first cycle wondering if having a bulged disc will effect it?

[bbh90]

hey guys so basically i got to my peak physical shape not my all time goal but a pretty respectable figure and bulged a disc very disapointing to say the least so im restricted to bodyweight movements for the next three months and then i can go back into my normal weight lifting although i think i will be laying squats and deads to rest i mean ill see how my recovery and everything goes but iv learned a good deal from this experience and im not sure they are even worth the possible re injury and i can find other ways of accomplishing the same goal without squats and deads

so obviously i figure i will lose a decent amount of progress during the time i can do only bodyweight movements

there for i havnt made my mind up yet ill have to wait for the time to come but basically im considering that once i heal i will take some time getting back into lifting and giving myself a good base and figuring out what works for my back then possibly do a cycle

my reasoning for this cycle is multiple things

1 lost progress and time
2 reach my goal physique faster
3 i am also thinking somewhat that if i get to my goal physique which is nothing crazy im 5 9 in a half 170 about 8% bodyfat now and my goal is about 180-190 8% bodyfat i believe that my after the cycle a weight of between 180-190 would be maintainable naturally for my body and therefor in some ways i think that maybe it would be best for my body if i got to my goal physique and then just maintained since maintaining you dont have to use such heavy loads and can do lighter weight with higher reps and shorter rest times

similar to how greg plitt works out now to maintain he lifts heavy enough but definetly no where near as heavy as he would be lifting if he was trying to gain mass still with the lower reps longer rest periods and higher weight

so its kind of a mix of thing i think it may be easier on my body as far as my back again im not to that point so idk yet i mean i htink plenty of people have had bulged discs and come back just fine so we will see but its just something iv considered

but i was wondering as far as cycles go im aware that a test cycle which i what i wold most likly do for a first cycle can cause joint dryness and pain and how this would effect am at that point old injury such as a bulged disc adn how i may be able to get around this any help would be appreciated

[themoreyouknow]

I would get back to where you were THEN cycle. You'll be surprised how quickly you will return to where you were. Getting it in the first place is the hard part but losing it and gaining it back takes very little time..im my experiences.
as for the bulging disc, i would lay off the squats and deads, or very low weight. I have two bulging discs and nothing has helped to make the disc reabsorb, so I just deal with the 24/7 pain. But squats and deads KILL my back so I try to stay away from those lifts...
you just need to be careful in the future

[bbh90]

I would get back to where you were THEN cycle. You'll be surprised how quickly you will return to where you were. Getting it in the first place is the hard part but losing it and gaining it back takes very little time..im my experiences.
as for the bulging disc, i would lay off the squats and deads, or very low weight. I have two bulging discs and nothing has helped to make the disc reabsorb, so I just deal with the 24/7 pain. But squats and deads KILL my back so I try to stay away from those lifts...
you just need to be careful in the future

ya iv never expienced having to take a lot of time off like this then regaining so i may be surprised and decided not to even cycle in the first place like i said thiss is all subject to change just something that has crossed my mind

but damn you really deal with pain 24/7 still? mines not a real bad bulge and im still reasonably young so it should have a better chance and healing but basically what my doctor and physical therapist said is that once you let it heal you can probably go back to everything you used to but that squats and deads like realistically its not just because ppl like us have bulged discs that were more prone to re injury but the fact that unless you have incredible genetics to be able to squat and dead lift all your life chances are at some point your going to bulge a disc from those movements so ya im planning to stay away from them and i think ill be alright but again time will tell the only thing im really worred about is movements like carrying heavy dumbbells to get into position for different lifts and stuff but my physical therapist made me feel very confident that ill be able to just fine

hows yours been as far as living with it? im surprised your in 24/7 pain still but i can related cuz when i first bulged it i was stubborn and only took a week break before going back to lifting and basically everything was fine until i tried to do stiff leg dead lifts and i slowly just got worse until i realized it was the deads but by then i got to the point where i have to be taking 3 months off so i mean i guess we all make mistakes but i would have been having to take off about this much time to really let it heal either way

