to it.

This is good stuff here:

Read, study and try out anything Stuart McGill has on youtube.

But above all else, find whatever DOESN’T hurt and keeps you from losing your mind. You’re in balls out rehab mode now. Look for coming out of this at full strength, not getting back into it as soon as humanly possible.

Much, MUCH better to take the time, even if it’s 6 months (not saying it will be, but patience is your friend here), find what you did wrong, find out how to fix it, find out how to solidify it and come back a bigger and better monster.

Serious back injury isn’t the stopping point, but it’s a life-changing event. You’ll come out of it smarter and stronger, but give yourself the time to do it.

Go through your 7 stages, but hit ‘Acceptance’ fast. It’ll help.[/quote]

Dude I’m not saying you’re a hypochondriac or anything, but 6 months? Are you serious? I have injured my back a few good times and I would have cleared out my ears with a handgun if I had taken 6 months off from training.

Just find what doesn’t hurt and train around it, strengthening your weak points in the process. Its not rocket surgery.

843

<<frozenkilt has asked the mods to delete his comment which this was a response to…not sure why, I guess he didn’t want his words immortalized here forever. But it was something to the effect that he “didn’t say to take 6 months off” and that he “trained twice a day durin his injury”, something about how I must not know what I’m talking about since I’ve injured myself a couple times, and something about how I only read “the scary parts of his post”…hope this puts my response in context>>

/edit

Sorry, I should have defined what I mean by “training”…I don’t consider it showing up to the gym and fiddle farting around, regardless of how many trips to the gym per day…I consider it going in and doing actual work and getting stronger.

I don’t need to listen to your advice because I have rehabbed mine just fine–injuries are going to happen when you push yourself and no amount of prehab or caution is going to prevent that. My back is stronger now than it has ever been and my training has not suffered as a result of it, so I’m not really sure what you think I should be “scared” of.

I’ve missed 2 weeks of training (completely) during my two back injuries, and within a month after that I was back pushing PR’s again. There is absolutely no reason to put your progress on hold for nearly two years as a result.

844

Hey, man. You got it all figured out. Have at it.

845

[quote]frozenkilt wrote:
Hey, man. You got it all figured out. Have at it.[/quote]

Agreed

<>

846

I wrenched my back pretty good before and only took a week or so off. This is different though. I am worried about the shape of my spine moreso than the pain (though it shouldn’t hurt to roll over in bed 10 days after I hurt it). It’s hard to explain without seeing it. I’ll try to upload tonight.

847


Imagine that my spine then goes straight up and down out of the top of the pic. See what I mean how it’s curved in the lower back and doesn’t attach straight?

848

4320×3240 2.87 MB

Hard to take a picture to demonstrate it given camera angles and the funky lighting in my room. But in this pic I am standing straight up and how it feels natural.

849

3240×4320 3.12 MB

Try again

850

[quote]scj119 wrote:
Imagine that my spine then goes straight up and down out of the top of the pic. See what I mean how it’s curved in the lower back and doesn’t attach straight?[/quote]

Hey man, was just lurking in the logs and noticed you were having back issues. My spine X-ray resembled that picture except a little worse. Is either side (or boths sides) of your back in spasm? i.e. if someone touches that side, does it feel hard as a rock? In my case , the muscle on one side was super tight (highly spasmed) and pulled my spine out of alignment. I just got surgery and since the muscle spasm is relieved, my post surgery x-ray is almost 100% straight.

Physical therapy and chiro can help if they hook you up to the stim/electrode machines. It helps relieve the tightness on the back muscle which could be pulling your spine out of alignment. Massage helps too.

I’m not sure what arrangement you have with your chiro but I’ve been to a few in my time. They ALL want you in 3 days a week in the beginning. For me, I think it’s because they know my insurnace covers 30 chiro visits a year and they want to make sure they get all 30 in. For this reason, I NEVER pay them copays. Since they know they’re going to see me repeatedly, I always work out a deal where I’m not paying any copay. Just my 100 deductible which is good for the year. I’m not sure how they charge you but I just wanted to put that out there. They always start asking for copays but I negotiate it away.

Good luck on your recovery!

