Question about recurring back injury

[mdarby]

Hello,

I'll try to follow the advice on the FAQ when discussing injuries.

- 49 year old male, weight-lifting since college, three months into Starting Strength Online program with coach CJ Gotcher. CJ is great, has offered solid advice, I just wanted to throw a question out to the wider community. (265 bench, 275 squat, 300 dead lift, 130 press though not maxed on bench / press).
- Chief Complaint: three times since age 40 I've strained / injured my back to the point where I had to lay up in bed for two or more days. It is hard to describe location of pain, but it seems muscular not spinal. After healing, I am completely pain free.
- The injuries happened (1) bending over driving bolts for a back yard swing set (2) some gym lifting activity which I don't exactly recall (3) bent over rows under supervision of 24HF coach
- The pain was very uncomfortable, more than anything I've felt lifting for 30 years, playing rugby / lacrosse, etc. It didn't feel safe to me not to bed rest.
- Bed rest and Advil made it better.
- The first time this happened, I lifted a laptop and put myself back in bed after re-tweaking. Other times after healing it was fine for a year or more.
- I do not recall external signs of injury

To to set the stage, I am a big believer in the SS program, and would have my son / wife / mom on it if I could. I've read the book twice or more, listen to the podcast, have a SS coach. I am a believer in the benefit of getting strong for various reasons, including a longer, better life.

I am unsure, however, about how my back issues will play into this. Recently I was dead lifting 300 with admittedly poor form (we are working on this) when my back flared after rep 4. Luckily, it wasn't as bad as prior occasions, and I went to work and it healed after a few days. I am going back into the gym today on modified programming. But I am concerned that I should expect some kind of regular flare up of my back, where I might have to stay at home and miss work / miss life activities. That would change the calculus of SS vs. another program which didn't affect my back, even if it were inferior.

I've heard multiple comments on back pain about just suck it up, lifting will help, etc. In my case, it isn't that I have chronic back pain which lifting might help, it is that I have no back pain except when periodically lifting causes a flare up.

Do you folks have experience with this issue? Do I have to be resigned for these kinds of flare ups, or do you have success with training and good form preventing, with a high likelihood, of injuries from recurring?

Thanks for any thoughts. I hope this post follows your guidelines.

Best,
Michael

[Steve Hill]

This does not sound like any type of muscular strain or tear. First off, the activities you point to as causing the upset seem to be very light loading at which I doubt muscle tissue could suffer a strain or tear.

The point I will make here is that you have not reported any injury while doing deadlifts, which is when the muscles of the back are under the heaviest load. There's only one way to make them stronger, and that is by training them.

Have I made my point?

[mdarby]

Thank you Steve for your response.

I observe that I've injured myself several times bent over while exerting with weights or tools. I have no idea what is happening or causing the pain in terms of anatomy. I was just speculating. I didn't see a doctor at the time, just a chiropractor before I understood what that meant.

If your point is there there is only one way of making muscles stronger, and that is by training them, I do understand that.

My question was more along the following lines. Are there circumstances where it is advisable to maintain adequate (for my life needs) deal lift strength but be less likely to aggravate back injury vs. strive to add another 100 pounds and be more likely to aggravate back injury? I realize this assumes hard training is likely riskier for my back, but that seems plausible to me. If it weren't for concern about the past injury returning, I wouldn't question this. I continue to plan to add to my squat, bench and press.

You may think it is always better to strive to add more weight under all but the most extreme circumstances.

I appreciate your taking another look at this.

[Steve Hill]

I would look at your activities that cause loading while also causing you to flex / extend / rotate your spinal column. It is my experience that these activities (esp rotation with and without load) are fine triggers for back pain. An impinged nerve that causes a muscle to fire will make the muscle hurt.

While the evidence is strictly gathered through years of experience on the part of Rip, the rest of the staff, all our SSCs, and me (both personally and with my clients), and not from a study, we have all noted that people with either chronic or acute back pain who make their backs stronger suffer less back pain. YMMV. Absent a diagnosis, that's about all I can tell you.

[mdarby]

Thank you, Steve.

Your strong view that absent a specific medical diagnosis arguing to the contrary, stick with the program, is helpful.

FWIW, I am trying to start on square one with better form. In my last workout, we de-loaded and went to rack dead lifts. I filmed myself for my coach doing to the lumbar flexion exercise I saw on one of Rip's videos since he said some people don't have body sense of what this feels like. I think I can do it but I want to be sure. I concentrated on keeping that position on the way up and way down. I figure if I strive for grade-A form and learn to maintain it, that is my best protection.

[ChrisRozon]

I'm 45, and have had similar back problems over a decade or so..... bend over to pick up a kid, lift a bag wrong heck even sneeze awkwardly and end up in bed for 3-4 days.

The only thing that's ever helped has been strength and flexibility work. Deads and squats, then stretch out in front of the TV at night.