Spondylolisthesis - Crossroads

[Andrew Stilo]

I'm new to the Starting Strength Forums, and hoping to gain some knowledge on my condition; I'm 19 years old with a lot of confusion and unanswered questions about this condition. Back in 2018, I was diagnosed with unilateral Spondylosis and a slight isthmic anterolisthesis grade 1. After no relief from bracing and PT, we went for another imaging to see if it was worsening. The new scan showed no change in slippage but revealed a now bilateral pars defect. After years of struggling with PT and different medical opinions, I'm extremely confused about what to do as I'm still symptomatic. The last MRI I received was back in early-mid 2023, which showed no change from all the prior MRI studies. I've been discouraged many times about doing compound lifts such as deadlifts and squats, it wasn't until I started researching that squatting and deadlifting helped reduce back pain. I've tried slowly progressively overloading back into deadlifts and squats but was still asymptomatic to a degree. For example, after the lift, I would feel SI joint pain and burning sensations (An unstable feeling overall). The day after my hamstrings would sometimes be extremely sore and tight. I did feel some type of improvement in overall back pain from doing these lifts but I was still symptomatic which means I had to be doing something wrong. My mindset right now is in the dumpster which I believe is contributing to more pain and fear of compound lifts. My main goal would be to become pain-free in day-to-day activities, but also train in martial arts and be active. Are these feasible and how? Is my athletic career over? What limitations do I have to abide by? Thank you,

Andrew

*Scans of my spine from 2020 (My spine surgeon back in 2023 said there was no change in the slippage or discs from the previous studies in 2019-2020)

Jefferson Health - 11-19-2020.jpg Jefferson Health - 03-18-2020.jpg

[Mark Rippetoe]

Height/bodyweight? Any idea if an injury started this process?

[Andrew Stilo]

5'9/170lbs

I believe the injury was caused by a repetition of trauma in the spine from getting tackled from the behind in football. I remember being in severe pain after the game until the point where sitting was very uncomfortable; I was in a rear end accident when I was young, and remember experiencing back pain. During a deadlift I felt a "pop" sensation in my spine which ultimately caused me to seek medical attention. I wonder the slippage is congenital as back pain runs in my family and my mother was recently diagnosed with multi level retrolisthesis and anterolisthesis. My doctor was in agreement and said the slip is most likely congenital but then again it's merely speculation. In spite of this as I said in the first post my injury hasn't progressed since the initial MRI up until 2023; I will be going in for my next yearly checkup.

[Mark Rippetoe]

It is very likely that gaining about 40 pounds of muscular bodyweight will stabilize your spine. You may have back pain for a long time, sorry, many of us do. Just something you get used to. Omit the cleans but do the rest of the program as you can. And eat.