What can I do at the gym with a lower back injury?
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madsmith123
Posts: 17 Member
After suffering a lower back injury, I took 2 months off the gym and just returned last week. I took it easy doing mostly upper body stuff on the first day and was fine but on the second occasion I did a few sets of squats/lunges/bridge raises with 6kg dumbell (prior to injury I'd been squatting with 15kg barbell) and the back pain returned that day. It eased off with a few days rest and heat pads.
Are there any lower body exercises I can do that shouldn't aggravate my lower back?
My bum is getting so flat, would love to not lose it completely.
Any ideas would be so greatly appreciated!
Are there any lower body exercises I can do that shouldn't aggravate my lower back?
My bum is getting so flat, would love to not lose it completely.
Any ideas would be so greatly appreciated!
0
Replies
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Define injury.
Spasm? or something serious?2 -
It was muscular so I think spasm. Nothing serious and never knew what had caused it (frustratingly).0
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Have you ever had your form checked for squats, lunges and bridges? If not, I'd start there first.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
4 -
I'd suggest taking video of yourself doing your routine, and compare with the ideal form.
The best thing for spasm(if it's just spasm) is to get back to your exercise as soon as possible, while correcting your form.
Back Spasm is essentially an overuse or cramp in your core muscle group. Just as with any other cramp, the best thing to do is to gently and consistently work within the range of motion to bring strength and relaxation.
Just as important is to identify the underlying cause and address it. Usually it's weakness or poor form.1 -
I'd suggest talking to the physician treating this injury instead of random internet users.3
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madsmith123 wrote: »It was muscular so I think spasm. Nothing serious and never knew what had caused it (frustratingly).
i would work on finding out what causes it so you can stop it happening and gettign worse in the future2 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I'd suggest talking to the physician treating this injury instead of random internet users.
That's making a huge assumption that's not in evidence.3 -
I would get a referral to physical therapy and work on fixing the cause of your pain. Blindly following internet advice when you don't know why you're having pain is a recipe for more pain and/or worse injury.1
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Work at a spine clinic here and I workout with physical therapists. This is after you make sure your injury is not more serious with your doctor, but after that I would work with a physical therapist or we actually have Athletic and rehabilitative trainers that blend with physical therapy and their whole job is to break bad movement patterns and make sure you are isolating the correct muscles for the movements and exercises you are doing. Example I use my hamstrings instead of my glutes a lot so they give me different things to do to make my glutes fire, they are very picky about squats for me because my glutes aren't always necessarily doing the work. Anyway I would find someone like that to work with, at least for a little while.2
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_dracarys_ wrote: »I would get a referral to physical therapy and work on fixing the cause of your pain. Blindly following internet advice when you don't know why you're having pain is a recipe for more pain and/or worse injury.
Yup......0 -
stanmann571 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I'd suggest talking to the physician treating this injury instead of random internet users.
That's making a huge assumption that's not in evidence.
Or it's a (not that subtle) hint that she should have this looked at before trying to exercise.1 -
FIRST - again FIRST - have you spoken to your health care provider? I would start there to ensure you're not going to do more damage.
Second - since it's lower back, probably anything with legs or core will work it and might cause some aggravation. That's not to say that some work on the muscles will not be helpful, but it's a fine line between therapy and injury with lower back problems (6 yrs Marines with lots of lower back and sciatic problems - so I can empathize with your pain).
Third - I would keep to body weight exercises (crunches, pushups, supermans, etc) for core. Legs, while I don't like machine workouts, it might be the best option for you to isolate a group and not incorporate the lower back. Talk to the trainer at the gym, or better yet, speak to a Physical Therapist about what are some safe exercises.1 -
Have you ever had your form checked for squats, lunges and bridges? If not, I'd start there first.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I'd start here second after seeing a doctor but otherwise i agree here. A few weeks ago I realized my squat form was bad and that was the cause of all the pressure and pain i had been experiencing in my lower back. I was tucking under instead of pushing my butt more out.0 -
Have you ever had your form checked for squats, lunges and bridges? If not, I'd start there first.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I'd start here second after seeing a doctor but otherwise i agree here. A few weeks ago I realized my squat form was bad and that was the cause of all the pressure and pain i had been experiencing in my lower back. I was tucking under instead of pushing my butt more out.
I just started seeing a PT, and they told me my lower back pain is caused by the exact opposite. I have a tendency to push my butt out, all the time. Which is causing irritation of the back of my spine.
