Frustration of injury!

SGSM

I was progressing well with my training and was getting fitter than I've been before and my lower back injury is just after flaring up again. Just back from an abandoned gym session.


Have messaged my physo but am very annoyed that I may lose a lot of my progress.

Pretty down ATM tbh, any advice?

Zillah

I'm slightly prone to lower back issues (6'5"). You've got to be super careful about letting it heal up properly before you go do anything that could put strain on it or you could add days to the recovery. I try to avoid anything that compresses the spine at odd angles, like crunches/situps; they just do not feel right at all (I much prefer leg raises, and I'm quite fond of landmine 180s these days). You also need to be very careful about admitting when you're getting tired, injuries usually happen when the surrounding support muscles start to get exhausted, so you can't take it too far. Goes without saying that you have to be very strict with your form for deadlifts and squats.

What were you doing when the injury flared up?

Are you losing weight or bulking? You can still focus on keeping your diet on track, and you should be able to go back to some low impact stuff very quickly if you're sensible about it.

rustynutz

I've been training Krav Maga the past couple of years, I also do some strength and mobility training a couple of times a week.

This time last year I was given the news I had to get ACL reconstruction surgery on my knee which meant no training Krav for 6-8 months, as I was 4 weeks from a grading I was gutted. However, a couple of weeks after the surgery I started cycling as part of my rehab, I also kept up the upper body strength training, this kept me sane, and made me feel like I was still progressing towards my goal, Al be it slowly.

So fast forward 12 months I am back training krav, and am again 4 weeks from the same grading, and I landed awkwardly on my ankle in training and broke it, am now in a cast for the next 4-6 weeks, have found this latest setback really hard to swallow, but after taking a week to get over it, I have started doing some upper body strength work again while my ankle heals.

I suppose my point is, try and keep up the routine of training, depending on your goals there are probably some excersises you can still do, if weight loss is your goal, try cycling or swimming, also see a good physio and see if you can work on strengthening your back through excersises (not always possible), also maybe a bit of mobility work could help?

Alf Veedersane

If there are any exercises you can do, keep them up. Try to develop a program of sorts around what you can do.

When I mangled my back, it was frustrating but mentally I treated the rehab like training.

Key is to focus on what you can do and not on what you can't.

caviardreams

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

If there are any exercises you can do, keep them up. Try to develop a program of sorts around what you can do.

When I mangled my back, it was frustrating but mentally I treated the rehab like training.

Key is to focus on what you can do and not on what you can't.

+1 to this. I have a knee issue at the moment so my back has never seen so much action (even if my squat gains are rapidly vanishing )

Also, even if it's not your preferred form of training, you might find some cardio works ok e.g. stationery bike, and even just being in the gym doing something can give you a psychological lift.

SGSM

Thanks for the replies. The injury isn't that bad and I should be back sooner than later as I will do the physio assigned exercises. I'm trying to lose weight at the moment and am only at an early stage in my fitness journey which is part of the problem with dealing with the injury. As I've so far to go to get to where I want to be, ya feel that ya can't afford to take any time off but I know I will get there eventually. I just have to be patient, work hard and look after myself.

Edit: My arms are currently bigger and stronger than ever even though they may not be that impressive, it's a big deal for me yano. I don't want to do anything that may hinder my backs recuperation but my question is, does anyone thing dumbbell curls would be a bad idea in my situation?

Alf Veedersane

SGSM wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. The injury isn't that bad and I should be back sooner than later as I will do the physio assigned exercises. I'm trying to lose weight at the moment and am only at an early stage in my fitness journey which is part of the problem with dealing with the injury. As I've so far to go to get to where I want to be, ya feel that ya can't afford to take any time off but I know I will get there eventually. I just have to be patient, work hard and look after myself.

Edit: My arms are currently bigger and stronger than ever even though they may not be that impressive, it's a big deal for me yano. I don't want to do anything that may hinder my backs recuperation but my question is, does anyone thing dumbbell curls would be a bad idea in my situation?

Just be patient. Make sure to do exactly what the physio tells you and don't rush back to it or you risk finding yourself back at square 1.

Is there a recurring theme for when you get lower back issues?

SGSM

Alf Veedersane wrote:

Is there a recurring theme for when you get lower back issues?

The physio says I have a back problem. He said that as I get older, I cant afford to get inactive. I think my problem was lifting too heavy coupled with not warming the back up properly before each session.

Alf Veedersane

SGSM wrote: »

The physio says I have a back problem. He said that as I get older, I cant afford to get inactive. I think my problem was lifting too heavy coupled with not warming the back up properly before each session.

Might be worth engaging the services of a good trainer to make sure you're not compromising your back doing certain exercises like squat and deadlift. Might save you the cost of regular physio sessions.

Zillah

SGSM wrote: »

but my question is, does anyone thing dumbbell curls would be a bad idea in my situation?

As long as you're not on any pain killers you should be safe enough to very gently experiment and see what feels comfortable and what feels like it would be a problem.

Brian?

I've been there before and am back there again. My only advice is do what you can with intensity.

My left knee is ballsed right now, surgery within a few weeks, some I'm hitting the upper body as hard as I can. Except I can't bench properly so I have to be creative.

On the upside I actually have fine arms. I never really put much time into arm training before.

cloudatlas

Feel for you O.P. I've injured my right wrist, I stopped immediately and went to the physio, who prescribed wrist strengthening exercises.

My grip strength is still okay so I changed my program- I still squat, added back extensions, hammer curls, cable rows with thumbless grip, press ups on handles, hip extensions. No more deadlifting or benching for me for a while. If anyone else has any other ideas for exercises I can do that don't tax the wrist let me know.