My back, oh god my back

Don't crab (distort your posture to release pressure elswhere) keep the spine straight and relaxed. Gentle stretching exercise and rest.

Be patient.

regards koyo

 

I wish I knew. I first had troubles with it after spending a summer shifting gravel 8 hours a day. It's been fine for about 6 months now, but the other day I started deadlifting again, and now it's gone back to being painful fairly constantly. They weren't even heavy deadlifts, and the fact that I moved the bar around with the weights still attached (it only weighed 50K, so I picked it up, twisted around and walked back to the shed with it) may have had a lot to do with it.

But oh my god was I in pain this morning. I think a couple of day's rest at the very least. Which sucks, as I was just getting back into exercise.

 

Sounds like an aggravated strain to me; which is as mentioned rest and stretch. However have you ever worked your lower back and kept the symmetry in your fitness routine? If not you could have some muscle imbalance and need to pull it back.

 

well, I've only ever worked the lower back indirectly in deadlifts and squats. Does that have to change? I really hate doing supermen!

 

Sounds like you need to do a fair bit of core strengthening along with your routine. Plank/side plank?

 

I'm quite good at abdominal exercises though- I can hold L-sits and do 20 suspended situps (sitting on a chair, legs locked in something solid).

 

It can actually be bad to strengthen the front half (abbs) with out doing the back half (lower back).

 

Yeah, I was told by my physio to watch what I did- I told her I was good at situps but she said that might have been at the expense of strengthening other areas ,that it didn't mean I had a strong core.

 

The short answer is Yes you will have to do some focused work on your lower back. Good Mornings, Superman, and Windmills are a few good exercises. First things first though, let your back recover and keep it stretched.

 

Hey Knight,
Sound slike you've done EXACTLY what I did!! Training the abs without the balanced trainign of the back. You really will have to sort out the balance mate, but the good news is, once you do, you shoudln't really get any more back problems.
Athleng's right though -let your back heal first, then start fixing it!

 

One word...

BUPA

 

Another one: money

 

You don't need BUPA or loads of money KE. I have managed to manage my back problems myself, yeah I pay someone every 6 weeks or so for the tui na massage but it's worth it. Diet and exercise can help lower back pain a lot.
I have a book I don't need any more about lower back pain, I can send it you if you like? Pm me your details.

 

I just remembered something, resistance bands. They've been used for years now in rehab and would most likely do you a good turn.

 

Fresh screwup: I've done it again... ow, god....

 

dude while deadlifts are great id just give them a miss if i were you.

Your not wanting to get huge, so i wouldnt bother, just do squats instead once your back gets better, then do some clean and press but start light and easy. But make sure you see the Doc asap if it isnt getting any better.

 

To second Hiroji, if you messed it up doing deadlifts again, don't. I injured my lower back doing them a while ago and took a full six weeks off lower body work to allow it to heal fully. It sucks, but it's worth it long term.

 

I'd suggest front squats before back squats, they'll put a lot less stress on your back.

Rest is #1 priority now though, you really need to give the back work a rest completely for a while.

 

Yes, it was deadlifts again. Curiously enough, it doesn't seem to happen when I'm doing squats, but yeah, looks like another lengthy period of rest.

 

I no longer do deads as I injured my lower back years ago and it always seems to bring the pain back when doing that excercise.