Boris Bachmann
Level 8 Valued Member
There is a huge psychological component to low back pain and movement. Absolutely. It's a complicated thing for sure.
Disc bulge again - give me some advice, please.
- Thread starter Pasibrzuch
- Start date
bgn
Level 5 Valued Member
Just catching up with everything written here @Pasibrzuch heres my 0.02.
You can probs see my post history but to save you time: Sep’22 I herniated S1-L5-L4 severely. Had been blessed with amazing neurosurgeons, ortho surgeon and physios that worked as a group to pull me out of it. No surgery…for now.
During multiple MRIs became obvious that wear and tear on my spine due to “go hard or go home” is terrible: Degenrative Disc Disease, narrowing of tunnel, arthritis and few other things related to heavy pulling from ground above head way too many times with “brave programming” and poor recovery approach.
Anyways, took months to pull me out of pain and back into functioning. I was good and…, my dog had shoulder injury and had to carry 120+ lbs daily for a while which wasn’t an problem even when that included 38 steps from and to property many times a day. One morning I was sleepy and at top of stairs, before grabbing dog, I simply tripped and went down all steps. Had a lot of instability and difficulties/pain/numbness that travelled a lot etc. but not only pulled myself back but as of lately I started progressing.
Below is what I do 3 times per week after long morning walk. Please remember that I started with many more exercises and many more combinations but I found what works for me and what delivers at this moment. This is time consuming - on good day I can fly through it in 45 mins, on a day I want to take my time or focus on something specific it’s up to 75-90 mins but my life allows me to do that right now:
Preparation Circuit repeated 3 times:
Cat-Camel around 60 seconds of flow
Pigeon Pose 60-90 seconds per side
Child Pose 30 breaths
Lunge Stretch 3 sets of 5 per side
Cossack Squats 3 x 5
Small rest
First Batch of exercises:
Curl-up (McGill progression)
Clamshell 2x10-20
Bird-Dog 4x10-15
Side Plank 3 times 30 breaths per side
Plank 3 times 30 breaths
Small rest
Second Batch of exercises:
Hip Bridge 5 sets of cruelly slow 10 reps
Reverse Plank 2 sets of 10-15 breaths
One Leg wrestlers bridge holds 2 sets per leg of 3-5 hold of 5-10 seconds
Dead-Bug 4 x 25
Bigger rest
Third Batch of exercises:
Nordic Hamstring Curls 3 sets of 1
PROPER Bodyweight Squats 3 sets between 50 and 100 - yeah, I shamelessly chase the pump. I’m naturally hip/a#@ squatter so for me squats are a huge difference maker when it comes to “flinching” the area with blood and getting good feeling.
Calf Raises 5 sets of 5 reps per side - idea over here is exactly opposite to the squat approach - not to progress in re of reps but literally make each and every of 5 reps count and develop readiness to receive ground and have whole ankle complex as strong as possible.
Small rest
Last Batch:
Crawling - whatever I feel like it, there’s no momentum, by then I’m tired and I treat these as substitute of TGU. Everything starts with glutes/hips/abs and ties from there.
Rolling
My “needle/acupuncture” mat (hate that thing but after 5 mins it feels better.
That’s it. After last accident my “workouts” are reduced to ladders or dips/pullups/chinups. Although I believe I’m on a path to good times and be able to function without any major issues I do not see any point going beyond that. My yesterday’s numbers in both: super slow chin-ups and super slow dips are most likely better than 80% of guys my age or I like to think that and don’t you dare to take it away from me. LOL
For conditioning I bought myself Echo Bike and I’m easing myself into it. Doing 2 very easy sessions per week and paying attention to how I feel afterwards.
Dog is better and we avoided surgery on that front so we are back to walk and walk and walk and walk.
Surprising side notes:
- kettlebell swing “annoys my spine” due to projection of force horizontally but…for some reason kettlebell snatch does not (vertical).
- walking backwards with sled did nothing for me
- suitcase walks annoyed me but farmer walks when I’m squared did wonders, my other obligations do not allow me to do it together with my “template” but if I could…I would.
- direct grip work (gripper) and calf work helped me tremendously for some reason. Maybe there’s a logic behind reversing things and working on extremities and back into center of the body? Who knows. Works for me, won’t go into why’s
- SMART stretching goes long way, approach it like your training session, build waviness, progression.
- piriformis stretches were lifesavers periodically.
If I could trim it to do Program Minimum it would be in this order: Cat-Camel, Piriformis Stretch, Bird-Dog, Side Planks, Plank, Dead-Bugs, Goblet Squat and grip/calf work. That’s 25-30 mins of work.
That’s all from me, do what you want with it. Hope you’ll find your way and surround yourself with knowledgable people that will review your case and make right calls.
You can probs see my post history but to save you time: Sep’22 I herniated S1-L5-L4 severely. Had been blessed with amazing neurosurgeons, ortho surgeon and physios that worked as a group to pull me out of it. No surgery…for now.
During multiple MRIs became obvious that wear and tear on my spine due to “go hard or go home” is terrible: Degenrative Disc Disease, narrowing of tunnel, arthritis and few other things related to heavy pulling from ground above head way too many times with “brave programming” and poor recovery approach.
