I’m ticked off - mostly at myself. Last Friday morning I was warming up with some deadlifts. I did a few sets at 135#, then 225#, 295# and working my way up to 345#. On my second set of 345#, about my third rep in, I stood up straight. I still felt very strong, felt good, solid. I moved to set the bar back on the ground. The bar floated a little bit further out in front of me than it’s supposed to. I think I got lazy and bent without pushing my butt back. Bad news. Anyway, I noticed things were going wrong and tried to correct it. I was feeling strong. No big deal.
POP!
The bar was about knee-height when a loud, audible pop emanated from my lower back. The bar and I both crashed to the floor.
Immediately my lower back, my glutes and my hamstrings all tensed and started to spasm. Very shortly thereafter my hip flexors and abs joined the fun. It took about 5 slow minutes just to stand up straight again. In the meantime I mostly writhed in pain.
I spend the next hour simply trying to move reasonably smoothly from standing up straight to a squat and back up again.
The pain is very low on my back - a band of torture that runs from my tailbone to about an inch and a half above it and the full width of my hips. I’m certain it’s not a spine issue and I’m also certain I didn’t crack my pelvis or anything like that. It’s soft-tissue, but I don’t think I can be more specific than that. What I do know is that it hurt. A lot.
A hot shower and 2000mg of acetaminophen made life tolerable. I stood up most of the day at work. At home I got combined therapy: 30-45 minutes of a 5 yr old girl walking on my back and about 90 minutes with a foam roller. Some naproxen before bed helped as well.
I’ve spent the last 6 days simply trying to keep loose and let my back heal. I’ve spent about 90 minutes each day on a foam roller. That thing is worth three times it’s weight in gold. By Monday I was able to squat freely. Several sets of light (45#) overhead squats and overhead lunges helped my hip flexors. This morning was more of the same.
Monday
- Overhead:
- Many sets of overhead squats @ 45#
- Many sets of overhead lunges @ 45#
- Energy Systems
- 3 min lunges AMAP @ BW
- 2 min Rest
- 3 min lunges AMAP @ BW
- Total Lunges:221
Wednesday
- Overhead
- Many sets of overhead squats @ 45#
- Many sets of overhead lunges @ 45#
- Many sets of overhead squats @ 65#
- Many sets of overhead lunges @ 65#
- Just Testing
- 2×10 Back Squats @ 135#
- 5x Back Squats @ 185#
The 185# was very painful. Surprisingly, the pain wasn’t in my back (oh, it hurt, but not any more loaded than not). It hurt the most in my upper thighs - IT bands, hip flexors, etc. Deep in the squat was almost unbearable.
- Energy Systems
- 2000m Row @ 2:05/500m pace
Not bad. My legs hurt and my back was starting to get a little sore by the time I was finished, but I survived.
The plan is to do similar efforts on Friday, then switch to nothing but power endurance (hard 7-10 minute) efforts until the Big Day.
6 Comments
Sorry to hear it, Chris. Sounds like you were able to regain a decent amount of function pretty quick, so that’s a good sign at least.
Hopefully things resolve soon like and you get back to full man-beast status.
yikes. that sucks. glad to see you’ve embraced the foam roller. acupuncture will help your lower back. check with dawn for dr. ginger’s info. it’ll help, i promise.
b
Suck. That happened to me last fall squatting. My problem was my S.I. joint.. yours is probably the same. The foam roller is a life saver.
The foam roller is amazing. I have used it every single night since the incident and it makes a HUGE difference.
Still not sure I’m ready to be a human voodoo doll.
The S.I. joint theory seems reasonable. My symptoms are mostly consistent with what I’m reading. How long did it take you to recover (squat heavy again) and what did you do to facilitate that?
Suck! Fast healing, esp. before your stair climb!
Brother you are on your way to serious back problems (I know because I’ve been down the road you’re heading down).
Here’s why, you are slowly building the worlds strongest and tightest quads and hip flexors known to man. You are also building great vertical strength but zero laterally. Eventually this will tip your pelvis forward making your back tighter and tighter. Eventually your back will go into spasm more often.
Start now, not tomorrow or after breakfast, stretching your quads, hams and lower back. Consider laying off the heavy deadlifts and squats. I know, total heresy but I was so proud I could do 4 sets of 12 reps of 1,000lbs on the leg press on my 40th and countless sets of 405 squats until my back locked up a month later while sipping my morning coffee. Therapist asked, “umm why so heavy?” She just doesn’t understand the gym ego but 20 years out of college ball I sort of asked myself the same question.
Ditched the heavy stuff, replaced with lots of cycling and bodyweight work and back has never felt better. Guess what, I go months without missing a single workout due to soreness, sprains or strains and now look like a DB instead of a RB.
I know, tons of guys lift heavy into their 70s with no trouble, right? My advice is slack off, work hardcore on the flexibility and you just might avoid ruining your back. Good luck.
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