[themoreyouknow]

ya iv never expienced having to take a lot of time off like this then regaining so i may be surprised and decided not to even cycle in the first place like i said thiss is all subject to change just something that has crossed my mind

but damn you really deal with pain 24/7 still? mines not a real bad bulge and im still reasonably young so it should have a better chance and healing but basically what my doctor and physical therapist said is that once you let it heal you can probably go back to everything you used to but that squats and deads like realistically its not just because ppl like us have bulged discs that were more prone to re injury but the fact that unless you have incredible genetics to be able to squat and dead lift all your life chances are at some point your going to bulge a disc from those movements so ya im planning to stay away from them and i think ill be alright but again time will tell the only thing im really worred about is movements like carrying heavy dumbbells to get into position for different lifts and stuff but my physical therapist made me feel very confident that ill be able to just fine

hows yours been as far as living with it? im surprised your in 24/7 pain still but i can related cuz when i first bulged it i was stubborn and only took a week break before going back to lifting and basically everything was fine until i tried to do stiff leg dead lifts and i slowly just got worse until i realized it was the deads but by then i got to the point where i have to be taking 3 months off so i mean i guess we all make mistakes but i would have been having to take off about this much time to really let it heal either way

i would take as much time off as you see fit, until you're feeling significantly better.
and yeah, it blows having the pain 24/7. Never goes away and only gets worse some days after certain lifts. I have had an epidural where the injected corticoid steroids right into my spinal cavity and that didnt help..ive been to physical therapy and a chiro..nothing works. so, i have no other choice but to deal with it. And im sure as hell not going to give up lifting lol

[S8jack3d]

I have a herniated disk in my back that causes a lot of pain. I just avoid movements where my lower back isn't stable. I injured it while doing squats eight years ago and it's never been the same. I don't do squats, deads or GM. I do one arm back movements that keep my back stable but I can't do machine or tbar rows bc I'm bent over or bending over. I just do hack squats and concentrate on form as well as leg extensions, lunges, leg curls, etc. Just be careful and strengthen your core bc it will help.

[bbh90]

i would take as much time off as you see fit, until you're feeling significantly better.
and yeah, it blows having the pain 24/7. Never goes away and only gets worse some days after certain lifts. I have had an epidural where the injected corticoid steroids right into my spinal cavity and that didnt help..ive been to physical therapy and a chiro..nothing works. so, i have no other choice but to deal with it. And im sure as hell not going to give up lifting lol

damn im sorry to hear that man i mine is not too bad like i only stopped lifting a few days ago and im already feeling a decent amount of relief im expecting after a week or two i wont have any pain but i am going to have to lay off it still just to let it fully heal i cant believe the cortisone shot didnt help though iv never had one my self but my dad did and it helped him a lot he has 5 bulged discs though and one completely disintegrated one

although my symptoms may be different from yours because i dont actually have pain in my back i just get sciatica which is why even when the pain is gone i have to keep off it to try and let the disc go back in some or fully im sure youv looked into this but im getting an inversion table to help i hear that people get a lot of relief with them

but ya man it would be worse terrible to have to give up lifting good luck man hope you can find a way to relieve some of the pain

[bbh90]

whats GM? mine as well was most likly from squats thats when it got hurt during squats but im sure football and power cleans took its toll as well i honestly think that i mean since bodybuilding is a new sport were still somewhat the test dummies and i think with all the people getting back problems from squats and dead lifts that before too long those lifts will become less common i mean yes they do accelerate gains but no matter what you gain while doing them if you hurt your back to where your limited or have to take months at a time off then in the long run you wont be keeping those gains anyway personally i dont see them as worth it at least not as a primary lift or like one of the lifts that people do all the time but if you want to know the truth i dont think that anyone really knows the best way to build muscle iv been at this for almost 8 years and i should say that although iv always been very dedicated to lifting i didnt take my diet REALLY seriously until the last year and i also dont htink i learned how to train best until the last year either but shit i was a teen for a good amount of those years anyway so a mix of being young and not very educated on it as well as trial and error i think only now i really know how to build a lot of quality muscle plus the amount of bullshit you ahve to sift through to find what really works is unreal i mean iv always tried to do everything as best i can but when i was younger i htough bulking with tons of cals as well as tons of different random work out routines were the answer but now i know that to make gains you dont have to get above 10% bf or do any crazy routine but that it really comes down to consistent diet a very good routine that isnt overtraining rest and litterally giving 100% in the gym every time but back on topic

