Reoccurring lower back injury, mad as hell

No one says you have to stop exercising. You have to stop doing the stuff that hurts you. The kind of back problems you're having now sound like something that's going to get better with time, probably. Nobody, and I mean nobody, truly understands the back. And what works depends on what the anatomic injury is. My wife has a bunch of compression fractures from HS and college gymnastics. Yoga works well for her. I have spinal stenosis and get relief from a posterior pelvic tilt/ab strengthening. Yoga, with it's hyperextension of the lumbar area (down dog for example) is bad for me. It is not unusual for relatively minor movements, without weight, to trigger back problems. My problems were triggered by working on my knees with my back hyperextended--stuccoing the insulation around the foundation of my bathroom addition, although a lifetime of overuse led up to it.

Re crossfit and other work out regimens--at this point no one knows what the long term impact will be. My wife didn't know that being a gymnast would leave her with back problems years later. If you want to stay fit for life you have to protect your body. Unfortunately, we don't have a good idea of how much we can do when we're young and not pay for it as we get older.

Good luck.

Ok, 5 weeks later and now I'm getting really pissed off with this situation. Started back at the gym on Sunday. Running, pull ups and lunges. Went again Tuesday for pullups, pushups, burpees and running. No weights involved. Didn't go hard because I haven't done much over the last 5 weeks. Things felt fine afterward, just the good kind of sore because I haven't done much.

Was making breakfast this morning, and felt some pain developing in the same spot as before as I was standing in front of the stove. Laid down, stretched and popped, but the pain is creeping back as the day has gone on. Any guesses here? Stretch the glutes to ease compression on the lumbar?

you might try this...see if it helps
no strength stuff, just stretching

Before anyone gives advice they should post their age.

There is a reason you see more 28 yr olds deadlifting than 48 yr olds. Because unless you have perfect form and never make a mistake, your back will quit sooner or later. And thats when you realize you've done yourself more harm than good.

Whenever i get the urge to do an extra 30 minutes on the step mill, or add more plates, I remind myself I only have so many miles left in me.

I love this set of stretches for getting my back and hips loose. Helps my pain so much.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=FSSDLDhbacc

Do not sit!!! Sitting in the 90 degree bent angle loads your lower back soo much, it just cant heal. The chair is one of the worst inventions ever, use a stool or stand/kneel.

Studys show that you shouldn't rest an injury for too long. Soon after the injury, ease back into thing very slowly. Do some serious core training and yoga/pilates. Pilates is great for back pain. Once you feel confident, relearn your deadlift form, and switch over to wall deadlifts or sumo deadlifts. I blew out my back last year squatting heavy weight, L4 L5 S1 discs are all busted with nerve pressure, and I sat around for 3 months after. That just made it worse and the docs wanted to do surgery. At 24 years old I was like F that, and I just dedicated 15 minutes every morning and evening to stretching and strengthening, and I made a habit to not sit in chairs. My recent MRI shows everything healed up well and my neuro was super suprised. I actually got into a fight with him about how doctors are so quick to rush into surgery, when there so much better methods of healing the human body. Medical science is qwerky, its very necessary in some cases, but in others it only makes the condition worse.

I could type out a whole essay on how I healed my ruptured discs, but I am successfully deadlifting heavy weights again, so If you want advice just PM me

Stretch every day until the pain is manageable enough to go running, then go running. Keep stretching, every day, and stretch the whole back and your hamstrings, not just the part of the back where you are feeling pain.

Keep running, a couple of times a week, minimum. Trust me, this works. If you do this and are still feeling pain in 6 months, get an MRI to see what is really going on. Sorry, but if you can't keep yourself from lifting weights, stay the fuck out of the gym.

I'll offer another data point / anecdote. I've had lower back spasms since playing football as a pre-teen. Continued through my 20s and 30s. Fairly manageable but would occasionally seize up on one side, but that always resolved itself through rest and stretching. Past few years, it got worse and about a year ago, I had both sides seize up at the same time. Other than piss breaks, I was lying down for 48 hours and took muscle relaxers until I could walk and move around.

I later went to see an ortho dr. and the x-rays revealed low grade spondylolisthesis -- basically, the opposite of a slipped disk. He couldn't say whether it was congenital or a stress fracture that occurred a long time ago.

Now, stretching, core strengthening, and mild lower back strength exercises seem to have done the trick but it's something to manage for the rest of my existence. This means no more back extensions on Roman chairs and only low weight dead lifts. And I make sure stomach muscles are engaged and lower back is never in an extended position during all weight (and cardio but esp. weight) exercises.

