My body hates me/ my transformation is screwed

[Former_Fatkid]

cliffnotes at bottom for lazy readers

history: at 16 yrs. old I herniated a disc in my lower back (between Lumbars 4 and 5) which caused me to stop working out from 16 til age 20. For the last year I've been working hard to contradict genetics and this injury and for the first time be proud of my physique.

Story: So I've been having severe back pain for the last couple days and I made it into my chiropractor who i havent seen in years. He does an evaluation and realizes the disc is inflamed, my lower back is WAY out of whack, and to compensate for the injury on the left side of my spine the muscles on the left have tightened up all down my leg, causing my left leg to fall about an inch shorter than my right........obviously this only makes my back feel worse.

I tell him how I've been working hard to turn my life around and get healthy, I've always been veyr concious of my back problems and when doing deadlifts, back extensions, good mornings etc. i use minimal weight just so that I have proper form and a good core strength.

He responds that i MUST stop doing any deadlifts, squats, seated presses, and many other exercises due to the pressure they cause on the lower back.

Basically for the last few months i felt it was a mild pain due to the muscles tearing, rebuilding, typical muscle soreness, but last friday when I did my ab workout i really messed things up.

I can continue some lifting movements but the core compound lifts are nearly impossible till i recover, and my hopes of 16% bf by christmas is dying quickly.

I'm so frustrated I can't even find the smileys to descirbe my feelings!!

Cliffnotes: Herniated disc in lower back from 4 years ago decided to tweak and ruin my dreams of actually being healthy for the first time in my life. Doctors are demanding i stop doing several movments due to obvious problems......F**K genetics and F**K back problems

I also apologize for spelling

[GimpyPaw]

Swimming
cycling
seated rows
Bench (incline/decline/flat)
Seated db curls
preacher curls
flys
leg extensions
seated calf raises
leg curls
wrist curls
A-trainer flys
lat pulls
lateralls / forward lean seated laterals
kickbacks
pull-ups
seated leg press

I'm sure you will come up with a few more that I couldn't think of right now, but there are a lot of exercises that place very little strain (if any) on the lower back. I know you feel like you've been kicked down, but there are ways around this.

I blew my hand through a table saw, and ended up with what my doctor rated at 48% loss of use in my right hand. Last month I set a new PR on Rack Pulls (no straps) at 400 lbs. Basically, my ring and pinky finger do all the work on that side.

Your only as disabled as you allow yourself to be.

[asianbabe]

Your only as disabled as you allow yourself to be.

NICELY PUT!!

FF Gimpy is sooo right, there is a way around it! Look at the paralympics (btw, in no way am I saying you are disabled or anything) but look what they have achieved despite their circumstances!

Just because you can't deadlift or squat anymore, that is OK!!! You can still get an awesome physique. I don't know if its similar, but a friend of mine has scoliosis and he can't dead either, but he chooses what he CAN do and still looks frkn damn Haawwt!!

Whatever you do though, remember to stay within your limits. If its hurting and (I'm sure you know the difference between soreness and pain), then you gotta stop that particular exercise.

Don't let it get you down, it should make you more determined than ever!

[threei]

Yes dont let it get you down you can work around or over it. I have degenerative disc disease and right now im in the best shape of my life and i also was told not to do deadlifts, squats, etc...

[Former_Fatkid]

I do realize I need to continue on but this seems like I will deffinitely be slowed down. Scheduled an aapointment to meet with a physical therapist next week, hopefully they can work with me on better form during the movements so that my back is stronger.

Thanx for the support people, I just need to not quit like I did 4 years ago

[Controlled Labs]

I do realize I need to continue on but this seems like I will deffinitely be slowed down. Scheduled an aapointment to meet with a physical therapist next week, hopefully they can work with me on better form during the movements so that my back is stronger.

Thanx for the support people, I just need to not quit like I did 4 years ago

yeah, keep the spirits up, gimp put it well, there is still lots you can do

[TX1174]

cliffnotes at bottom for lazy readers

history: at 16 yrs. old I herniated a disc in my lower back (between Lumbars 4 and 5) which caused me to stop working out from 16 til age 20. For the last year I've been working hard to contradict genetics and this injury and for the first time be proud of my physique.

