Squats with Herniated Disk

I was in a car accident a few months ago. The broken bones have healed but the disk between my lowest vertebrae and tailbone is bulging out. I tried SSB squatting with only about 70 lbs and had pretty severe pain for several days. My chiropractor suggested I permanently stop lifting and limit physical activity to things like swimming, walking, and suggested a cross-country skiing machine for “exercise”. Can anyone suggest a form of lifting, rehab, or quite frankly anything so I can eventually get back to squats and deadlifts? Thanks

In my case I just trained everything else I could until my back stopped hurting, then would attempt to train squats/deadlifts as painlessly as possible. Sometimes I would overdo and have to back off, but it got incrementally better and I would progress the weights as it did so.

Just keep moving.

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Disclaimer, this isn’t medical advice, I’m not a doctor, and I don’t know anything specific about your back issues.

If you stop loading your back altogether, you will make the supporting musculature weaker. I’m not saying you need to squat heavy, but I’d work to find some way to load and strengthen without pain. glute bridges, pull throughs, belt squats, reverse hyper. I’d find something that makes it at least not hurt, and start with very light pump stuff. Then, if you want to, build up. I personally would also work on core and stability as much as possible. If you have something wrong with the bone structure, I’d personally want all the muscles that stabilize it as strong as possible.

A herniation (depending on severity) isn’t necessarily all that bad. Most serious lifters have some, including a-symptomatic ones. Don’t think it’s the end of the world.

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I’ve 3 herniated discs, I was told not to lift heavy weights, one Dr told me to take up yoga and don’t lift weights lol. Since being told that I’ve deadlifted close to 600lb raw and done 1000+ above the knee rack pulls. I found progressively heavier farmers walks and loaded carries in general greatly helped strengthen my core enough to deadlift pain free, also found banded deadlifts and block pulls easier at first too.

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@DoubleDuce and @hit_sirloin hit the nail on the head here, IMO.

Once again, as DD said, I’m not a doctor, or a medical professional of any sort, and everyone’s issues are different, but I have multiple herniated discs, and I avoided all back loading stuff hoping the pain would go away, and it got worse and worse as I got weaker, so I’ll just say what I did, without actually suggesting any of this for you, and you can take from it what you will.

The biggest things that helped me were strengthening my abs, particularly through exercises that involve raising the lower body, like hanging leg raises, as in addition to weak abs, I had weak hip flexors, and then strengthening the lower back, through bodyweight supermans, good mornings, reverse hypers, and regular hyperextensions on a roman chair. Glute bridges are good too. I also even used deadlifts to strengthen my back again.

My final thing that helped me more than anything was STOPPING STRETCHING MY LOWER BACK. It provided relief when I was in pain, but it was making everything worse. My only stretches changed to loaded stretches, like the good mornings and hypers working into deeper ROM’s with weight, but actively contracting the muscle while pushing into the stretch, instead of passively sinking into it.

Again - there are indeed back injuries that prevent people from squatting and deadlifting, and furthermore, you can build big leg and back muscles without squatting and deadlifting at all, but a bulging or herniated disc in and of itself is not a death sentence for barbell strength work.

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Everyone nailed it.

Some more ideas for modifying your current training, whilst allowing your lower back to calm down a bit:

  1. Pre-exhaust glutes, hamstrings and quads with isolation exercises
  2. Utilise partial range
  3. Utilise accommodating resistance
  4. Loaded carries, as symptoms allow
  5. Use blood flow restriction cuffs
  6. Do more single-leg work
  7. Use a slow tempo
  8. Use long pauses
  9. Use isometrics (pain-limited squat into pins, deadlifts into pins)
  10. Reduce your per-session volume of squatting/deadlifting exercises, but increase the frequency

Please note you may have to avoid squatting and deadlifting for about a week if your symptoms are flared, but that doesn’t mean stop training your lower body altogether

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A good thing to watch or read up on would be anything from Dr. Stuart McGill and Brian Carrol. They specialize in this stuff especially lifting with back issues. But the other dudes are spot on as well.

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I’ve also had multiple disc ruptures and, as mentioned above, not stretching the lower back made a big improvement.

I worked legs with leg extensions and seated leg curls until I was able to do other leg exercises without pain and started very light on anything I wasn’t certain of.

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No health care professional here either. Some lifters use physiotherapists for disc problems, which seems like a great idea. I think they have the expertise to get you back to regular pain free lifting.

Even with a physio guy involved, listen to your dr., and get them fully coordinated.

At age 30 I squatted for about a year (in the 70s when surgery was only option) with a squashed disc until sleep was about impossible, so dr. finally operated. Dr’s best advice was what flapppinit said about strengthening abs. Strengthen everything you can, and especially keep your gut as thin as possible. I moved my best poundages in the years after surgery, and pain does return occasionally in stressful times. I then walk a ton, do hot tub soaks, use wet heating pad, and skip workouts.

My Dr. also said the pain is comparable to what women have during child birth.

Bitchin Bob, is that you?

Remember dude, you’re currently Injured. If your disk was blasted by a hellacious trauma it might take months, or even up to a year to heal. So while squats and deads may not be Out forever, it may be awhile before you can get back to those particular moves.

In the mean time, like everyone said, train what you can train and do what doesn’t hurt. Don’t be frustrated if the exercise list is very small starting out. If you can avoid flare up and heal while you train you’ll gradually build the capacity to do more and more.

Today, maybe even right now, check out this info from Dr Stuart McGill. He shows a model of a spine and explains bulges and problems. Then at 6:00 minutes he shows how to sit in a chair and Asses Your Back Pain. You Gently flex, extend or compress your spine to see what triggers your pain (flexion, extension or compression). Then you know to avoid those motions to cause flair ups. And you know how to move when you’re training to not go into those motions.

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Why do doctors think we can just quit lifting and love it? I don’t get it.

Anyway. I’ve never had disc problems myself, but do have scoliosis and it’s complicated things. Years back went to a doc who put me on rehab exercises. Main thing to toughen up my core muscles and hold spine steady. Pretty standard stuff: bird dogs, planks, back arching, that stuff. Since then I just took squats and deads slowly. Eventually got up to a 275 lb dead and a 315 rack pull with no spine problems. Without a belt.

No idea if this helps you. Just my two cents.

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