Anyone have experience/advice re: lower back injuries?

[JW]

I injured my lower back this morning doing deadlifts.

Right in the middle of my 2nd set, I had that dreaded POP in the middle lower back region.

Went for pysio this morning. Had acupuncture (going back tomorrow morning)

Physio said to ice it every 2 hours and do nothing for 2-3 days.

(He's a lifter btw)

 

Anyone have experience with this re: how long it will be before lifting again?

are there other excercises I can do without doing further damage?

 

aaaarrrghhh!

[bronco]

Sorry to hear, lower back injuries are no fun . Do you know what kind of injury it was?

As for exercises the advice I got when I had a back injury was basically anything that doesnt put pressure on the lower back. This means chins, dips, lat pull are ok. Bench probably also, but you might want to take it easy with the arch. Pistol squats are decent for the legs. But I would ask your physiotherapist about this as well.

Hope it heals quickly.

[JW]

Sorry to hear, lower back injuries are no fun . Do you know what kind of injury it was?

As for exercises the advice I got when I had a back injury was basically anything that doesnt put pressure on the lower back. This means chins, dips, lat pull are ok. Bench probably also, but you might want to take it easy with the arch. Pistol squats are decent for the legs. But I would ask your physiotherapist about this as well.

Hope it heals quickly.

 

Looks like it's disk related .

They couldn't tell for sure yesterday because of the muscle spasms.

I'm out of commission util Tuesday for sure

I'm thinking isometrics for now.

[willpeavy]

I don't have any experience with back injuries. But for when you're recovered, you get a pretty decent lower back workout from pushups because of the lower back muscles you use to keep your body straight, and you can feel it a lot more in one arm pushups. Even if you can't do one arm pushups, just try holding your body up at the top of the one arm pushup position and you'll feel it as you tense your lower back muscles to keep your back and body straight.

[Kathryn]

are there other excercises I can do without doing further damage?

 

Check with your doctor first before doing any of the following, to see in any are appropriate for you at this time.

 

For "superman," lie prone (face down) on the floor, and start by lifting opposite arm and leg, thinking about lengthening the arm/leg out to the opposite ends of the room. You can progress to raising both arms and legs. Or do an upper-body-only or legs-only lift.

 

For "bird dog," get in cat position (on all fours). Lift opposite arm and leg and hold for several counts.

 

You can also try planks, which work the entire core, including the lower back. Get in the top of a push-up position on toes (with either straight arms or on elbows) and hold as long as you can without arching the back or swaying. Stay stiff as a plank of wood, and try to hold through the point where you start shaking. Brace the core to stay in position.

 

You can add all sorts of variations to plank: lifting one leg up, lifting one arm up, lifting leg then bringing in knee towards chest and back out again, lifting leg and bringing it out to the side (probably not a good version to try right now, since it can put more stress on the lower back). You can also do side planks, supporting yourself on one elbow with legs stacked.

[JW]

Thanks Kathryn!

 

so far I can only do a variation of the superman (upperbody only)

I'm back at physio tomorrow, I hope to get the green light to push things a bit.

[Jay]

I herniated a disc about 14 months ago from squats. It took a month before I could stand up straight. At 14 months I'm still very very slowly healing. None of the exercises made much difference except an inversion machine really did help some in the early going.

[JW]

14 months????

 

well, hopefully I don't have to wait that long.

I'm off to physio in about 10 minutes.

I haven't done the inversion thing but I had traction the other day. (I just have to get myself one of those things )

 

What did you do for activity/exercise for those 14 months Jay?

 

I'm only on day 6 and I'm going crazy.

[Jay]

What did you do for activity/exercise for those 14 months Jay?

 

I'm only on day 6 and I'm going crazy.

chinups.... some bench pressing.... dips..... Right now I'm trying to finally add in some clean and presses.... still have a little something not right. Pain going down my right leg still as a result of the C & Ps.... May be permanent but then I've seen that the healing process can still be continuing up to 14 months in as I couldn't play basketball before but now can.

[JW]

I'm only able to do a couple stretches right now.

I have a feeling that I'll be doing a lot of pushups, dips and chins when my back feels stronger.

 

Just the thought of a deadlift makes me cringe right now.

[Kajagoogoo20]

The only advice I can give you....

 

1# Always wear a back support belt when doing any sort of standing excercise.

 

2# Dont get carried away and lift weight that is too heavy for you to handle.Its better to be realistic and use a lighter weight.progress slowly with good technique.

 

3#You can train your chest.

Dont use free weights because you have to use your back to pick em up and place em back on the rack.that can cause a pain in the lower back.Use the chest press machine and use the smiths machine.If you have the smiths machine on a high incline it will work your upper chest and even higher works the shoulders.

 

4#Try the shoulder press machine but dont go crazy.

 

5#Do some dips,pull ups and chin ups on the bars.

 

6#Because you are limited in what you can do.this will give you the time to try some calf raises if you dont already do them?

 

7#Dont train your back until it has recovered.Its better to just wait than risk making the injury worse.

 

 

GOOD LUCK