Story: So I've been having severe back pain for the last couple days and I made it into my chiropractor who i havent seen in years. He does an evaluation and realizes the disc is inflamed, my lower back is WAY out of whack, and to compensate for the injury on the left side of my spine the muscles on the left have tightened up all down my leg, causing my left leg to fall about an inch shorter than my right........obviously this only makes my back feel worse.

I tell him how I've been working hard to turn my life around and get healthy, I've always been veyr concious of my back problems and when doing deadlifts, back extensions, good mornings etc. i use minimal weight just so that I have proper form and a good core strength.

He responds that i MUST stop doing any deadlifts, squats, seated presses, and many other exercises due to the pressure they cause on the lower back.

Basically for the last few months i felt it was a mild pain due to the muscles tearing, rebuilding, typical muscle soreness, but last friday when I did my ab workout i really messed things up.

I can continue some lifting movements but the core compound lifts are nearly impossible till i recover, and my hopes of 16% bf by christmas is dying quickly.

I'm so frustrated I can't even find the smileys to descirbe my feelings!!

Cliffnotes: Herniated disc in lower back from 4 years ago decided to tweak and ruin my dreams of actually being healthy for the first time in my life. Doctors are demanding i stop doing several movments due to obvious problems......F**K genetics and F**K back problems

I also apologize for spelling

Newb here with a little encouragement/advice. I have had back problems myself for the last 13 years. I have bulging not quite herniated disks(2 of them) in my lumbar plus some disks in my thoracic spine are degenerating a lot faster than they should be for my age. Believe me when I say I know ALL about back pain. This was caused by an injury from being an inexperienced lifter at the age of 18. I have been to countless doctors/chiropractors. Some help more than others. You already mentioned that you have a chiropractor and that is good. I have been to about four chiropractors in my life and my most recent one I have is the best I've been to. Besides just regular spinal manipulations he offers all kinds of therapy in the form of ultrasound, diathermy, electrical stimulation, etc. These extra therapies have helped me tremendously. If your chiropractor doesn't offer therapy like this maybe you should find one that does.

As far as working out goes..... I have been told I will have pain for the rest of my life. I have accepted this. I have weeks where I feel great and then I'll have a whole month of non-stop pain. You will probably have similar ups and downs yourself. You just have to learn to live with it. Take advantage of the pain free time. I still workout but obviously I can't do squats or dead-lifts. I just do what I know I can do without further injuring myself. I am by no means a power-lifter like many of the guys on this forum but I am pretty happy with my body and what I can lift for not being able to do squats/deads, etc. I got a little fat around my midsection but I am working on it. When I was younger I never listened to my body and I would go to the gym when I was hurting and it just made things worse. I have learned better since then. The bottom line is that you CAN still workout. First, get your pain in check by whatever means (Dr, Chiropractor, etc.) and then start working out again and just cut out the dead-lifts /squats or whatever aggravates your injury. I still do back exercises but I don't go real heavy like I do on my shoulders and chest. Since you have been to the chiro before I'm sure he told you that it is very good to strengthen the muscles around that injury. It really does work........ To sum it up: don't give up, listen to your body and avoid whatever will hurt you further. I'm a total believer in, if you want something bad enough you will find a way to get it. Well that's my .02 cents.

[Shutup]

Don't ever give up on anything Former Fatkid. Find ways to work around problems. I've been doing that since 1993 and it is ok to accept it.

[Former_Fatkid]

Newb here with a little encouragement/advice. I have had back problems myself for the last 13 years. I have bulging not quite herniated disks(2 of them) in my lumbar plus some disks in my thoracic spine are degenerating a lot faster than they should be for my age. Believe me when I say I know ALL about back pain. This was caused by an injury from being an inexperienced lifter at the age of 18. I have been to countless doctors/chiropractors. Some help more than others. You already mentioned that you have a chiropractor and that is good. I have been to about four chiropractors in my life and my most recent one I have is the best I've been to. Besides just regular spinal manipulations he offers all kinds of therapy in the form of ultrasound, diathermy, electrical stimulation, etc. These extra therapies have helped me tremendously. If your chiropractor doesn't offer therapy like this maybe you should find one that does.

