A prime example of why we need to listen to our bodies and lift both smart and safe:
I get to the gym excited to train legs, I’ve got both squats and deadlifts to kick things off. As I begin to warm up, my lower back doesn’t feel 100% and has been bothering me in the weeks prior. I mostly brush it off and just mentally note that I better keep my form perfect and to not push it too much. With each set my lower back continues to feel more tense and I make the poor decision to just tighten my belt up even more. After my four working sets of squats I go to do a few warm up sets for deadlifts. The warm-ups don’t feel that great and I need to wear my belt just to get through them. As I get to my working sets I now have my belt pulled tighter than I usually have it. I get through 1 set, 2 sets, on my 3rd I lower the weight, and on the 4th I could barely pull the weight once. I struggle to get my belt off because it is so tight and when I do my back is just throbbing. It was at that moment I knew I messed up.
I ended up going straight home after that, foregoing doing any other exercises. It hurt to walk, it hurt to stand, it was even uncomfortable in some positions lying down. I had gone out to the casino for a little bit that night and when I got home I decided to take another shower to get the smoke smell off of me from being there for a few hours. This was hours later and the pain had not subsided at all. I couldn’t even stand in the shower comfortably and had to kneel on the ground and just let the water hit my back to try and sooth the discomfort. By this time I was really beating myself up because I was the only one that did this to myself, I should have known better right from the start of my workout that morning.
In the coming days after I injured something the pain let up, but there was no way I was able to go to the gym. I had to even be careful with what I did at work, because just moving the wrong way would take my breath away. I ended up taking a full 3-4 weeks off from the gym completely. But after then I was really starting to go stir crazy and had to do something. I knew full out weight training was out of the question and I associated my injury with poor mobility and weak supporting muscles. Therefore I wanted to create a plan that worked on mobility and basic foundational strength, then from there move onto my weak areas, and finally transition back into “normal” weight training.
The first day was comprised of all bodyweight exercises. My rationale was I would be able to hit a full body workout and effectively be able to control each movement. It felt easy on all my joints and most importantly my back. Day 2 was leg day and I wanted to be careful to not load my back up too much. I started very light with goblet squats and added them in mostly to help correct my squat pattern. The only other movement that I could feel in my back a little bit was the 45 degree hyperextension machine, but I made sure to use it to hit hamstrings rather than lower back. Day 3 and 4 were just to try and maintain strength. From taking a few weeks off, I did not want to start to lose muscle or strength. I did not over exert myself during these days and was very careful with my load choice.
Along with my modified training routine, I started stretching 5-7 times a week. It wouldn’t be for very long, just 10-20 minutes usually before bed, but it was better than nothing. Even with that short of a little routine, I could tell I was making progress just after a few weeks. Since I had a feeling that I tweaked my back partially due to poor mobility, I wanted to make sure I covered all my bases.
After performing this modified routine for a little over a month, I transitioned back into a more normal training routine. I still didn’t squat or deadlift and was careful with a lot of my movements, such as not doing standing overhead press because of the pressure it put on my lower back. But dam did it feel good to be back training again. I also added in movements like hip thrusts and more core work to help develop some of my weaker muscle groups.
Once another month or so went by of omitting squats, deadlifts, and a few other exercises, I decided to start slowly adding them in. For both squats and deadlifts I decided to start with conservative weights and make sure the movement felt safe. Since I had taken time off from deadlifting, I also had been wanting to try sumo deadlifts rather than conventional. So I decided to give it a try to see if I liked it better and if it was easier on my back. On top training totally normal again, I was still keeping up with my stretching. I may slack off for a few days here or there, but all in all it’s a habit I try to stay on top of.
Between the time off, modified training, targeting weak points, and mobility work, I finally felt like I was 100% after 5-6 months. For that first month of normal training I didn’t quite feel at 100% because I was so nervous of injuring myself again. It took that little extra time to get my confidence back. Just under a full year from that day I didn’t listen to my body in the gym, I just hit a volume PR on my deadlifts (pulling a different style as well). So things do get better after an injury, it just takes time and effort.
***This story is by no means me trying to sound like I’m some sort of physician that can fix peoples’ injuries. I wanted to share this experience to illustrate how you need to listen to your body and need to know the difference of when you need to put your head down and grind or actually need to back off a bit. I had my head down a little too much and should have made some sort of adjustments that day. I could have easily switched my workout to leg press and RDL’s with dumbbells rather than squats and deadlifts. I also wanted to show the time it takes to recover from an injury and I would luckily consider mine to be pretty mild compared to others I’ve witnessed. It also wasn’t an injury out of nowhere, I could tell my back was acting up in the weeks and months prior but didn’t take the action I needed to prevent something worse from happening. I also was hemming and hawing the whole time if I should go to a doctor or not, but personally decided not to because the pain was going down and my range of motion wasn’t limited. It was just extra sore and stiff like I strained it. If you do have some sort of injury, it is always best to at least consult with a physician to create some sort of plan of action.