F'n Lower Back Pain!!!!

[tzan]

My lower back has really been bothering me on and off for the last few months. I strained it going to heavy on rows, and it hasn't really ever fully recovered since. I'm going to take 10 days off from the gym in hopes of healing myself up a bit. I never train abs, and I know this probably doesn't help my lower back. My goal is to strengthen up my lower back a lot, even though I'm going to take this week off from the gym, should I go in there and rip an ab workout out a few times?? How important are ab work to your lower back??

 

[jeremys]

i did the same exact thing as you except i was doing light weight deadlifts with bad form for a few reps

it was in july, hasn't healed to 100% since. from now on, i'm hitting reverse hypers and heavy abs hard. wont take too long

be careful, dont go into the gym trying to rip it up with a back injury. just makes things a lot worse, trust me

 

[TheCleaner]

You should consider seeing an orthopedist and getting an X-ray/MRI to learn the extent of soft tissue damage, if any. The orthopedist may recommend up several weeks of complete rest to let the tissue recover.

After your rest, however long it is, I would suggest the following:

1)ART to break up any scar tissue in your lower back, which may be interfering with your lifting mechanics.

2)Devote attention to your posterior chain: reverse hypers, back extensions, and glute-ham raises come to mind. I hurt my own lower back partly because of hamstring weakness and inflexibility, which cause me to lean too far forward on a heavy front squat. Bullet-proof your back with these exercises.

2a)Build prime spinal erector strength with deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, &c.

3)Develop your core. You may be a bodybuilder, but learning how to front squat and/or overhead squat will develop functional, stabilizing strength across your back and your abs. Just a thought.

These are just my own recommendations, and I encourage you to seek out as many opinions as you can. Good luck!

 

[jeremys]

what is ART? is it expensive? it sounds like it could be beneficial to me

 

[TheCleaner]

ART is active release technique. You can do a search online to learn more about it. I am copying-and-pasting the following (from http://www.activerelease.com/about/index.cfm) as a basic summary:

BEGIN QUOTE
What is Active Release Technique (ART)?

ART is a patented, state-of-the-art soft tissue system that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves. Headaches, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, knee problems, and tennis elbow are just a few of the many conditions that can be resolved quickly and permanently with ART. These conditions all have one important thing in common: they often result from injury to over-used muscles.

How do overuse injuries occur?

Over-used muscles (and other soft tissues) change in three important ways:

acute injuries (pulls, tears, collisions, etc),
accumulation of small tears (micro-trauma)
not getting enough oxygen (hypoxia).
Each of these factors can cause your body to produce tough, dense scar tissue in the affected area. This scar tissue binds up and ties down tissues that need to move freely. As scar tissue builds up, muscles become shorter and weaker, tension on tendons causes tendonitis, and nerves can become trapped. This can cause reduced ranges of motion, loss of strength, and pain. If a nerve is trapped you may also feel tingling, numbness, and weakness.

What is an ART treatment like?

Every ART session is actually a combination of examination and treatment. The ART provider uses his or her hands to evaluate the texture, tightness and movement of muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments and nerves. Abnormal tissues are treated by combining precisely directed tension with very specific patient movements.

These treatment protocols – over 500 of them - are unique to ART. They allow providers to identify and correct the specific problems that are affecting each individual patient. ART is not a cookie-cutter approach.
END QUOTE

 

[tzan]

Thanks for the replys fellas. I'm deffiantly not going to lift the rest of my body this week(chest, bi's, legs, etc), but would it make more sense for me to begin my ab, lower back, and hammy work during this week, or take it completely off, then start it up the next week? I'm in the last week of my cycle, so this is why I really want this thing to heal, so I can get back to my full self. I also don't have insurance right now, so a chiropractor isn't really an option right now. If it doesn't get better soon, obviously I will have to pay the bucks and get checked out.

 

[TheCleaner]

I would say to take some time off from all load-bearing activities. You may lose some training time, but if you re-aggravate your injury, you may lose a lot more training time.