Post: #1

Several years ago I herniated a disk in my lumber and recovery has been slow. In fact I don't think I'll ever 100% recover. The pain comes and goes and lately it's been getting bad again. I think it's because I've recently started trying deadlifts at the gym again since my back had been fine for awhile. Now it's hurting again to the point that I have tingling sensation in my right leg, which comes from the herniated disk presses on nerves in your spine.

I feel like my workout will be incomplete without the deadlifts but I think I'm going to have to permanently forgo them(as well as squats) to prevent more damage to my lower back.

Any suggestions on how I can work these same muscle groups without the tremendous stress that deadlifts place on the lower back?

Post: #2

Some ideas on exercises:
Do reverse hypers if they don't hurt. This is commonly used for low back rehab.

Try front squats instead of back squats. More vertical back angle and less risk of lumbar flexion. Usually, when form deteriorates, you'll dump the bar forward. With back squats, you can complete the rep with atrocious form if you are determined.

Leg press - but do them single leg. Double leg opens you up to lumbar flexion, which is much more easily avoided with single leg leg presses.

Single leg deadlift. Very easy to avoid lumbar flexion, but hard to really load the movement, but you'll still feel it in your hamstrings and glutes.

Don't do situps. Loaded flexion is what you want to avoid, especially with a herniated disc.

Hang from a pullup bar after doing exercises that challenge your lower back; will help relieve spinal compression.

Post: #3

The most easy thing to do is to split the muscle groups up more and then train them on machines. I know it isn´t popular around here to use machines, like Nautilus or Med X or so, but in the end, its all about using your muscles to move weight -wether on machines or with barbells doesn´t matter.

Especially for rehab, maybe you should have a look into "Super Slow", a system that is greatly favored by the high intensity guys like Doug McGuff. And it burns like hell if you train that way

Greets.

Post: #4

I would stay away from deadlifts with any kind of back injury. With squats, I wouldn't go to heavy and do more reps. I do 25 reps with a very low weight for my first set of squats then rest for a decent amount of time around 3 to 5 minutes depending on how I feel. Then I do a higher weight for 10-15 reps. I have an upper back problem and I stay away from deadlifts because once you fuck up your back, it'll never be the same.

My dad is 65 with a neck issue (disc problems) and he's had surgery and rehab on it. Watching him physically deteriorate is sad and makes me extra careful in the gym.

The one-legged leg press as mentioned by assman is a great exercise. Lunges are cool also.

The deadlift is a great exercise. I know most guys swear by deadlifts (I would too if my back was 100 percent), but I'd rather be safe than sorry when it comes to back injuries.

Post: #5

(06-19-2012 02:30 PM)speakeasy Wrote:  I feel like my workout will be incomplete without the deadlifts but I think I'm going to have to permanently forgo them(as well as squats) to prevent more damage to my lower back.

Any suggestions on how I can work these same muscle groups without the tremendous stress that deadlifts place on the lower back?

That stronglifts guy Mehdi apparently trained a lot of guys with back problems. His advice was always the same - start with an empty bar, fix your technique, increase weight by small increments. Apparently back pain then vanishes. His reasoning is that all back pain is due to one of 2 things: 1) Poor form 2) Forcing your body to lift more weight than it can handle

I don't know how true his claims are, but it seems more reasonable to give that a shot than abandoning the exercises altogether.

So go to the gym and do squats and deadlifts with an empty bar. Once you can do 5 sets of 5 reps with good technique and no pain, add 5 pounds/2 kilograms on your next workout. Rinse and repeat until you slowly build up to a decent weight.

I guess you could still do assistance exercises on the side while you're lifting light.

You might think everyone in the gym is laughing at you for lifting such light weights but if you need to retrain your back then it's what you have to do. If you don't achieve your goal weights you probably won't have cause further injury by lifting light. If you do achieve your goals, then you can laugh back at them.

Post: #6

Deadlifts actually rehabilitate back issues but people on this forum think of deadlifting as a strength exercise rather than a movement.

If you are not advanced in your knowledge of weightlifting (or lack common sense and a desire to master the movement) then yes it would be safer to drop them from your routine.

Post: #7

Bruce Lee once blew up his back doing a "good morning" press.
My advice would be to find out what he did to rehab his back.