Lower Back injury 2 week's ago. still not recovered fully. what am i doing wrong?

[A_dubs]

the title says it all. Two weeks ago i hurt my lower back attempting to do deadlifts. since then i havent worked my legs or back at all however i have been doing chest and arms. should i just take time off from lifting all together. or what should i do?

[bigtranr26]

I feel your pain. Mine has been about the same amount of time but I haven't stopped lifting yet. I'm not sure how I injured it. It hurts more out of the gym than in, and hasn't gotten any worse but then again, not any better either. This is my first low back injury and I will work through the pain unless it becomes worse but I imagine it just takes a while to recover.
I can't see where doing chest and arms would hinder the lower back recovery time so I would just keep going there.

[Trifixion]

In my limited experience... lower back takes a long time to heal. I had an injury not too long back, because I was squatting with not so great form, and I went too heavy. It took me about 3 weeks to a month before I really felt better, I'd give it some more time before you start worrying.

When I was healing from mine, I just avoided exercises that used lower back... i.e. squats, deads, etc. and replaced them with leg press and other machine workouts (better than nothing IMO).

[inkedouttrucca]

hurt my back doing deads 3 years ago. gave up weightlifting for a full year still hurts when i do lower back exersizes. squats feel fine, but i gave up on deads and bent over rows for good.

[Grind4Mine]

Was this a self diagnosis, or did you have some imaging done, etc..

LB injury is a pretty general and common term that could mean many diff things.

What were you doing when you injured it, what position, what type of pain, location of pain, etc..I deal with this all day everyday be a little more descriptive I may be able to give you a course of action

You would all be amazed at what a little core strengthening and ab work would do for your back pathologies

[A_dubs]

Thanks for all the responses. taking a year off of lifting sounds hard i hope that wont be the answer to my problems
if worse comes to worse ill just keep lifting arms, but i really dont want a muscular imbalance.

Originally Posted by Grind4Mine

Was this a self diagnosis, or did you have some imaging done, etc..

LB injury is a pretty general and common term that could mean many diff things.

What were you doing when you injured it, what position, what type of pain, location of pain, etc..I deal with this all day everyday be a little more descriptive I may be able to give you a course of action

You would all be amazed at what a little core strengthening and ab work would do for your back pathologies

as for a more specific assessment, it was a self diagnosis. its the lower back on my right side, i was doing dead lifts when i hurt it and probably just had really bad form(because i didn't know really what i was doing) not as much the mid section of my back but right above the waist line. hope that helps

[Lifter4Life59]

hey man i feel ur pain, been battling real bad lower back tightness and pain for the last 2 months. I have dropped a bunch of weight on deads and what not, i also cheat on my deads a bit now and use more legs to take stress off of the injured area but it just takes time to heal. Doing your other exercises shouldnt hurt ur back.

[A_dubs]

Originally Posted by Lifter4Life59

hey man i feel ur pain, been battling real bad lower back tightness and pain for the last 2 months. I have dropped a bunch of weight on deads and what not, i also cheat on my deads a bit now and use more legs to take stress off of the injured area but it just takes time to heal. Doing your other exercises shouldnt hurt ur back.

yeah man it sucks. so i should continue to do my deads and back exercises?

[Grind4Mine]

Originally Posted by A_dubs

yeah man it sucks. so i should continue to do my deads and back exercises?

By your description i would tend to lean more toward muscle strain rather than a disc issue.

Take a couple weeks off from lifting altogether, but continue on the treadmill at a light pace for 20 min

If pain persists for more then two weeks of rest, get with a Dr.

[seriouslifter]

Originally Posted by inkedouttrucca

hurt my back doing deads 3 years ago. gave up weightlifting for a full year still hurts when i do lower back exersizes. squats feel fine, but i gave up on deads and bent over rows for good.

same, but didnt give up lifting that long but lower back still hurts. i tried stretching, strengthening core didnt do anything. i do deads and squats and i just bear with it the next day lower back kills. i cant do barbell bent over rows and reverse hyper extensions kill my lower back once i get the pump going.

[A_dubs]

Originally Posted by Grind4Mine

By your description i would tend to lean more toward muscle strain rather than a disc issue.

Take a couple weeks off from lifting altogether, but continue on the treadmill at a light pace for 20 min

If pain persists for more then two weeks of rest, get with a Dr.

oh man no lifting for 2 weeks
i guess its all for the better, thanks for your help Grind!

[addrock]

About 4 years ago i suffered a lower back injury. It out me out for a while and to this day i follow a routine that keeps it normal. The biggest things for me is to keep my core strong, and i stretch my hamstrings a lot because they are very tight. so far this has been my cure.

[kziwarrior]

Originally Posted by addrock

About 4 years ago i suffered a lower back injury. It out me out for a while and to this day i follow a routine that keeps it normal. The biggest things for me is to keep my core strong, and i stretch my hamstrings a lot because they are very tight. so far this has been my cure.

On the right track here...

I've suffered lower-back problems since a bad injury almost 10 years ago. While my back is as "healed" as it's going to get it still acts up every few months. The WORSE thing you can do is continue lifting in ANY WAY. Allow me to explain:

You lower back (actually your whole back, but especially your lower back) is responsible for keeping you upright (i.e. standing, walking, sitting) therefore unless you are bedridden there is simply no way for your back to heal quickly because it is under constant stress. With the exception of a few machine based isolation exercises (which unless your training for mass/size are pointless anyway) there is no way to perform most lifts without further engaging your back muscles and putting more strain on the injury.

