Squats nay, Deadlifts yeay. I have back pain

[Gilbert John]

Hello there, thank you for trying to help

Started out weak. Short summary: Did SS for 5 Months, last month increasing lumbar spine pain, thinking it is the squat since every other movement is fine, slipped disc, what now ??

17 yo, 6 Ft. , 142 pounds. Goal was to just put on some size to at least look normal. And as I see it now in the mirror, stronger DOES look better, also from the ladies. I was basically skin with elbows.

My teacher recommended me SS- "Let's give it a shot". Was doing SS for about 5 Months and boy it worked. Now 180 pounds.

Stats: Squat from empty bar (yep, that was heavy), to 190 pounds
Deadlift from 66 pounds to 220 pounds
OHP from 22 pounds to 77
Power Clean from 66 pounds to 160 pounds My shoulders would not allow me to bench, but OHP was just fine.
Chin- Ups from 1 to 10 in a row for sets.

I increased incrementally every workout, ate like a bear. So a big thank you to the Starting Strength Team! This Method work, even if you deviate a little, making sure you eat and sleep enough.

But for the last Month of SS, I noticed pain in the lumbar spine. After finishing a set of squats, I DID NOT feel good at all for a couple of workouts in a row. At first it was minor "pain". Suck it up buttercup. Over time this nagging pain became seriously painful. If I had to deadlift that day, it would ease the pain a little.

Decided to take a week of, an at that night a sudden acute pain in my lumbar spine, as if someone put a dozen knives in there. "Well, I think I m gonna take 2 weeks of now". Getting up was harder than usual, putting on socks caused me a cold sweat, and I felt 4 decades older. Doctor, MRI, Slipped disc (or protruding disc, non native). He said surgery was possible, but he would not recommend it. At now 18 yo. Well.

Doctor. Infiltration. Eased the pain a little. Started walking more. Started to go swimming, and it helped. I stayed away from the gym for about 4 Months total, due to my doctors advise. After some time, I chose to go to the gym again.

Pattern: Mon:Train, Tue:Rest, Wed:Rest, Thu:Train, Fri:Rest, Sat:Rest, Sun:Train, Mon:Rest, Tue:Rest, Wed:Train. To allow myself more recovery.

Starting WITH JUST THE BAR. Man, that was not as easy as I imagined it to be.

First day, Squats. Felt hard, but goooood again. Nice. DL, No problem. Felt even better. Man I have missed the OHP. Also included Planks at the end of the Workout. Did that for 2 weeks, increasing the weight every week now, and there was the pain again. "Better do some DL to kill that son of a". It worked.

Next Workout. Squats. Pain. Severely. --> Doctor. 2 Infiltrations. Told him what I do in the gym and showed him how I do it. He did not see anything wrong. "PT", he said "is not necessary for you. You actually seem to know what you are doing". Am I? I just did Starting Strenght "If you say that you feel like squats are somehow causing the problem of back pain, and you say DLs are helping tremendously with easing the pain, then just leave em out."

So here I am. On this forum, asking for help.

My goals have unintentionally changed. From "Dude, maybe I am going to squat 600 pounds like Baraki in one year from now" to "Dude, maybe I can "get rid" of my back pain L4 L5 with strenght training,get my mobility back, and if I can somewhat regain the strength I had, even if it takes me longer than before, that's great!"

So even tough I had good technique from a third perspective (Different people who also did SS having watch me, making videos and compare it to the "How to Squat: On the platform" Videos), Squats gave me painzz. That means I cannot perform the squat any longer.

So how do I do it guys? I can DL without a problem. Hell, when I leave the gym after doing 5x1 Deadlifts, 5x3 OHP and Planks, I feel amazing and more mobile than when I went in.

In case you forgot, I am just 18 btw. How do I program? What, when, how often, how many sets, how many reps, LP every week or every workout?

Squats are no bueno. DLs ARE AMAZING. OHP is good too. Chin-up, also great (since I cannot bench, to get a little arms and lats). Power Clean , well. Maybe BB Rows, are fun and also subjectively improve my situation.


I hope I could communicate my situation to you clearly...

Best wishes from across the Atlantic.

Post scriptum: I get it that things like slipped discs are/may be also genetically. And I heard this also "If you can't do something, you must do it" etc. Sometimes the costs outweigh the benefits.

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

This is a private consultation, not a forum post.

Please condense into relevant information only and a question.

[Gilbert John]

Ok sorry,

18yo, did starting strength for 5 months, injured my low back with presumably squats, so I cannot perform the squat correctly, apparently. Also unable to bench press. Took 4 Months off. Now going to the gym again. Weight stats are in my previous post.

DL feel amazing. How do I go about programming, doing only DLs, OHP, Chin-ups, maybe power clean and BB Rows, while taking two days off for better recovery between workouts?

Not trying to lift as heavy as possible, but to regain mobility and to ease the pain more.

Thank you

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

Something like this:

1 - OHP, Chins
2 - Power Clean, Deadlifts
3 - Off
4 - Repeat

If you can get to a coach, get there ASAP. At 18 y/o I guarantee you that you can squat and bench, but no one has showed you how yet. Don't worry, no one showed any of us how to do it right at 18 either. Focus on the things you can do well at the moment and get as strong as possible on those exercises.

I implore you not to have any more wasted time in the gym by just taking months off at a time. You have a window here of several years where you can make some of the best progress of your life.

But really....beg, steal, or borrow some $$$ and get to a coach. Where do you live??

[Gilbert John]

Hello,

thanks for replying so quickly, appreciated really

But just to clarify, should I stick with the normal sets that ist 3x5 OHP, 3x as many as possible chins, 5x3 Power Clean and 1x5 DLs?

I live in Austria Vienna.

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

I'd probably do a bit more volume since this program is heavily modified....I'd probably do around 5 sets of OHP and Chins or more and probably 3 sets of Deads. Not everything has to be sets across. For instance, OHP might be 3x5 across and 2-3 x 5 back off, DL might be 1x5 and 2x5 as back off, etc.

[Martin L]

Hi Gilbert,

I am also from Vienna. Something you could try:
Das Gym (I am not sure if links are allowed, but you could easily find it with Google) – They are very dedicated about strength training, weightlifting and bodybuilding and very well equipped. So maybe the coaches there could help you with form issues

USI – Unviversitäts Sport Zentrum: They provide very cheap strength and weightlifting training classes, which could also be attended if you are not a student.

If you are near 3rd district I could pm you additional addresses.

Good luck,

Martin

[Gilbert John]

Hey, thanks for the reply again

Alright, started today with that programme plus the back off set. Took 20% off and it felt good, also because the lighter weight did feel easier than before, and easier to correct small technique errors. But Chins are haaard. Tried to do 3 sets with as many chins as I could. At the beginning of every set, 2 regular chins were possible with good technique, but after that I could not get up. So I just added 3 negative chins to each set. To improve my chins, correct me if I am wrong please, I just do 3 sets with as many chins as I can, and after I cannot get up, I just add 3 negative chins.

I am going to do as you said for a couple of weeks and then I will update you, if you want. I am going to either way, maybe for other readers.

Th x for the help btw, appreciate it a lot

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

If you suck at Chins then just aim for a rep-total goal. And complete that in as many sets as it takes to get there. So maybe start with 10-15. That may be like 5-8 x 2. Over time add reps to the total as you get more per set.