i will try to strengthen my core more and if this is of any help muscle balance can help a lot too my quads are dominate over my hams and strengthening my hams helps relieve pain as well and stretching my quads and gluteus

[gunnery]

well......... heres my 2 cents. i have always lifted since i was a kid ,sat next to arnold and franco columbu on a plane flight when i was a kid , had both their workout books! damn near pissed myself...anyway...anyway i continued to lift until i left football for girls ... then went into construction and played superman for years (20) until i destroyed my back completely. but 6 yrs. ago i lifted HARD with a marine buddy for a couple yrs and it made my back strong enough to make me feel good and work my way up to decent weight on most movements, 295 bench x2 and 250 x2 sq. full ...afraid to push it too far still had a lot of pain!!! but deads and cleans were and probably are out of the question! last march (2010) i had surgery on my lumbars 2 ruptured discs repaired bone spur under the nerve root removed still have numb foot and part leg, mostly just when i irritate it , and some bone grinding to put thing in place! ... still have 3bulging discs ,went back to work sept after almost 6mos. lot of pt. and stupid bull headedness ive gotten close to where i was lifting since maybe august and feel strong again ( deads and cleans are still out as are rows and boflys) but i guess my point is there are so many alternatives there is usually a way to get around the pain and get the job done but squats are essential!!! ive worked my way up to 185 and dont remember those muscles but they are adapting! ive started my first cycle sus 250 /500mg/wk on wk 2 and im strong enough to injure my bicep (guess i may have to cool it a little) and getting stronger everywhere and look like it ...cool .damn now im good lookin and pumped! jk good luck with your back brother!

[Far from massive]

As someone who has had two ruptured discs and buldging on many others (at age 30) and has never had surgery and is now fine ( light squats and bent over lat rows at 55) my feeling is that 3 months will not be nearly enough time for FULL recovery Partial yes full no. So regardless of whether you cycle or not ( I would wait) definately hold off on the deads and squats for at least 6 months to a year and do lots of core work in the meantime to support your spine when under load.

[bbh90]

As someone who has had two ruptured discs and buldging on many others (at age 30) and has never had surgery and is now fine ( light squats and bent over lat rows at 55) my feeling is that 3 months will not be nearly enough time for FULL recovery Partial yes full no. So regardless of whether you cycle or not ( I would wait) definately hold off on the deads and squats for at least 6 months to a year and do lots of core work in the meantime to support your spine when under load.

thanks for the response personally i do not right now plan to ever do squats or deads again basically what iv gathered from my doctor and physical therapist is that weather you already have a bulged disc or not squats and deads are always going to compress your discs and eventually your going to get a bulged disc or worse unless you happen to be 1 in a million with freak genetics basically i figure they are going to be more destructive and lead me to having to take more time off from the gym to recover from pain or injury than helpful in gaining

that being said i know i have kind of rambled on in most of my posts but the 3 months that i have planned is not set in stone thats simply what my doctor told me they think will be the amount of necessary off time it could be more could be less i mean id love it if it was shorter but im waiting for the results and when the doctor gives me the ok above anything else im hoping that because mine is not too bad that i will be able to recover in 3 months but who knows its been coming up on a week now that iv had to take off and im already very sure that this is going to be a hard process restraining myself from the gym as well as the hit my ego takes knowing its only a matter of time until the gains iv obtained start to diminish

but im just wondering whats your experience been since injuring your back aside from going lighter on squats and bent over rows are you able to do most everything else you want such as carrying heavy dumbbells to be able to DB press?

