Had lower back surgery 14 months ago, fusion of L4/L5 and two plates screwed in as well. The doc says I am limited in what I can lift, so I use light dumbbells in a variety of exercises.
I am wondering if I can do pull ups/chin ups? I think I would get a lot of increase with these exercises.
Besides limiting the weight of lifts, my only other advice from the doc was to keep my shoulders and hips square.
I think that pull ups and chins would be fine for your lower back. I think you could do many exercises except back squats, deadlift variations, good mornings, bent over and t-bar rows, standing military press and Olympic lifts.
You might even benefit from strengthening your lower back with movements like back extensions and reverse hypers.
[quote]MrCritical wrote:
Had lower back surgery 14 months ago, fusion of L4/L5 and two plates screwed in as well. The doc says I am limited in what I can lift, so I use light dumbbells in a variety of exercises.
I am wondering if I can do pull ups/chin ups? I think I would get a lot of increase with these exercises.
Besides limiting the weight of lifts, my only other advice from the doc was to keep my shoulders and hips square.[/quote]
Life is short, play it fucking safe. ANY movement you do will require movement of your spine (many minute and others have extreme force involved). Pull up can irritate your lumbar area (lats attach at the illium and can and usually cause some kind of lumbar extension). The lumbar traction during doips MAY aggrevate your back.
In the end, take it slow, walk, hike, use bands, what ever you do just dont fuck up your back anymore. Now is the time to practice patience and logic as you probably have a great deal of years ahead of you and taking it easy for a year can be great if you focus on mobiltiy and flexibitly while trying to uinderstand more about your future goals in lifting so when you are ready you can come out of the gate like a fucking stallion.
You are the only one responsible for you health/back so take care of your self and play it safe for now until your health improves/back fuses
I agree check with your doctor and be patient. I’d think pull-ups would be okay. How about dips? I had some back problems and my MD told me that within reason (i.e.m good form, not doing exercises you’re told not to do, etc.) most people with back history can lift. The gym is a controlled environment, people mess their backs up doing yard work, household chores when they move in wierd ways. Good Luck