I've seen that there are lots of people on this site with back pain, back injuries, back 'tweaks' etc etc...

So I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea for the Cell to start a bit of a thread about:

1.) Injuries they have susstained
2.) How they got hurt
3.) What they do/did to get healthy
4.) How to not reinjure

Things of that nature. Basically I'd like to see how you all strive to keep a bulletproof (lower) backs.

Myself, I've hurt my lower back probably 12 times in the past 3yrs. Most of them bunched up in the first year. Why, b/c I went back to the gym and the same movements too soon, went too heavy etc etc.. basically was stupid. I refused to believe that I wasn't bulletproof.

I've got xrays, MRI's, went to doctor after doctor, got PT, ART too. The things that worked were:

Finding a primary care physician who was also a Sports Med. person.
Getting PT at a place that dealt with athletes, not common folk.
ART.

I was also lucky enough to live 2mi away from Cressey Performance for about 1.5yrs. So I ponied up the cash to go there, get evaluated, get 2 1-week programs and learn how to properly warm up.

Between the DR, PT, ART and my CP programs/warm up protocol AND losing the ego and dropping the weights!!! I have been able to *slowly* bring myself back up to semi-strong again.

Being that I also have an office job, I went out and bought a kneeling chair that I use about 50-70% of the time. That was a good move too. Pretty cheap on eBay too.

Summing it up:
1.) Injuries they have susstained: 10-12 lower back injuries.
2.) How they got hurt: Initially, deadlifting. Other: Stiff leg dl, dl, dl, picking up 6lb dog and a few other stupid things I forget.
3.) What they do/did to get healthy: See above
4.) How to not reinjure: Be smart.

WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE CELL??

The most common issues causing back problems are -

Tight hip flexor, mostly psoas, weak, dormant glutes (overatcive priformis), weak abdominal muscles (mostly weak TVA and overactive RA), and extremely weak lower traps.

Tight lats put a ton of pressure on T-12 which affects L-1 as well. Soft tissue work helps a ton, but the fix is generally achieved by balancing the structures of the core, and firing up your glutes.

Excellent thread here:

http://tnation.tmuscle.com/...tability_thread

Although, I'm not quite sure why it ended up in the "Powerlifting" forum.

1) 1 herniated disc, 1 bulging. Diagnosed by MRI.

2) I believe that it happened when I got bridged playing high school b-ball. I used to be able to dunk when I was 150 lbs so I'd get up pretty high. I'd say the fall was at least 5 feet flat on my back. I've also been involved in over 6 major car crashes. 3 of them bad enough that the car was totaled.

3) My back is still not fixed. It used to be that it would not hurt, just lock up once every 2-3 years. In 2008, it locked up for good and I've had chronic pain ever since. Lack of mobility and flexibility as well. Can't even touch my toes without pain. Went to PT and chiro for 1 year and since there was no progress, my insurance company stopped covering the treatment.

4) The 3 top exercises that fuck my back up are:

Deadlifts
Bent over rows
Back squats

I have to avoid these like plague because doing any of these 3 with even light weight will stiffen my back up for days.

For deadlifts I substitute single leg deadlifts for lower back and these hit the hamstrings very nicely. I also do leg curls.

For bent over rows, I substitute one arm bent over rows on a bench. Or any type of seated row. I love the hammer strength ISO row too as well as the life fitness read deltoid/back row.

Instead of squat, I do front squats. They don't put much pressure on the lower back and kill my quads. Leg Presses still hurt my back a little so I do them single legged. Lunges also help fill in the gap as well.

Pressing: I've never had any issues doing bench pressing. For my shoulder I do a high incline press on the smith machine or with dumbells. Standing over head press still puts pressure on the back and for me the seated 90 degree angle one is even worse. So what I do is put the incline very high but not vertical. This takes almost all the pressure off my lower back and still hits my shoulders nicely.

Herniated lumbar disc in my back during a deadlift warm-up.

My deadlift went from 505 to last night of 315x3. I went 3 months without deadlifting after herniating the discs.