i know that weather you have a severly bulged disc or not the recovery process is long but i am feeling hopeful since its only been a week and id say that about 50% of my pain is already gone im expecting by 2 weeks maybe 3 it will be fully gone and i believe thats when the real challenge will come once im feeling good but knowing i still have to stay away from the weights

[Far from massive]

If your pain has lessened in a week you probably had very mild impingement due to a small bulge, in that case I agree wholeheartedly with what you are saying that within a month you will likely feel fine and the challenge will be to realize that just because the bulge of the disc and the swelling in the nerves has deminished that does not mean that the wall of the disc has totally healed and will tolerate high pressure without either buldging or worst case senario rupture... When you consider the PSI that the pulposus of the disc sees when we do squats or particularly deadlifts its amazing that the disc (300psi when bending over with no wieght, probably well over 1000 psi when doing a deadlift or squat) does not rupture completly every time....

As far as my back goes I had several major traumas from racing motocross but never nerve impingemnt (leg pain) then while working as a mechanic and carrying a 110lb truck tire I slipped and landed ass first on a metal platform about 8" off the floor while still holding the truck tire, at that point I ruptured 2 discs severely and bulged 2 others. I was scared to death of surgery ( they wanted to fuse 3 vertabre together 1980s) I was going out with a 22 yr old girl at the time and had no plans of having no flexibility of the pelvis LOL. Well I spent about 50% of the first year waking up with burning pain so bad I could not tie my shoes or drive my own car ( trans am with clutch) but slowly during that year ( the trouble was workmens comp would only give me a month off since I would not have surgery and I continued to work as I had to eat. Well at the end of the year I got a job as a manager of a garage and was able to slowly rehab my back to the point where it was pretty much pain free it would only be stiff in the morning and cold wet days etc. By the time I was 35 I was back to working as a mechanic and other than when I would do something really dumb like lifting a head assembly off a car by myself and reinjuring it for a month or two I was pretty much pain free. Since I turned 40 I have worked a computer job and have had very little trouble with it at all, I work on race cars and think nothing of lifting a supercharger off a Hemi 100 + lbs (straight legs bent over lift) or any other heavy lifting. Every few years I will do something wrong like lifting something heavy cold and get a slight pain in the leg for a couple of weeks ( probably a slight buldging just like you had) but other than that I have been fine, since I decided to get back in shape at 50 and started doing cardio and lifting I have never hurt my back at all, no doubt due to core work.

Currently I am 55 6' 1" 205lbs and I do T bar rows with a standard bar with 150 lbs on it ( not like thats a lot of wieght LOL) and it causes no pain in my lower back at all, my squats are even more pathetic I do a 110 lbs ( No health insurance and don't want to risk an injury) but again with no pain in the back at all. So my point in this long winded post...is that you can sometimes fully recover from a back injury (even a severe one) without surgery (this is more for other readers I know you were not considering surgery) so always get several opinions as to wheter surgery is needed.

Oh yeah as far as carrying dumbells or any other kind of correct lifting or carrying, I could carry dumbells far heavier than I could ever press for reps, LOL I could carry two 80s no problem, along my friend and I did a concrete job 2 years back and I unloaded and carried 30 80lb bags of concrete about 100ft in a day so the back really is not a problem in day to day life. Now those 200s dumbells that Coleman uses for benchwork...I don't know about that.

FFM

[bbh90]

If your pain has lessened in a week you probably had very mild impingement due to a small bulge, in that case I agree wholeheartedly with what you are saying that within a month you will likely feel fine and the challenge will be to realize that just because the bulge of the disc and the swelling in the nerves has deminished that does not mean that the wall of the disc has totally healed and will tolerate high pressure without either buldging or worst case senario rupture... When you consider the PSI that the pulposus of the disc sees when we do squats or particularly deadlifts its amazing that the disc (300psi when bending over with no wieght, probably well over 1000 psi when doing a deadlift or squat) does not rupture completly every time....

