I injured my back (pulled muscle) over a year ago now, and I've been to get it looked at because it's still aching sometimes and was told there's nothing serious wrong with it, so I want to start weightlifting and training properly again. My question is, what advice could anyone give me about easing my back into lifting weight, without over straining it?
Just my two pence on this, I've had a nagging back injury for aboot a year now too, after a few months I thought it had healed and started easing into some squatting with just the bar - bad idea, my back flared right back up, and it felt as bad as the day I injured it. I've bought McGill's "Low back disorders", and it is a very interesting read, but I think perhaps overstated as a self-help manual, at least if you have already seen a physio. Granted I say that in part because it doesn't seem to have helped my injury too much. However, the information in there is definately useful for anyone who has a spine, and uses it regularly. Have you seen a sports-specific professional? When a doc says "nothing serious" he is probably referring to joe public, which means it might not be safe for you to go loading up the bar just yet.
I went to an orthopeadic doctor and she said she'd refer me to a physio but hasn't got back to me yet. I mentioned everything about training to her and she basically said there isn't any danger and if I'm doing martial arts then I'll likely be living with it anyway.
How often does your back give you bother? I went to the physio and she basically gave me some yoga-esque stretches to do and told me to sit up straight, which hasn't really helped my back problem at all. So rather than waiting for a physio appointment, you might want to try doing some yoga like this (the stretches this guy does on the first video are all ones my physio gave me to do, but I would recommend holding them for 6-8 breaths rather than bouncing between the positions as he does. just a personal preference). Have you been lifting any weights at all? I have been training around my injury for the last 6 months, and in my experience, if I involve my back too much, I know about it the next day, which gives the required feedback on what exercises I can and can't attempt. It's a gut feeling that if I start back on deads or squats that my back wouldnt take it. So if you're keen to get back on the weights, I don't think you'll do yourself harm by starting on exercises that only indirectly involve the back (any standing freeweight exercises for example), and seeing how your back feels after that. Just take it really slow, and if you feel your back starting to ache stop right away I know it's hard to go to the gym and not work at 100%, but you should try and go easy as you get back into it. If you increase the load your back is taking very slowly, you should be able to tell if its going to give you bother before you injure yourself, so long as you listen to your aches and pains.
isnt there suppost to be a review of some kind on its way McG? i may have made that up completely btw, it was just in ther back of my mind.
