Need some help with lower back injury

[coinz]

I work in construction and the other day I ended up pulling something in my lower back, it's just a dull ache but it's right above the butt on both sides of the spine. I'm doing the Bill starr's 5x5 program so squats and deadlift are main exercises for me..

Every time I seem to do the squat or dead I'm fine then but the next day walking around and lifting it starts to pain.. so I'm deciding to take it easy for the next few weeks I just wanted to find out what exercises I could sub for them that would take the stress of the lower back and could just focus on the parts that those exercises hit. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[purbeast0]

if it gets worse get it checked out. my back was screwed up down there for over a year before i actually went and got it checked out, and i actually got it checked out because i was having some pain in my right testicle. however back issues can cause pain to radiate to other areas (testicles and down your legs) and after my dad, who's a urologist checked me out down there, along with a sonogram of my nuts, everything was okay down there.

but then i had an MRI and i ended up having to partially herniated discs in my lower lumbar.

this happened like over 2 years ago, and to this day it's not 100% but i would say it's like 95%. i am just very careful and don't do squats at all or deadlifts, however i atually tried deadlifts few days ago for the first time.

my main exercise for my legs is the hacksled which is like the leg press, but basically flipped 180, so that you are pushing your body up instead of pushing your legs up. it's as close to squats as i'll probably ever get, although i'm tempted now to try squats w/light weight since my back is feeling all around better, however i still don't want to tweak it.

i've never found another exercise to supplement deadlifts though, which is part of the reason i had this urge to just try them the other day.

 

[coinz]

ya it's not bad its just a slight ache..just that after squatting and if I do the dead it hurts the next day cause I'm always on my feet. I was reading around a bit too it seems I wasn't stretching enough, hamstrings are tight as hell..Went and did some ham and glute stretches and man it made such a difference.. I'm thinking I should still take it easy with the deads and squats though I don't wanna damage anything.

I'll check out that hacksled thanks for the info

 

[brikis98]

Be very very cautious with lower back injuries. They are a total bitch and can make life very unpleasant. Worse yet, they often start as a very minor ache, a small twinge, a bit of soreness, a little pinch, etc. This just fools you into continuing to do the stupid activity (squat, deadlift, etc) you're doing that hurts your back and makes the injury worse and worse. Check out my lower back pain thread for info on one possible cause of lower back issues, as well as stretches and exercises you can do to help. For now, don't worry about finding substitute exercises. If your back is injured, the best thing to do is to just rest. You might have to go a week or two with a far less effective exercise routine (ie, SS w/o squat & deadlift), but it's well worth it to keep your back safe.

Moreover, the main feature of the deadlift is it's ability to stress the back (in a safe manner, when done properly), and that's exactly what you want to avoid for now, so just forget about the exercise or any substitute for it. With squats, the situation is a little better, but good alternatives are still tough to find. The reason is that the squat use almost all the muscles in your body (something like 70%+), which produces tremendous total body strength and muscle growth. That's why you do so many of them in SS. And that's also why it's really hard to find something to replace them with that's anywhere near as effective. The only really good alternative would be the front squat. It's a pretty similar motion, but tends to place less stress and torque on the lower back. If you can do that 100% pain free, it's a great choice. Beyond that, there are only partial replacements. There are plenty of exercises that will hit your legs hard, but they won't be nearly as total body as a squat and really can't be counted as proper substitutes. These include lunges, leg press, step ups, body weight squats (done at very high rep & intensity, a-la CF), box jumps, single leg squats, leg extensions, hamstring curls and so on.

 

[coinz]

Originally posted by: brikis98
Be very very cautious with lower back injuries. They are a total bitch and can make life very unpleasant. Worse yet, they often start as a very minor ache, a small twinge, a bit of soreness, a little pinch, etc. This just fools you into continuing to do the stupid activity (squat, deadlift, etc) you're doing that hurts your back and makes the injury worse and worse. Check out my lower back pain thread for info on one possible cause of lower back issues, as well as stretches and exercises you can do to help. For now, don't worry about finding substitute exercises. If your back is injured, the best thing to do is to just rest. You might have to go a week or two with a far less effective exercise routine (ie, SS w/o squat & deadlift), but it's well worth it to keep your back safe.

Moreover, the main feature of the deadlift is it's ability to stress the back (in a safe manner, when done properly), and that's exactly what you want to avoid for now, so just forget about the exercise or any substitute for it. With squats, the situation is a little better, but good alternatives are still tough to find. The reason is that the squat use almost all the muscles in your body (something like 70%+), which produces tremendous total body strength and muscle growth. That's why you do so many of them in SS. And that's also why it's really hard to find something to replace them with that's anywhere near as effective. The only really good alternative would be the front squat. It's a pretty similar motion, but tends to place less stress and torque on the lower back. If you can do that 100% pain free, it's a great choice. Beyond that, there are only partial replacements. There are plenty of exercises that will hit your legs hard, but they won't be nearly as total body as a squat and really can't be counted as proper substitutes. These include lunges, leg press, step ups, body weight squats (done at very high rep & intensity, a-la CF), box jumps, single leg squats, leg extensions, hamstring curls and so on.

Thanks for your input I was reading through your thread gonna start doin the stretches and ya I'm gonna just rest it