As far as my back goes I had several major traumas from racing motocross but never nerve impingemnt (leg pain) then while working as a mechanic and carrying a 110lb truck tire I slipped and landed ass first on a metal platform about 8" off the floor while still holding the truck tire, at that point I ruptured 2 discs severely and bulged 2 others. I was scared to death of surgery ( they wanted to fuse 3 vertabre together 1980s) I was going out with a 22 yr old girl at the time and had no plans of having no flexibility of the pelvis LOL. Well I spent about 50% of the first year waking up with burning pain so bad I could not tie my shoes or drive my own car ( trans am with clutch) but slowly during that year ( the trouble was workmens comp would only give me a month off since I would not have surgery and I continued to work as I had to eat. Well at the end of the year I got a job as a manager of a garage and was able to slowly rehab my back to the point where it was pretty much pain free it would only be stiff in the morning and cold wet days etc. By the time I was 35 I was back to working as a mechanic and other than when I would do something really dumb like lifting a head assembly off a car by myself and reinjuring it for a month or two I was pretty much pain free. Since I turned 40 I have worked a computer job and have had very little trouble with it at all, I work on race cars and think nothing of lifting a supercharger off a Hemi 100 + lbs (straight legs bent over lift) or any other heavy lifting. Every few years I will do something wrong like lifting something heavy cold and get a slight pain in the leg for a couple of weeks ( probably a slight buldging just like you had) but other than that I have been fine, since I decided to get back in shape at 50 and started doing cardio and lifting I have never hurt my back at all, no doubt due to core work.

Currently I am 55 6' 1" 205lbs and I do T bar rows with a standard bar with 150 lbs on it ( not like thats a lot of wieght LOL) and it causes no pain in my lower back at all, my squats are even more pathetic I do a 110 lbs ( No health insurance and don't want to risk an injury) but again with no pain in the back at all. So my point in this long winded post...is that you can sometimes fully recover from a back injury (even a severe one) without surgery (this is more for other readers I know you were not considering surgery) so always get several opinions as to wheter surgery is needed.

Oh yeah as far as carrying dumbells or any other kind of correct lifting or carrying, I could carry dumbells far heavier than I could ever press for reps, LOL I could carry two 80s no problem, along my friend and I did a concrete job 2 years back and I unloaded and carried 30 80lb bags of concrete about 100ft in a day so the back really is not a problem in day to day life. Now those 200s dumbells that Coleman uses for benchwork...I don't know about that.

FFM

haha ya i think the 200 lb DB's might be out of the question as well lol but this was a very inspiring post im glad to hear you have done so well and are able to do basically anything you want its especially encouraging to hear that you were able to recover so well and your injury was very sever i as well as you feel that surgery is best if possible to avoid and i think many people that got to the same point as you could have lost hope and gone through with the surgery premature

as you said about the dead lifts and squats it really is amazing with the knowledge i have now about them which i dont think i would have ever been able to fully understand without acquiring this injury anyway but if life never had any problems and i could have had a sneak preview ahead of time of what a bulged disc can be like i dont think i ever would have risked squats and dead lifts and certainly not pushed them the way i have in the passed those lifts as helpful as they are in accelerating gains are equally destructive in the long run for your joints and back in my opinion

this was a really great post you have i think that its easy to be depressed or feel hopeless upon finding out you have a bulged disc because you always hear these horror stories of people never being the same or not being to do the things they love but i really believe it has to do with how you handle it if you take the steps to healing and care for your body i think anything is possible after and maybe you will have pain from time to time but as you said youv learned how to avoid it mostly as well as how to deal with it quickly so i think more people need to know that its not the end of the world you just need to take care of yourself and in time you can reach any goal or do anything you want in the future im really happy for you that youv made such great progress and success i hope everything continues to go well for you and you continue to be such a positive thinker man good luck!