Anyways, took months to pull me out of pain and back into functioning. I was good and…, my dog had shoulder injury and had to carry 120+ lbs daily for a while which wasn’t an problem even when that included 38 steps from and to property many times a day. One morning I was sleepy and at top of stairs, before grabbing dog, I simply tripped and went down all steps. Had a lot of instability and difficulties/pain/numbness that travelled a lot etc. but not only pulled myself back but as of lately I started progressing.
Below is what I do 3 times per week after long morning walk. Please remember that I started with many more exercises and many more combinations but I found what works for me and what delivers at this moment. This is time consuming - on good day I can fly through it in 45 mins, on a day I want to take my time or focus on something specific it’s up to 75-90 mins but my life allows me to do that right now:
Preparation Circuit repeated 3 times:
Cat-Camel around 60 seconds of flow
Pigeon Pose 60-90 seconds per side
Child Pose 30 breaths
Lunge Stretch 3 sets of 5 per side
Cossack Squats 3 x 5
Small rest
First Batch of exercises:
Curl-up (McGill progression)
Clamshell 2x10-20
Bird-Dog 4x10-15
Side Plank 3 times 30 breaths per side
Plank 3 times 30 breaths
Small rest
Second Batch of exercises:
Hip Bridge 5 sets of cruelly slow 10 reps
Reverse Plank 2 sets of 10-15 breaths
One Leg wrestlers bridge holds 2 sets per leg of 3-5 hold of 5-10 seconds
Dead-Bug 4 x 25
Bigger rest
Third Batch of exercises:
Nordic Hamstring Curls 3 sets of 1
PROPER Bodyweight Squats 3 sets between 50 and 100 - yeah, I shamelessly chase the pump. I’m naturally hip/a#@ squatter so for me squats are a huge difference maker when it comes to “flinching” the area with blood and getting good feeling.
Calf Raises 5 sets of 5 reps per side - idea over here is exactly opposite to the squat approach - not to progress in re of reps but literally make each and every of 5 reps count and develop readiness to receive ground and have whole ankle complex as strong as possible.
Small rest
Last Batch:
Crawling - whatever I feel like it, there’s no momentum, by then I’m tired and I treat these as substitute of TGU. Everything starts with glutes/hips/abs and ties from there.
Rolling
My “needle/acupuncture” mat (hate that thing but after 5 mins it feels better.
That’s it. After last accident my “workouts” are reduced to ladders or dips/pullups/chinups. Although I believe I’m on a path to good times and be able to function without any major issues I do not see any point going beyond that. My yesterday’s numbers in both: super slow chin-ups and super slow dips are most likely better than 80% of guys my age or I like to think that and don’t you dare to take it away from me. LOL
For conditioning I bought myself Echo Bike and I’m easing myself into it. Doing 2 very easy sessions per week and paying attention to how I feel afterwards.
Dog is better and we avoided surgery on that front so we are back to walk and walk and walk and walk.
Surprising side notes:
- kettlebell swing “annoys my spine” due to projection of force horizontally but…for some reason kettlebell snatch does not (vertical).
- walking backwards with sled did nothing for me
- suitcase walks annoyed me but farmer walks when I’m squared did wonders, my other obligations do not allow me to do it together with my “template” but if I could…I would.
- direct grip work (gripper) and calf work helped me tremendously for some reason. Maybe there’s a logic behind reversing things and working on extremities and back into center of the body? Who knows. Works for me, won’t go into why’s
- SMART stretching goes long way, approach it like your training session, build waviness, progression.
- piriformis stretches were lifesavers periodically.
If I could trim it to do Program Minimum it would be in this order: Cat-Camel, Piriformis Stretch, Bird-Dog, Side Planks, Plank, Dead-Bugs, Goblet Squat and grip/calf work. That’s 25-30 mins of work.
That’s all from me, do what you want with it. Hope you’ll find your way and surround yourself with knowledgable people that will review your case and make right calls.
John Rhodes
Level 4 Valued Member
Walking is one of the best for me. Followed by some locomotion exercises for mobility in the back, hips. Strengthening the back with a big pull like kettlebell work or barbell is what keeps everything strong and stable.
I have had to have surgery after a bad accident. Prior to surgery and recovery my leg/s would give out occasionally due to nerve problems. It was pretty scary stuff. My cousin/best friend is dealing with it now and I’m trying to encourage him.
I have had to have surgery after a bad accident. Prior to surgery and recovery my leg/s would give out occasionally due to nerve problems. It was pretty scary stuff. My cousin/best friend is dealing with it now and I’m trying to encourage him.
John Rhodes
Level 4 Valued Member
Walking is one of the best for me. Followed by some locomotion exercises for mobility in the back, hips. Strengthening the back with a big pull like kettlebell work or barbell is what keeps everything strong and stable.
I have had to have surgery after a bad accident. Prior to surgery and recovery my leg/s would give out occasionally due to nerve problems. It was pretty scary stuff. My cousin/best friend is dealing with it now and I’m trying to encourage him.
I have had to have surgery after a bad accident. Prior to surgery and recovery my leg/s would give out occasionally due to nerve problems. It was pretty scary stuff. My cousin/best friend is dealing with it now and I’m trying to encourage him.