851

and if you’re going to see an ortho, make sure you find one who specializes in the spine. Any other ortho will be a waste of time and money. Trust me on that one.

852

[quote]scj119 wrote:
Imagine that my spine then goes straight up and down out of the top of the pic. See what I mean how it’s curved in the lower back and doesn’t attach straight?[/quote]
That’s exactly how I envisioned it. Get dat shit fixed son. You don’t want to be one of those old dudes going, “I used to pull 474 …”

853

Wishing you a speedy recovery.
I do frequent/creep this log all the time so I am hopin’ you can post some awesome lifting numbers in the near future for my motivation :smiley:

854

dude that shit looks wicked! Nice work!

Have you tried foam rolling it and duct tape?

I’m kinda serious…it looks like you are just spasasmed all to shit right now…one side is probably pulling you out of alignment…I highly doubt you got spinal damage from what you did, so most likely muscular…I would get some massages, adjustments, and tissue work with the foam roller and see if you see any improvement.

I also know a pretty decent ART guy if you want to check him out.

855

Funny, my diet has been shit since my injury. I feel like I’m not working out and therefore not improving my body anyway, so why bother.

I am keeping one rule of sticking to maintenance calories though. I don’t want to gain or lose weight while not lifting since it will be the wrong kind of weight to gain/lose.

[quote]sam_sneed wrote:

[quote]scj119 wrote:
Imagine that my spine then goes straight up and down out of the top of the pic. See what I mean how it’s curved in the lower back and doesn’t attach straight?[/quote]

Hey man, was just lurking in the logs and noticed you were having back issues. My spine X-ray resembled that picture except a little worse. Is either side (or boths sides) of your back in spasm? i.e. if someone touches that side, does it feel hard as a rock? In my case , the muscle on one side was super tight (highly spasmed) and pulled my spine out of alignment. I just got surgery and since the muscle spasm is relieved, my post surgery x-ray is almost 100% straight.

Physical therapy and chiro can help if they hook you up to the stim/electrode machines. It helps relieve the tightness on the back muscle which could be pulling your spine out of alignment. Massage helps too.

I’m not sure what arrangement you have with your chiro but I’ve been to a few in my time. They ALL want you in 3 days a week in the beginning. For me, I think it’s because they know my insurnace covers 30 chiro visits a year and they want to make sure they get all 30 in. For this reason, I NEVER pay them copays. Since they know they’re going to see me repeatedly, I always work out a deal where I’m not paying any copay. Just my 100 deductible which is good for the year. I’m not sure how they charge you but I just wanted to put that out there. They always start asking for copays but I negotiate it away.

Good luck on your recovery![/quote]

Sneed! What’s good dude?

I don’t have a copay thankfully, I do have a balls high deductible though. Not much I can do there. I may have to look up surgery options because 2 weeks later I do not apear to be standing any straighter when I look in the mirror.

[quote]sam_sneed wrote:
and if you’re going to see an ortho, make sure you find one who specializes in the spine. Any other ortho will be a waste of time and money. Trust me on that one.[/quote]

Thanks again man.

[quote]spar4tee wrote:

[quote]scj119 wrote:
Imagine that my spine then goes straight up and down out of the top of the pic. See what I mean how it’s curved in the lower back and doesn’t attach straight?[/quote]
That’s exactly how I envisioned it. Get dat shit fixed son. You don’t want to be one of those old dudes going, “I used to pull 474 …”[/quote]

When I’m old I’m going to say “I used to pull 700”. Marathon not a sprint though.

[quote]Spock81 wrote:
Wishing you a speedy recovery.
I do frequent/creep this log all the time so I am hopin’ you can post some awesome lifting numbers in the near future for my motivation :smiley: [/quote]

Thanks for stopping in, and for the well wishes. I gotta get back at it for my fans apparently.

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
dude that shit looks wicked! Nice work!

Have you tried foam rolling it and duct tape?
[/quote]

I lol’d at both parts

[quote]
I’m kinda serious…it looks like you are just spasasmed all to shit right now…one side is probably pulling you out of alignment…I highly doubt you got spinal damage from what you did, so most likely muscular…I would get some massages, adjustments, and tissue work with the foam roller and see if you see any improvement.

