Degenerative Disc Opinion

[George_T]

I finally got tired of aggravating my glass back and had an MRI done. I was diagnosed with a degenerative disc at L5/S1. I tried to pin the doc down on the severity and he said it wasn't that bad of a case. He said my symptoms were caused by the muscles "splinting up" around that area to protect the disc.

Now I've been a good little patient going to PT 3x/week, but I'm doing all the silly isometric and rubber-band exercises I see trainers at my 'health spa' gym employ that I swore I'd never do. I sought out a PT with a lot of sports rehab experience who I thought would be amenable to my continued SS plight, but alas, he is advising me not to squat, clean or deadlift and probably wouldn't be too keen on overhead lifts either.

Do you have any experience with this problem? Is this a big deal or something I can train around?

Update: Now he's saying maybe I can do them with sets of 15...

38yo
5'10", 210 lbs, 30% BF
Squat: 270x5x3 (my back starting having trouble keeping up after about 250)
bench: 262.5x5x3 (novice gains seem done after 2 back-off periods)
press: 150x5x3 (novice gains seem done after 2 back-off periods)
deadlift: 295x5x1
power clean: still learning

Thanks,
George_T

[Mark Rippetoe]

I'll bet that you're having a little trouble keeping your low back tight in extension at the bottom, and that this is what's causing the low back issue. I'll bet this because of your bodyfat level which, if it's primarily belly fat, makes it very hard to keep the low back locked. I'll also bet you can fix this with a stance and knee position correction at the bottom.

Your L5/S1 situation is a rather common injury, and it can be managed and trained around if you stop aggravating it with poor technique. You didn't mention radiculopathy, so I'll assume it doesn't involve your legs yet. I have some disc issues myself, and you can take heart in Louie Simmons' example of what can be accomplished with aggressive rehab with a much more severe injury than you have. And if you wait for your MD/PT to prescribe it, you will be waiting for a paradigm shift that will be a while in coming.

[Alpha Zulu]

I have dealt with some lumbar spine issues as well. L4-L5 has lost some height and L5-S1 herniated about 3mm and I am only 23 years old. The herniation occured from a loss of thoracic extension on the squat which However, after a month or two of the traditional MD/PT route, I became convinced that I needed to do work on my own to help myself. Some of the stretching and glute activation stuff I did through them seemed to help, but it was not enough.

I began seeing a very competent chiropractor who had me feeling better after a few months. Add in a lot of back extensions, reverse hypers, pullthroughs, and foam rolling on anything tight (hips, adductors, hammies, erectors, etc...) and I am just about 100% now and ready to start back squatting and deadlifting (front squats have felt fine for a while now). I would also like to get some ART done, but have exhausted my insurance coverage so will have to wait until 2009.

Its a very managable injury.

Mark, care to elaborate on Louie's rehab/injury if you know any details.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I'll leave that to someone more familiar with it.