My treatment was painkillers, no lifting for 2 weeks, and no deadlifting for 3 months.

I still have daily pain, but mostly when I sit for prolonged periods.

The blessing is that I can't sit for long periods, thus I stay active.

Don't fail on DL's...I thought I had one more in me. Goin' good, suddenly lose form back rounds, back tweaked. Lesson: it better to leave one Deadlift on the floor.

Also, weighted pronated-grip pull-ups are murder on the shoulder. I mean they are bad becuase at the bottom you are impinged. With weight, even more so.
If you go weighted go neutral grip or chins....Neutral is the least impinging though.

I can't do back squats without a sore lower back. I only do front squats now (working my way up just hit 250 a few days ago) and my back is perfect after these.

Edit: Sore back meaning I can barely bend my back after doing them

Everytime I hurt my back the response I get from any medical professional is simply don't lift weights anymore. By trial and error I find what I can handle or adjust my form but it still sucks that I can't get answers. The search is on for a new doctor.

Nearly killed myself doing back squats on the Smith machine (incorrect, obviously) with way too much weight (don't remember anymore how much). Couldn't even roll out of bed the next morning. Called an ambulance to get me to the ER. Diagnosis was soft tissue injury, so I got pain pills and couldn't work out for months. When I recovered, I could no longer do back squats without risking re-injury. Like so many others here, I now do front squats. Deadlifts from the floor can sometimes cause my back to go out again (but it usually recovers in a week or so), so I usually do deadlifts from the knee (in the rack). Wished I hadn't pushed myself so hard back then. I consider myself fully recovered now, but I'm very careful. Whenever anything feels weird, I stop.

I was diagnosed with scoliosis 3-4 years ago, told I was born with it but it never bothered me until my diagnosis maybe it's gotten worse with age not sure. The X-Rays show a nice S through lumbar, thorasic and cervical.
Cannot squat anymore than 300lbs without serious back pain and or my back locking up, leg press is fine. Deadlifts from the ground can aggravate it too, rack pulls from the knee don't seem to bother me.
Sometimes sitting my 25lb kid on the floor F's me up.

We've discussed this already, but for everyone else...

1.) Injuries they have susstained

The only major back injury I've sustained was a herniation of my L5-S1, 2 years ago.

2.) How they got hurt

Turned sideways and sneezed, true story.

3.) What they do/did to get healthy

I tried god knows how much rehab before deciding that I'd have to suck it up. Started getting back into lifting, starting with speed deads and light front squats, and found that the stronger my lower back got, the better it felt.

What really made the biggest difference was switching to a memory foam mattress with a knee pillow (8 hours a night is a long time for one posture, huge difference) and using decompressiong methods.

The reverse hyper is the greatest thing on earth.

I'm also a big fan of ergonomics since it's what I studied (glad you like the ergo kneeling chair, I just realized I never asked you about it).



4.) How to not reinjure

I've had to drop a lot of movements. I use straps on any deadlift over 365, and I NEVER use an alternating grip on anything. I also don't back squat except for DE Box Squats thrown in when I feel the need. Side bends or ab twists are out of the question, I train my obliques with isometrics. I've also had to evaluate my posture with regards to a lot of lifts and a lot of strongman events.

Other than this, I truly believe that the key to avoiding re-injury is to get as strong as possible in the trunk musculature.

If I ever go to grad school, I want my biomech thesis to be based on trunk strength correlated to a reduction in workplace injuries. You won't find much research, but everyone I talk to believes that a stronger lower back will lead to less spinal injuries.

you hurt your back and now your throwing kegs overhead.

does NOT sound like something you'll catch me doing. haha

using the kneeling chair now man, thanks for the tip!

Strained back, soft tissue injury. Heat or Ice? Advil or Percocet?

Alternating heat and ice for first 72 hours works well. What part of your back seems to be bothering you?

I wouldnt try to force a stretch on the low back -- I would focus on adductors and psoas mainly. You can foam roll your T spine, but I would advise against going below t-12. Stretch your glutes out as well.