Living with Scoliosis

Hello everyone,

Ill get straight to the point, Ive had scoliosis since birth, but didnt really think about it before I started lifting weights, I quickly saw in the mirror that something is crooked.

I went to the doctor and had x-ray and they found out that my spine in the lower-back region is 33degrees out of alignement to the left.
The result of this is that the left side of my lower back is getting more work than my right side which results in that the left side of my lower back is bigger than the right.
This means also that my left side abdomen is getting more work also.

I love working out so this didnt stop me (I shouldve done better research I know and focused on fixing this issue) and Ive pulled 3 times bw deadlift, 2x bw benchpress and 2x bw squats for reps a couple of years ago, but because of a change in my life with new work and alot of moving I couldnt train as hard as I could before so Im not in my best shape right now.

Since Im starting up again now I would like to focus on the weak points on my physique which is exactly this.
So Im reaching out to you people who struggle with the same, how did you do the best out of your situation with scoliosis with exercises and stretching?

Im a 26 years old male.

Cheers.

Hey I also have scoliosis. It is an S-shaped around 20-30 degrees. Before it was close to 40 degrees when it was first detected. I did a lot of unilateral exercises, especially for back like one-arm dumbbell row. I felt that really help to strengthen the weaker side. Also, stretching is very important. I avoid exercises that put too much pressure on my spine like conventional deadlift, back squats and heavy barbell row though. But if you feel fine doing those, then you should keep doing those

Hello!

Ive been offshore so I couldnt check the post!

What kind of stretching exercises do you recommend?
Appriciate the experience you can share.

Have a nice day

Offset loading seems to do well with people with scoliosis. Had some good results with this in the past. For instance; have the weight on a barbell distributed unevenly. This could be a 5kg plate on one side, and on the other no extra weight. Or with a squat/deadlift/row/etc. you can unevenly place yourself in relation to the bar. So one side you are holding it in the middle, the other side close to the end. Your spine will need to adjust to this. But make sure start very basic, heavy weights won’t do the trick and can perhaps hurt you. Start easy!