Nov 16th I fell and broke six of the wings on my spine and dislocated a rib. I’ve been going to the chiropractor/therapist for a couple of months now and making good progress. My problem is there is one of those wings still broken and when I do situps and prolonged workouts I have trouble breathing (due to the broken bone). Doc says he’s not sure it will ever grow back. I’m doing major back exercises to strengthen the back and making good progress (so the dr says). Anyway is there anyone out there that has had a similar injury and is back 100% yet.
By the way I’m 55 years old and was looking to compete in my first competition this summer, now… who knows. I weigh anywhere from 180 to 186. I did get down to 178 before the accident.
Any information is appreciated.
Not sure what you mean by “wings”… could you be more specific? Concerning the back, I haven’t had injury there, but do have scoliosis. There are 2 curves that shouldn’t be there, and really has messed up my lifting. Anyway, I’ve gone through rehab exercises probably similiar to yours, and spent a long time deadlifting carefully to build up the spine & support muscles. Started with a broomstick, went to a light bar, then the 45 lb bar… That was a few years ago. Today I can pull 255 lbs for reps - yeah, not Paul Anderson territory, but incredible for me. Back stays sturdy.
A surprising amount can be done with rehab and healing, don’t lose hope. What was your condition before the accident? What can you lift now? Don’t know what you can do to improve by summer. If the contest doesn’t have any minimum lift requirement, you can enter, just might not lift a lot. I’m entering one in April, my first, and definitely won’t set any world records.
I don’t have anything specific to add other than there are quite a number of core / ab alternatives that are more back friendly, and more effective, than situps.
While your back heals, can you train shorter sessions but more frequently?
[quote]cavalier wrote:
Welcome, Duke. Finally, someone my own age!
Not sure what you mean by “wings”… could you be more specific? Concerning the back, I haven’t had injury there, but do have scoliosis. There are 2 curves that shouldn’t be there, and really has messed up my lifting. Anyway, I’ve gone through rehab exercises probably similiar to yours, and spent a long time deadlifting carefully to build up the spine & support muscles. Started with a broomstick, went to a light bar, then the 45 lb bar… That was a few years ago. Today I can pull 255 lbs for reps - yeah, not Paul Anderson territory, but incredible for me. Back stays sturdy.
A surprising amount can be done with rehab and healing, don’t lose hope. What was your condition before the accident? What can you lift now? Don’t know what you can do to improve by summer. If the contest doesn’t have any minimum lift requirement, you can enter, just might not lift a lot. I’m entering one in April, my first, and definitely won’t set any world records.[/quote]
On your spine there are what look like wings that the muscle attaches to. All but one of those has grown back together. It’s that one that gives me a little greif when I workout too hard.
Last night was upper body night and I got my bb bench up to 135 for 10 and db incline at 30 lbs X 10 X 4, cable pulldowns for tri’s was 90 X 12 X 4, cable curls was 90 X 15 X 4, db curls was 25 X 15 X 4, db hammer curls 30 X 8 X 4, 4 sets of 20 leg raisers for abs and 15 min on the elliptical, 108 calories.
Before the accident I was bb bench 225 x 1, db incline 50 X 5 X 4, curls 40 X 10 X 4 hammer curls 45 X 10 X 4. I’m thinking that this year is toast, next year if I decide to do it will be the year. I can give you an idea of legs after tonight. I’m gona up the weight just a little from my last leg workout.
I’ve got that scoliosis myself. Dr. said he can’t fix it but can keep it from getting worse. I have bone spurs groing on the spine and the disc’s are almost worn out. Old age sucks!
[quote]cavalier wrote:
Welcome, Duke. Finally, someone my own age!
Not sure what you mean by “wings”… could you be more specific? Concerning the back, I haven’t had injury there, but do have scoliosis. There are 2 curves that shouldn’t be there, and really has messed up my lifting. Anyway, I’ve gone through rehab exercises probably similiar to yours, and spent a long time deadlifting carefully to build up the spine & support muscles. Started with a broomstick, went to a light bar, then the 45 lb bar… That was a few years ago. Today I can pull 255 lbs for reps - yeah, not Paul Anderson territory, but incredible for me. Back stays sturdy.
A surprising amount can be done with rehab and healing, don’t lose hope. What was your condition before the accident? What can you lift now? Don’t know what you can do to improve by summer. If the contest doesn’t have any minimum lift requirement, you can enter, just might not lift a lot. I’m entering one in April, my first, and definitely won’t set any world records.[/quote]
On your spine there are what look like wings that the muscle attaches to. All but one of those that had broken has grown back together. It’s that one that gives me a little greif when I workout too hard.
Last night was upper body night and I got my bb bench up to 135 for 10 and db incline at 30 lbs X 10 X 4, cable pulldowns for tri’s was 90 X 12 X 4, cable curls was 90 X 15 X 4, db curls was 25 X 15 X 4, db hammer curls 30 X 8 X 4, 4 sets of 20 leg raisers for abs and 15 min on the elliptical, 108 calories.
Before the accident I was bb bench 225 x 1, db incline 50 X 5 X 4, curls 40 X 10 X 4 hammer curls 45 X 10 X 4. I’m thinking that this year is toast, next year if I decide to do it will be the year. I can give you an idea of legs after tonight. I’m gona up the weight just a little from my last leg workout.
I’ve got that scoliosis myself. Dr. said he can’t fix it but can keep it from getting worse. I have bone spurs groing on the spine and the disc’s are almost worn out. Old age sucks!
[quote]giterdone wrote:
I don’t have anything specific to add other than there are quite a number of core / ab alternatives that are more back friendly, and more effective, than situps.
While your back heals, can you train shorter sessions but more frequently?[/quote]
Thanks geterdone, (I have one of Larry the cable guy’s geterdone front lic. plates I got from one of his concert’s (?)) He’s hilarious.
Anyway thanks for the link, I’ll check it out. Don’t be a stranger, come back and visit again.
We’ll shoot the bull, or whatever animal that gets in the crosshairs. lol
I’ve got that scoliosis myself. Dr. said he can’t fix it but can keep it from getting worse. I have bone spurs groing on the spine and the disc’s are almost worn out. Old age sucks!
[/quote]
That’s a strange thing for your doc to say. Scoliosis stops growing when bones stop growing, about early 20’s. There are braces which keep scoliosis from getting worse, but they’re designed for teenagers, not people in 50’s. What’s their angle?
The bone spurs and bad discs suck, does he have a good idea of their cause?