Take a few weeks off, and during that time invest in Starting Strength from Mark Rippetoe or another good lifting book and train yourself in the fundamentals of proper technique. Proper technique is the #1 thing to lessen the possibility of injuries (and yes, I said LESSEN, not eliminate, bottom line if you lift heavy enough long enough you will get strains and injuries).

When you start back, got VERY light weights, focusing on your form and stretch if you need to (tight hamstrings are the worse culprit in squat and deadlift because they will pull your hips and lower-back out of correct alignment towards the bottom, esp. in the squat).

[Fresch]

Originally Posted by A_dubs

the title says it all. Two weeks ago i hurt my lower back attempting to do deadlifts. since then i havent worked my legs or back at all however i have been doing chest and arms. should i just take time off from lifting all together. or what should i do?

Pain is present after 2 weeks - have you seena doctor / physio / chiro?

Used any medication?

Done anythign to help?

[A_dubs]

Originally Posted by kziwarrior

On the right track here...

I've suffered lower-back problems since a bad injury almost 10 years ago. While my back is as "healed" as it's going to get it still acts up every few months. The WORSE thing you can do is continue lifting in ANY WAY. Allow me to explain:

You lower back (actually your whole back, but especially your lower back) is responsible for keeping you upright (i.e. standing, walking, sitting) therefore unless you are bedridden there is simply no way for your back to heal quickly because it is under constant stress. With the exception of a few machine based isolation exercises (which unless your training for mass/size are pointless anyway) there is no way to perform most lifts without further engaging your back muscles and putting more strain on the injury.

Take a few weeks off, and during that time invest in Starting Strength from Mark Rippetoe or another good lifting book and train yourself in the fundamentals of proper technique. Proper technique is the #1 thing to lessen the possibility of injuries (and yes, I said LESSEN, not eliminate, bottom line if you lift heavy enough long enough you will get strains and injuries).

When you start back, got VERY light weights, focusing on your form and stretch if you need to (tight hamstrings are the worse culprit in squat and deadlift because they will pull your hips and lower-back out of correct alignment towards the bottom, esp. in the squat).

thanks kzi, i think i understand what your saying, im better off taking two weeks or so/untill i feel better. than risking further more painful injuries. thanks for all the help guys, hopefully this problem will be solved

[kziwarrior]

Originally Posted by A_dubs

thanks kzi, i think i understand what your saying, im better off taking two weeks or so/untill i feel better. than risking further more painful injuries. thanks for all the help guys, hopefully this problem will be solved

Definitely!! And take it VERY slow when you start back, but add some good back exercises (deadlifts and squats if you're not doing them already) to strengthen the back.

[bit]

ok like you, i also recenlty hurt my lower back doing deadlifts. i tried to self fix the problem and after a week went back in as it wasn't hurting much and i hurt it even worse. from my experience and from what i have read i recommend you (some are the same as others have said):

1. go in and see a chiro/physio as they can lessen your pain in just a couple sessions (my pain wasn't as bad after just the first) and will tell you what is likely going on.

2. ice and heat your back for 10 min at a time (any longer and it can give you the opposite effect that you are after) for a couple times a day

3. stretch it if you can. look on line for some examples (youtube is useful). the best one that helped me is to get on your hands and knees and curve/stretch your back up, then do the opposite pushing your pelvis down towards the floor (hard to describe but look on youtube and you will see what i mean).

4. avoid squats, deadlifts, bent over rows and leg press for several weeks to a month and only after your back is feeling much better slowly bring them back in if they don't give you pain

5. while healing and doing any lifts that put pressure on your spine (aka weight bearing lifts) like shrugs use light weight and a high number of sets and reps focussing on form.

6. work on your core strength to help prevent this from happening again.

7. i said it before, but really go see someone about it, made a big difference for me.

[A_dubs]

Originally Posted by Fresch

Pain is present after 2 weeks - have you seena doctor / physio / chiro?

Used any medication?

Done anythign to help?

I havent taken anything except for alive and really havent seen a dr about the problem yet.

Originally Posted by bit

ok like you, i also recenlty hurt my lower back doing deadlifts. i tried to self fix the problem and after a week went back in as it wasn't hurting much and i hurt it even worse. from my experience and from what i have read i recommend you (some are the same as others have said):

1. go in and see a chiro/physio as they can lessen your pain in just a couple sessions (my pain wasn't as bad after just the first) and will tell you what is likely going on.

2. ice and heat your back for 10 min at a time (any longer and it can give you the opposite effect that you are after) for a couple times a day

3. stretch it if you can. look on line for some examples (youtube is useful). the best one that helped me is to get on your hands and knees and curve/stretch your back up, then do the opposite pushing your pelvis down towards the floor (hard to describe but look on youtube and you will see what i mean).

4. avoid squats, deadlifts, bent over rows and leg press for several weeks to a month and only after your back is feeling much better slowly bring them back in if they don't give you pain

5. while healing and doing any lifts that put pressure on your spine (aka weight bearing lifts) like shrugs use light weight and a high number of sets and reps focussing on form.

6. work on your core strength to help prevent this from happening again.

7. i said it before, but really go see someone about it, made a big difference for me.

thanks for those tips, ill try and get in with a cyro some time this week if i can. im already off for this whole week maybe ill do some hi rep low weights next weekend. thanks man!

[Fresch]

These ar the exercises: mainly the first 3

http://www.communigate.co.uk/ne/eppsg/page8.phtml

[gypsum99]

Core exercises do WONDER FOR LOWER BACK. Deadlifts and donkey lifts are aweful for back. I hurt my back in accident last year, I gave up squats and dead lifts. It took me a while to get back in the gym. After my lifts, I spend good amount of time in streching and core exercises. Try this link for ex:http://www.lower-back-pain-toolkit.c...back-pain.html