No one can Internet diagnose what's going on, but if you haven't had an x-ray yet, it might be worth a look to make sure your structure is in tact. I had incorrectly assumed for many years that my spasms were strictly muscle related. And that was easy to do because they were annoying but not debilitating.

Info. on my diagnosis here:

http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00053

Thanks for the stretching routines guys. Did a good amount of leg/glute/back stretches last night and that helped a ton. Been walking around and climbing stairs all day for work stuff and been just fine. Will probably go back to the gym tomorrow and try some more non-weighted stuff.

And FYI, I'm now 35 years old and doing nothing but running for exercise for the next 6 months is my idea of hell. I fucking hate running. I'll do it for short bursts, but I just can't get motivated and stay motivated beyond the first mile. I get no enjoyment from just running.

You have to build up those little stabilizer muscles in your back without straining it. You do that with massive repetitions, well within your limits, not a small amount of repetitions of something that is at your limits. Guess what? That's running or swimming. I do remember my swimmer buddies in HS doing dry-land workouts in the weight room when it snowed, but same idea; small weights, lots of reps. Yes it's boring but it works. There is no shortcut.

Best thing I ever did for my back was buy a new bed

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Originally Posted by snoqpass

Best thing I ever did for my back was buy a new bed

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I have a memory foam bed that makes my particular back issue worse--one of the things that hursts my back is the twisting I have to do to roll over in bed and memory foam makes that harder. I was in a hotel with a particularly firm mattress that was more comfortable. (Years of sleeping in sleeping bags in small tents and when I roll over in bed I stay in the same spot. My wife OTOH rolls all over the bed.)

FWIW cannabis doesn't help my back. My actual doctor gave me a recommendation. I'm not tearing up my card though.

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Originally Posted by boarddad

You have to build up those little stabilizer muscles in your back without straining it. You do that with massive repetitions, well within your limits, not a small amount of repetitions of something that is at your limits. Guess what? That's running or swimming. I do remember my swimmer buddies in HS doing dry-land workouts in the weight room when it snowed, but same idea; small weights, lots of reps. Yes it's boring but it works. There is no shortcut.

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It's at least as important to build up the abs. Problem is most excercise programs for strengthening the back muscles and abs are designed to get people to a place that most of us as skiers are already way, way past. The gym I sometimes go to has a back machine--at the highest setting I can go indefinitely without getting tired, almost that good on the ab machine. And it's not that I'm some great physical specimen--I would probably be banned if I told you what I can manage on upper body stuff.

The stronger your abs are, the more load they will take off your back. Your abs are the antagonizing muscles of the back, so whatever loads your abs cant handle, go straight to the low back. I was just doing planks for a while and although they help your core significantly, when I really started cranking away on my abdominal muscle on top of my spinal erectors and multifidus, my back pain decreased tenfold. Get those abs super strong and you will notice a severe change. If crunches and stuff hurt your back more, go to a neuro/ortho, but there are studies showing spinal surgery only helps if an injury is severe.

Discs can heal themselves, humans just dont know how to activate the relaxation of certain parts of the spine. It really is a matter of the mattress, and the lack of deep breathing. The bodies natural method of healing discs is automatic if you just breath deep and sleep on the ground/floor. The motion of your lungs against the very solid surface ( not even firm mattress count, it has to be rock hard) ever so slightly jerks your spine back and forth and relaxes the discs and heals them. Chiropractors have machines that rock your spine back and forth, but it isnt the same as 8 hours sleeping on the floor. It isnt as hard to get used to as it sounds, and after your used to sleeping on the floor, you will never go back to a mattress again. The chair and the comfort mattress are terrible inventions for the spine.

Also practicing the RESTING SQUAT can be extremely beneficial for Lumbar/Sacral issues. It is just as it sounds. You rest in a full squat position, not 90 degree angle, ass to the grass! Do not let your heels off the ground. Start with your knees wider than your shoulders until you get used to it, and move them in closer as you get better at it. If it's too difficult at first, put a 2x4 under your heels, and then a thin book and then nothing, progression is key. Or you can just hang out in between a doorway and use it to hold yourself in that deep squat position. It may hurt at first, but you need to break up that scar tissure in and around your hips/glutes/back. Theres a difference between heavy discomfort and actual physical pain.

