Reply With QuoteThats pretty vague man, but if its an si issue heat and stretching usually seems to help. Where is the pain exactly?
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(Another) strange lower back injury
Hello everyone,
I ran a 5k on Saturday (currently training to do one of them mud-runner things for charity in September). Moved to 531 twice a week whilst training and it was going well until yesterday's workout.
Still felt stiff from the 5k but went ahead and trained, squats felt fine. Completed my second set of bench. No sharp pains or anything like that. Sat up and all of a sudden felt an oncoming of tightness and pain in my lower back which got worse as I stood up, and even worse as I walked (continually worse until I had to stop and bend over which was the only thing that eased the pain). Strangely it was sore when I contracted my abs too.
Went home, had a hot bath, foam rolled hammys etc to see if it would help, seems to have. Today I'm uncomfortable but can walk. Can hold my back in extension which I couldn't do yesterday, but it gets really sore when I squeeze tight. Flexion is still no real problem other than the discomfort.
Any ideas what has gone on? Seems strange to me that I seem to have gotten an injury without any kind of 'That hurt, I've injured myself here' type incident. Supposed to deadlift on Thursday, what are my chances?
I'm 28 btw so although I'm not a young pup I'm not that old yet either.
Last edited by millsy; 07-29-2014 at 03:43 AM.
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Thats pretty vague man, but if its an si issue heat and stretching usually seems to help. Where is the pain exactly?
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Fairly hard to pinpoint as it's generally just a dull ache in my lower back, but when I hold my back hard into extensions the pain flairs quite locally on both sides of my spine in the lower back region only.Originally Posted by JasPChuff
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I used to be fairly obese (5 10, 278lbs 35+bf%) and had chronic issues with si on both sides. Since I started training seriously a few months back (having previously gotten down to 194lbs) I have occasional si symptoms. Some good lower back stretches and a heating pad should speed up your recovery. I would say just take deadlift day a set at a time and stop adding plates if the discomfort gets worse. Sometimes I find that simply hanging from a pullup bar will help the lower back pop back into place.
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You think the SI might have been brought on by the 5k then (something I'm not used to doing), then maybe aggravated by the lifting?
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I used to have similar issues. Conventional wisdom is to stretch your hamstrings and back. That never worked for me. When my lower back starts to flair or I feel my pelvis starting to tilt forward I stretch my quads and my hip flexors and the issue let's up.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...start=0&ndsp=8
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Gave my hip flexors a foam roll last night, seemed to help in the immediate instance. Need to get something that can go deeper though.
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Lacrosse ball. Try that stretch. It has kept me from spasms for almost 3 years now. Knock on wood
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Hip flexor stretching does feel nice, so long as you don't force your body into any wacky positions or take it too far. Lacrosse ball to the glutes seems to break up some tension as well.
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Bought myself a tennis ball (lacrosse balls are pretty difficult to find in Northern Ireland) and got into my Glutes, Hamstrings, thighs and hip flexors last night, as well as the stretch you suggested. Back feels almost good as new this morning. Will go again tonight then take deadlifts easy on tomorrow and see how things go.
Thanks for the help everyone.
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