Returning to lower body training following scatica

[adean1989]

I've recently been recovering from a set of symptoms I can only describe as sciatica (running pain from my right buttock down my leg, primarily experienced when my legs are dangling and hips are pushed outwards). I don't know what the underlying cause is but as this has been a minor inconvenience, I've simply taken a break from lower body dominant lifts the past 4 weeks and the symptoms have been gradually improving hence I've not seen a GP for a referral/scan.

As my day-day activities are not impeded and I'm feeling relatively strong I thought it may be time to reintroduce some light work (squatting/leg press and isolation work). What I'm interested in is whether I should wait until any and all sensations cease to occur before resuming my full routine or if active recovery is fine/preferable. I'm itching to work out my lower body but if my full recovery will be greatly delayed then I'll naturally take more time off but at present I feel ready for my come back :P Apologies if the question has already been answered, I did search but couldn't find anything, which explicitly stated when to return to training!

[mc-]

That's a toughie

sensation like you're having may be an indication that swelling/inflammation is going down, so the nerve is less compressed and so sensation is decreasing.

that's all good

as to whether you have to wait or not to work out - you may want to let pain be your guide.

What i'd suggest is start with loads no more than 50% of your 1rep max and see how that feels - if the sensation doesn't increase - and there's no pain - cool, go from there.

if there's any pain (not sensation but pain) stop and reduce the load, speed, potentially range of motion.

the more you can move the area the better - without going nuts. TEST IT - gently.
pain is your stop sign; increased sensation is amber. act accordingly but do keep moving.

remember: if pain/sensation: reduce load, speed, and/or range of motion to let you move safely but keep moving.
if doing none of those things keeps you out of pain, then do something else.


all the best
mc