Not much at all. Have you read the remarks by other people on this board about this injury? Why not?
Member
Any ideas
I have a protruding L5-S1 and have discussed it in the lumbar compression thread.
The Dr. said no squats or deadlifts. Pretty much nothing with spinal loading. I have been cleared to bench.
I have only barbells and some adjsutable dumbells at my disposal. What kinda of barbell exercises can I do wiht minimal spinal loading? Thanks.
TMPHBITEU
Not much at all. Have you read the remarks by other people on this board about this injury? Why not?
Member
Yea I've read what others have said. I've tried all those things. Nothing seems to be working. I guess I'll just bench until this gets cleared up. How shoudl I go about benching? I would think 2-3 times a week adding 5lbs a workout. I'll get stuck pretty fast like this I would think. Maybe every 3 days?
Member
You can try a hip belt squat, but it is a huge pain to set up and you will probably tweak your back just getting into position. I really sympathize with you, but I honestly think you'll be back to lifting the way you want sooner, if you take the time now to just do nothing and let it heal. You can try front squat, lunge, split squats, and whatever else but really given what you've said it's just time for a break.
You mentioned in another thread you're getting spinal blocks and epidurals. The next step is surgery, and if I was you I'd be thinking real hard about whether that was where I wanted to go. It's not like you tweaked your ankle, you have a serious injury and you should be seriously considering whether the short term reward of contuing your recreational activities at their present level is worth the risk of persisting indefinitely with pain because you keep reinjuring yourself.
It's tough to think about really scaling back like that, but it sounds like you've already tried to work through it and that's not working out for you. So, it should be a no-brainer what the next step is. You just have to think about your recovery like it's training, even if it's just walking. Delayed gratification sucks, but it's better than nothing and far better than sciatica.
Member
Have you talked to your Chiro about spinal decompression? I too have a compressed L5-S1 and was suffering sciatica for months last year. MRI showed the disk protruding but not ruptured. My PT and Chiro (who work in same office) recommended decompression along with mobility work. They were right. It was amazing to me who connected the posterior chain is to back health. After about three months of mobility work and chiro work I found SS and am now deadlifting 285 3x5 and got a single last week for 320. Deadlift is right at 275 with good depth. After your mobile strength is the key to the lock my friend
Not having seen your MRI or knowing how to read it :0) I would say your doctor is probably covering his ass so you don't do a dead lift wrong and sue him for his Mercedes.
Thanks again Mark for the program... I try not to fuck with it too much.
Now If only I could eat as muck as I should. Ha!!
TMPHBITEU
Elaborate.Originally Posted by warmachine7954
Member
I've tried the decompression like you mentioned as best I could. It seemed to make the pain worse. The "cobra" thing hurt pretty bad. I've done conservative therapy this year and when I started lifting again it just hit me one morning when I got out of bed. I don't have access to a good chiro. Here in Korea they are few and far between. They like traditional oriental medicine here like AP and cupping. I'm just looking for some things to do in between the rest time(6-8 wks) I benched last night but I would like to do more if possible. I could use machines but here they are built for the short armed and legged Koreans.(I'm 6'4) These people go the crap end of the stick on genetics. Long torsos and short legs.
TMPHBITEU
You may have just fucked up. Lots of Koreans read this board. I'll bet you tried decompression for about 2 minutes once. Just bench press and you'll heal up as well as you deserve to.
Member
I tried it over a 5 day period 3 times a day. It made the pain in my leg worse. It probably didn't work because I don't really have a proper way to do them like you've shown in your picture. I'm glad you have Koreans reading the board they need to learn about strength training. Is there nothing I can do besides bench while I wait for this to heal? I've asked this question over and over and there is no response other than decompression. I know benching doesn't have a big spinal load. I know I can do this. It makes the problem worse to deadlift and squat. I'm gonna take a break from these and pressing. Would front squating be ok?
TMPHBITEU
You think there's no spinal loading in a front squat? Do you not plan on taking the bar out of the rack?
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