Recommended exercises during herniated disk recovery

[SquatQueen]

I herniated a lumbar disk last week when hitting a PR--double bodyweight deadlift x 3. I believe it happened on the third lift, which was very difficult to lock out, but I mustered all my strength and did it. Since then, I have had excrutiating sciatica and aching lower back pain. After 5 days of this, I caved and went to an orthopedist. He diagnosed the bulging disk and told me to rest until it gets better. I'm now on steroids, muscle relaxers, and pain killers. Now on day 2 of the steroids, the sciatica has blessedly gotten better so that I no longer have to walk like I have a peg leg. I have been out of the gym for a week. It is driving me nuts not going to the gym. I have heard opinions ranging from no more weightlifting, period, until the pain is entirely gone, to just get back in there and do what you were doing, but with very light weights. Physical therapist advises that I do nothing that puts pressure on my spine--no squat, no dead, no press. He thinks bench might be ok since I'm lying down on my back. I am seeking sound advice on what, if anything, I can safely do in the gym to keep myself from losing too much of my strength without worsening my condition. I most definitely do NOT want back surgery! Thanks in advance.

[NKT]

Look into reverse hyperextensions. They provide an opportunity to do some heavy posterior chain work while actually decompressing the spine. I came up with a homemade setup that I could attach to my power rack, and used it to maintain strength and rehab a back injury. I feel like it was beneficial for me.

[pkelly54]

One point about reverse hyper extensions, bend at the hips not at the lumbar. Squatqueen, it seems to me from your script ion of your injury you had a rounded back during the deadlift. Mark and others warn about rounding the lumbar under load. Keep your back extended, bend at the hips.
Go slow on the recovery, focus on form. Good luck

[tomskarda]

I'm not a medical practitioner disclaimer first.

Second, avoid surgery like the plague.

Third, get to a good chiropractor. Try doing stuff that puts the back in traction. Reverse hypers might be good for that depending upon where the injury is. Look for an acupuncturist that specializes in sports medicine or ditdake (Chinese traumatology).

Otherwise, good luck.

[jshelton]

I had a similar situation, L5-S1 herniation with the sciatica. Not wanting to quit lifting, I did a Starr style rehab / SS fusion - unloaded squat and deads to just the bar and did 3x20 instead of 3x5. I raised the weights up 5 lbs at a time as I could handle it (per-set the first week or so, per workout after), dropping reps as the weight climbed. Got a lot of form practice and I like to think the exercise helped flush blood to the injured area and get it healed up faster.

I was worried like you about "is it going to be permanent, like ... paralysis or anything??" and asked the PT. He of course said never do anything hard like deadlift ... but it wouldn't be anything like that, just pain. After the sciatica and the bulged disk - well, I'm guessing it's safe to assume you know what the pain feels like now. It sucks, but it's just pain. Lifting (with proper form) shouldn't make it worse, it may or may not make it better in the short term, but long term the worst thing you could do is stop lifting.

Grats on the double bodyweight dead tho ... that's awesome!

[franklie]

your post

The bulging disk will take some weeks to resolve. What I have done when I have had a bulged disk with the related sciatica is reduce the weight of the squats and deadlifts to something I can manage with strict form. Each subsequent training session, add a bit more weight. It can be as little as 2-lbs or 5-lbs. Try to avoid large weight additions. Train to what YOUR body will tolerate.

One other thing, focus on good lifting form. Have someone coach you if possible or review your form on each rep of your workout sets.

Good luck.

[SquatQueen]

These are all great suggestions. Reverse hyperextensions seem to be recommended frequently as I search on the internet. I'll need to rig something up at the gym to do those. The Starr style rehab really appeals to me as well because I get to lift :-). I plan to try the empty bar starting tonight and will see how it feels. I DO NOT want surgery, that's for sure, so that'll motivate me to take it slow and easy and perfect my form over the next few weeks. Unfortunately, I have a high tolerance for pain and fancy myself a lot younger and more resilient than I actually am, so I need to take my little achy twinges more seriously before they turn into something worse. I really appreciate you all, thank you.

[NKT]

Here are some photos of my homemade reverse-hyperextension setup, this was pretty easy to build in an afternoon and worked well:

07171735.jpg07171727a.jpg07171727.jpg

[nkelman]

Heres my homemade RH

[Satch]

I ruptured L5/S1 and after crawling around two days I got a script of cortisone which made me mobile and nerve block injections I was able to recover without surgery. I found that walking outside helped loosen up my lower back which was therapeutic. In the morning I did light stretching and a heating pad for 15-20 minutes. I was not lifting barbells at the time. Based on my experience I would recommend moving within the range of pain. After my event I was happy to walk at first -thought I would be crippled. Unfortunately this is an injury setback. I have started back SS novice after tweaking my back a couple years ago. Easy does it and patience with spine in jury's.

Hope you have a speedy recovery.