As far as working out goes..... I have been told I will have pain for the rest of my life. I have accepted this. I have weeks where I feel great and then I'll have a whole month of non-stop pain. You will probably have similar ups and downs yourself. You just have to learn to live with it. Take advantage of the pain free time. I still workout but obviously I can't do squats or dead-lifts. I just do what I know I can do without further injuring myself. I am by no means a power-lifter like many of the guys on this forum but I am pretty happy with my body and what I can lift for not being able to do squats/deads, etc. I got a little fat around my midsection but I am working on it. When I was younger I never listened to my body and I would go to the gym when I was hurting and it just made things worse. I have learned better since then. The bottom line is that you CAN still workout. First, get your pain in check by whatever means (Dr, Chiropractor, etc.) and then start working out again and just cut out the dead-lifts /squats or whatever aggravates your injury. I still do back exercises but I don't go real heavy like I do on my shoulders and chest. Since you have been to the chiro before I'm sure he told you that it is very good to strengthen the muscles around that injury. It really does work........ To sum it up: don't give up, listen to your body and avoid whatever will hurt you further. I'm a total believer in, if you want something bad enough you will find a way to get it. Well that's my .02 cents.

glad to meet you, my injury stemmed from a sports injury made worse by lifting when i should've been smart enough to rest if we only knew what we were doing to ourselves!

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement, I appreciate all the good people on this board since I learned posting on BB.com will get replies like "tought it out" and "use the search button, god i hate newbs"

Guess my summer log will just be more interesting now!

[asianbabe]

^^^ LOL so true

Feeling better today FF??

[Former_Fatkid]

been better today, so I went for a run, I will get back to some lifting monday, but for now i am just glad to get out of bed and try to burn calories, it was cheat day too so i especially had to get movin!

[LancerV]

Swimming
cycling
seated rows
Bench (incline/decline/flat)
Seated db curls
preacher curls
flys
leg extensions
seated calf raises
leg curls
wrist curls
A-trainer flys
lat pulls
lateralls / forward lean seated laterals
kickbacks
pull-ups
seated leg press

I'm sure you will come up with a few more that I couldn't think of right now, but there are a lot of exercises that place very little strain (if any) on the lower back. I know you feel like you've been kicked down, but there are ways around this.

I blew my hand through a table saw, and ended up with what my doctor rated at 48% loss of use in my right hand. Last month I set a new PR on Rack Pulls (no straps) at 400 lbs. Basically, my ring and pinky finger do all the work on that side.

Your only as disabled as you allow yourself to be.

A herinated disc is alot diffrent than cutting your hand. Im doubting he could do leg presses, leg curls or pretty much any execersice that isnt seated.

[LancerV]

Start with cat/camel motion to reduce spine viscosity
Lateral leg lifts or x-band walks to activate glute medius
Back bridges to activate glute maximus
Slow lunges with an upright and braced torso
McGill curl-ups
Side bridge for quadratus lumborum
Birddog progressions

[LancerV]

Also order this book
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/073...lance&n=283155

[Former_Fatkid]

A herinated disc is alot diffrent than cutting your hand. Im doubting he could do leg presses, leg curls or pretty much any execersice that isnt seated.

surprisingly, being seated places 3 times more pressure on your lower back than when you are standing. but I'm going to spend a day at the gym figuring out what exercises I can still perform. The weird thing about a herniated disk is that since it herniated to the left, I could do side bends to the right til my obliques give out but one bend to the left and I'll be laying on the ground.

What i've realized is that my balance is a bit off and it is critical I perform all lifts with perfect form so that my body doesn't favor just one side.

Lancer I'm going to go through your list of suggested exercises and learn to perform the ones i don't recognize, as always thanks for the suggestions and support!!