I also know a pretty decent ART guy if you want to check him out.[/quote]

It’s definitely muscular, I’ve pinched my spine before and it’s a way different feeling.

I don’t really know shit about ART, maybe it’s time to look it up. I have jack shit else to do while not lifting.

856

[quote]scj119 wrote:
Sneed! What’s good dude?

I don’t have a copay thankfully, I do have a balls high deductible though. Not much I can do there. I may have to look up surgery options because 2 weeks later I do not apear to be standing any straighter when I look in the mirror.

[/quote]

Just chillin. Got a month off work and bored as hell . Back surgery recovery is a bitch. Catching up on basketball as well.

Is this the first time this has happened to you? If so, I’d keep up with the chiro and physical therapy. I was able to train with 2 bad discs for about 4 years before I needed surgery. I would avoid it unless it was very, very necessary. If you want to be sure, request an MRI. I’m pretty sure my chiro was able to order one up for me. It don’t think it will cost you anything.

The spasm should let up eventually. I was having one about once a year in the beginning and that got more frequent. It took anywhere between 1 to 4 weeks for people at work to stop telling me I look crooked lol.

857

[quote]sam_sneed wrote:

[quote]scj119 wrote:
Sneed! What’s good dude?

I don’t have a copay thankfully, I do have a balls high deductible though. Not much I can do there. I may have to look up surgery options because 2 weeks later I do not apear to be standing any straighter when I look in the mirror.

[/quote]

Just chillin. Got a month off work and bored as hell . Back surgery recovery is a bitch. Catching up on basketball as well.

Is this the first time this has happened to you? If so, I’d keep up with the chiro and physical therapy. I was able to train with 2 bad discs for about 4 years before I needed surgery. I would avoid it unless it was very, very necessary. If you want to be sure, request an MRI. I’m pretty sure my chiro was able to order one up for me. It don’t think it will cost you anything.

The spasm should let up eventually. I was having one about once a year in the beginning and that got more frequent. It took anywhere between 1 to 4 weeks for people at work to stop telling me I look crooked lol.[/quote]

I’ll try to be more patient. It’s been 2 weeks now.

858

sucks to hear about ur back bro. Hope you heal up quickly

859

Rehab Training

I asked my doc if I could play bball and he said basically do whatever you want as long as it’s pain free, so I lifted.

Today was awesome - chiro said I am looking much better and I fucking LIFTED! I made extra sure to do nothing that tweaked my back at all. Obviously squats and deads are out, and OHP, as they load the spine. Even benching, I feel uncomfortable with a tight arch.

Went in today planning on finding something that worked for legs. Ditched anything that I could feel in my back

Workout
Tons of foam rolling and stretching

Hack Squat Machine 1pps x nope
Leg Press 1pps x nope
HSM 2nd try, different position, 1pps x 8, 2pps x nope

Decided to do upper instead, planned on floor press but racks were taken. Tried decline bench since a) I reasoned there would be no stress at all on my lower back, all the weight on my upper back, and b) I haven’t done it in about 4 years so I would definitely PR

A1) Decline Bench

  • it felt SO heavy in my hands, not till after my top set did I realize I was setting up with the bar way behind my head. Actually pretty dangerous. Once I got the motion down correctly (not till top set) I realized I was locking out a foot away from the hooks.
    75 x 5
    105 x 5
    135 x 3 PR
    –
    185 x 5 PR
    205 x 5 PR
    225 x 5 PR <— explosive, felt so good I did some more
    185 x 11

B2) Chins
bw x 5, 6, 6, 6, 5

C) Chest Supported T-Bars x nope

C1) Straight Arm Pulldowns
3 x 8

C2) Tricep Rope Pushdowns
9 x 10
9 x 8
8 x 8

D) Machine Curls
70 x 10
80 x 8
80 x 8

Boom. Felt awesome lifting weighted objects again.

Got home and made mashed potatoes from scratch for the first time - this was THE TITS.

[quote]scottkoscielniak wrote:
sucks to hear about ur back bro. Hope you heal up quickly[/quote]

Thanks dude I am getting there.

860

Good to hear you’re back in the saddle bro…ease back into it and you will be good to go in no time.

Im doing a light deload workout Saturday if you’re interested