Broken Spine T5-T9 when I was younger

[mindbodysoul]

Dear Team,

Ive been working out now for about 6 months and am feeling pretty good. I can run the mile in 7minutes 11 seconds, and have a decent physique. I am 5'11', 17 years old and am one damn sexy mf.

No now getting serious here, I broke my spine in a car wreck when I was 12 years old (T5-T9) which is the mid-upper back. I want to get bigger but I'm scared to try the "real deal" weight lifting exercises such as the squat, deadlift, and powerclean.

What am I to do? Should I just go for it anyway, or can I really get in good shape without doing those exercises.

Please help! This forum rocks.

-MBS

 

[Sculelos]

If I was you I'd start light and see if that feels okay. If it does I would slowly increase the weights and stop if it starts hurting your spine again.

 

[mindbodysoul]

Well nothing hurts at the moment, My spine rarley ever hurts from lifting weights it only hurts when I'm walking all day, or running for along period of time. I just have that fear though that its prob not a good idea to do things like squats.

Can I still get big without doing these major exercises?

 

[keasbey]

u might wanna think of it in another light. if you were to start light and work your way up with these major lifts, even though you know you can do alot more weight succesfully, work on the form and get the muscles used to the movements you will be strengthening your back and might not have to ever worry about it in the future.

but in all reality the back is a very important thing and if you were serious about it i would ask a doctor what he thought about it. im positive the guys on this thread are very smart with how the body works but we might not know exactly how serious this could be as a problem.

and there are alternative lifts to do just maybe not compound ones. but im sure you could work around it if you wanted to

 

[mindbodysoul]

Thanks for the input Keasbey. I really want to get in shape, no let me rephrase that, I really want to look good, you know half-way between, Van Damme and a basketball player and it seems that when reading any training program, the main exercises are the squat and the powerlift.

What do you other seasoned pros think about being able to get big while avoiding these exercises?