Also, a ton of people have ab/pelvic floor/gluteus amnesia. Those muscles are super lengthened and weak and as a result back pain/injuries occur more easily. learn to engage your whole core as one, and start doing your kegals and sacrum tucks. Not only do they help your ab/back connection, they will make your wife/girlfriend much happier as well.

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Originally Posted by aevergreene

Not only do they help your ab/back connection, they will make your wife/girlfriend much happier as well.

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Or make your wife/girlfriend unhappy and you'll be sleeping on the floor whether you like it or not.

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Originally Posted by DJSapp

Ok, 5 weeks later and now I'm getting really pissed off with this situation. Started back at the gym on Sunday. Running, pull ups and lunges. Went again Tuesday for pullups, pushups, burpees and running. No weights involved. Didn't go hard because I haven't done much over the last 5 weeks. Things felt fine afterward, just the good kind of sore because I haven't done much.

Was making breakfast this morning, and felt some pain developing in the same spot as before as I was standing in front of the stove. Laid down, stretched and popped, but the pain is creeping back as the day has gone on. Any guesses here? Stretch the glutes to ease compression on the lumbar?

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I cant read this entire thread, it is filled with some bad advice. I will say this. I have had two back surgeries, l4/l5 l5/s1. Disc laminectomies. Have had no issues in about 9 years. I do Xfit but leave my ego at the door. I also have a multifidus and transverse workout that will stabilize your spine. This could be your problem. You are not working on the small "pee" muscles that surround your spine. If you can work these, they will help to stabilize you and get you back on the road to recovery.
PM for a copy of the workout. You can also Youtube them, Bill Fabrochini is the PT and absolute fitness guru.
Someone mentioned Bikrams, I would stay away. Having a hyper mobile back is not a benefit.
Lastly, read John Sarnos books. A lot of back issues are psychological. I dont believe 100% of what he says, but there is some truth to it.

Pretty sound advice all around from skideeppow.

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Originally Posted by skideeppow

read John Sarnos books. A lot of back issues are psychological. I dont believe 100% of what he says, but there is some truth to it.

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Also may want to read "Explain Pain" by Butler. He's kind of the authority on scientifically explaining the neurochemical processes that occur in folks with chronic pain

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Originally Posted by acinpdx

you might try this...see if it helps
no strength stuff, just stretching

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Checking back.

These stretches are really great. Combined with a new bed My back is a lot better.

Things are better. Stretching is the trick. Keeps the back mobile enough to allow for the popping of the two or three joints that were locking up and triggering pain while whatever else has time to heal.

Been back at xfit for 6 weeks now, ego checked at the door. Coaches and regulars have been commenting that my form has been getting better, even with some comments that I look good enough to go heavier, which I've been turning down in general. Did hit a PR for squat snatch today though, just because I actually felt like my hips were loose and my sense of balance was working. Could have been heavier if I was pushing it, but I just kept building up and adding weight with each rep that felt good and balanced.

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Been back at xfit for 6 weeks now, ego checked at the door. Coaches and regulars have been commenting that my form has been getting better, even with some comments that I look good enough to go heavier

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Don't fall for it. What are you gaining by going heavier versus the risk of repeating the last few months of recovery?

Strengthening the back tenfold.

Help reducing future injury. I guess it depends on your age tho

I say keep the upp the crossfit as long as it feels good. Dont over do it obviously

I've had back pain for 15+ years. Jumping off cliffs into snow and water and stupidly even sand and dirt no doubt had a lot to do with it. Guiding snowmobile tours certainly didn't help. Seems like once you start hurting your back, you will continue to do so over time. Trick for me was learning how to minimize flair ups, but most importantly, how to react mentally when it does go out.

I only learned this a few years ago, but it has been key to recovery in a quick manner. I'll have something stupid happen like twisting while lifting a laundry basket and "sproing" there it goes. My old reaction would be "FUUUCK! I'm out for three weeks to a month," while my newfound reaction is "hmmm, that sucks, going to relax, take some drugs, evaluate the stress in my life, and see what happens"

Ever since I conscientiously switched my reaction, my recovery time has shifted from three weeks to four or five days. Sure, it still sucks, but much less. I also don't stretch when its hurt.

This book was shared by a friend. Premise has something to do with a lack of oxygen to the area of your back that is hurting when you are stressed or pissed about shit, including the very back spasm that has you down.

http://www.amazon.com/Healing-Back-P...in+by+dr+sarno