Our plan for the next 6 weeks is to work on exercises that strengthen my lower abs and retrain my body to rotate my hips more forward. He said this should improve my squats.0 -
Have you ever had your form checked for squats, lunges and bridges? If not, I'd start there first.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I'd start here second after seeing a doctor but otherwise i agree here. A few weeks ago I realized my squat form was bad and that was the cause of all the pressure and pain i had been experiencing in my lower back. I was tucking under instead of pushing my butt more out.
I just started seeing a PT, and they told me my lower back pain is caused by the exact opposite. I have a tendency to push my butt out, all the time. Which is causing irritation of the back of my spine.
Our plan for the next 6 weeks is to work on exercises that strengthen my lower abs and retrain my body to rotate my hips more forward. He said this should improve my squats.
Interesting. I'd be curious to hear how the changes work for you. My personal Trainer and my chiropractor (who also worked on Olympic athletes) both told me to stop tucking my butt. But they aren't telling me to exaggerate pushing my butt out either, that's over correcting.0 -
Have you ever had your form checked for squats, lunges and bridges? If not, I'd start there first.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I'd start here second after seeing a doctor but otherwise i agree here. A few weeks ago I realized my squat form was bad and that was the cause of all the pressure and pain i had been experiencing in my lower back. I was tucking under instead of pushing my butt more out.
I just started seeing a PT, and they told me my lower back pain is caused by the exact opposite. I have a tendency to push my butt out, all the time. Which is causing irritation of the back of my spine.
Our plan for the next 6 weeks is to work on exercises that strengthen my lower abs and retrain my body to rotate my hips more forward. He said this should improve my squats.
Interesting. I'd be curious to hear how the changes work for you. My personal Trainer and my chiropractor (who also worked on Olympic athletes) both told me to stop tucking my butt. But they aren't telling me to exaggerate pushing my butt out either, that's over correcting.
yeah, there's 2 sides of the spine you can irritate. If you carry your weight too far forward you irritate the disk, if you rotate too far back you irritate the facet joints.1 -
Have you ever had your form checked for squats, lunges and bridges? If not, I'd start there first.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I'd start here second after seeing a doctor but otherwise i agree here. A few weeks ago I realized my squat form was bad and that was the cause of all the pressure and pain i had been experiencing in my lower back. I was tucking under instead of pushing my butt more out.
I just started seeing a PT, and they told me my lower back pain is caused by the exact opposite. I have a tendency to push my butt out, all the time. Which is causing irritation of the back of my spine.
Our plan for the next 6 weeks is to work on exercises that strengthen my lower abs and retrain my body to rotate my hips more forward. He said this should improve my squats.
Interesting. I'd be curious to hear how the changes work for you. My personal Trainer and my chiropractor (who also worked on Olympic athletes) both told me to stop tucking my butt. But they aren't telling me to exaggerate pushing my butt out either, that's over correcting.
yeah, there's 2 sides of the spine you can irritate. If you carry your weight too far forward you irritate the disk, if you rotate too far back you irritate the facet joints.
Yeah, the back is complex and sensitive. Best action is to get checked by the doctor first and see whats going on.1 -
Build up your core again first I’d say, that’s what I had to do to get over a hip/abdominal injury where slightest move at the gym would cause me agonizing ripping pain. Slow and steady0
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Have you ever had your form checked for squats, lunges and bridges? If not, I'd start there first.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I'd start here second after seeing a doctor but otherwise i agree here. A few weeks ago I realized my squat form was bad and that was the cause of all the pressure and pain i had been experiencing in my lower back. I was tucking under instead of pushing my butt more out.
I just started seeing a PT, and they told me my lower back pain is caused by the exact opposite. I have a tendency to push my butt out, all the time. Which is causing irritation of the back of my spine.
Our plan for the next 6 weeks is to work on exercises that strengthen my lower abs and retrain my body to rotate my hips more forward. He said this should improve my squats.
Interesting. I'd be curious to hear how the changes work for you. My personal Trainer and my chiropractor (who also worked on Olympic athletes) both told me to stop tucking my butt. But they aren't telling me to exaggerate pushing my butt out either, that's over correcting.
yeah, there's 2 sides of the spine you can irritate. If you carry your weight too far forward you irritate the disk, if you rotate too far back you irritate the facet joints.
Yeah, the back is complex and sensitive. Best action is to get checked by the doctor first and see whats going on.
exactly, especially the lower back. Exercises and behavior changes are very specific to the exact cause of the pain, and choosing the wrong one could make things worse. If I self-diagnosed problems with the disk, and did things suggested to help, I would actually be making things worse for myself.0
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