How to approach training with a chronic back injury

[townsend2005]

Hey coach!

I'm 33, Male, 165lbs, Novice trainer. (done a couple hypertrophy, strength programs in the past, with mixed success)

- Issue: Training with a chronic back injury
I injured my coccyx when I was younger, and tend to pull muscles in that area every now and then
I have some mild spine asymmetry from years of playing a musical instrument.

I've been broke most of my life and learned to treat my back injuries with a lot of yoga and targeted back stretching. It's been very effective, as far as getting back to normal life without back pain.

After a couple years of general exercise conditioning, I wanted to get back to a strength program.

After a couple weeks of doing SS, I notice a growing muscle soreness which didn't subside. No actute pain, just a soreness that would appear a day after workouts. I did a LOT of warming up, and I was very conservative with adding weight, and posted form checks which passed muster on this board. I was doing 190 on my high-bar squat (previous shoulder injury prevents low-bar at this time) and 135 on my DL. I felt that I was nowhere near my 5RM max on the DL, but I was adding weight very conservatively each session. Anyway, I took a month off, and now the soreness is lessening.

I can't wait to get back to training, but obviously I need to really re-think my approach.


If I want to cautiously approaching SS again, what do you recommend?

-Continue squats and Dl's at much lower weights and higher reps?
-Maintain weights/rep scheme, but reduce frequency?
-Focus on ancillary exercises as rehabilitation, until I can do the primary exercises again?
-I have a sense that the ROM required by the DL might what causes me problems. Are there cases where you simply advise trainees to abandon the DL until significant rehabilitative success is confirmed?

MRI's, x-rays, and specialist diagnosis would be best, but I don't think I have to funds to see that through. Perhaps the answer is that I shouldn't strength train until I can get a professional diagnosis? (Which is usually.... "stop working out and take advil" from generalist doctors)

Thanks for reading.

Fitz

[Mainstream]

Believe me I could go on ...but I dont want the next Dr. Kevorkian at my door...so I'll stop there....heres what I do...I play it by ear...I have some idea that I am going to do such and such a workout on such and such a day...now when such and such a day arrives my pain and fatigue may be so excruciating that I have to postpone the workout or MODIFY the workout ...there is constant tweaking...but the hardest part is trying NOT to listen to all the bullshit that people with normal health say...just smile and nod when those fuckfaces talk...

Compare yourself ONLY to yourself...not some 20 year old on steroids and a mommy that cooks his meals....shit that reminds me that I gotta go tell my mom what I want for dinner

[melody]

A chiropractic visit is around $40 and a massage is around the same. If you can afford it they can help a lot of things. In our 30's they are just a part of training IMO.

[Tiburon]

How tall are you @ 165 lbs?