Lots of back topics, but why not one more?

[stimpy]

So I'm not asking how to cure the pain or anything like that. I know I'm screwed It kills me daily and have accepted that. I have 3 herniated disc l5/s1 and the two above it. Anyway, I want to start lifting again I lost any mass I ever had and it will be like starting over. My question is this... Before I was injured I loved squats.. knowing its never going to happen is there any other way to beef up the legs like they did with squats? I want to start working the upper body again and dont want to look like I have never worked legs before. Is cycling useless if you cant lift heavy full body lifts? I mean is there a point to cycling if your just doing upper body? I have never cycled before but Im 31 and running out of time left in these joints.

[MickeyKnox]

I have had two microdiscectomys.

I use the Smith machine exclusively for squats - did legs today actually. I love it and can always feel my leg workouts the following day.

Then i do the leg extension, leg curls, then standing/seated calve raises. Those four exercises hit all the leg muscles and have proven to be effective at building leg strength without compromising my back. I do not do Leg Press - too hard on my back. Im tall so i feel folded up in the seated position. Its the only type of leg press we have at our gym. The Hip Sled does the same thing to my back...too painful.

I always use a belt for legs, especially performing squats. And remember, strict form and protect your back at all times.

[stimpy]

That's excellent advice. Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks man.

[MickeyKnox]

You're welcome mate.

[Lunk1]

Like Mick I have had the surgery and as he and I discussed I still baby my back being overly catious.

My question is...have you had an MRI? Do you have sciatica? Have you taken any measures to fix the problem. I would concentrate on my healthy back more than my gym time. ZWhile I would hate it, I would drop the gym entirely if the trade off was the pain I used to feel prior to surgery!

[gats0101]

Before you start lifting again you should really talk to your physician about proper rehab for your back and all the treatments that are available to you. I would highly suggest talking to a local chiropractor about it. This summer I literally woke up one morning the first week of June and had medium pain and stiffness in my L5/S1 area of my vertebra as well. After just dealing with it for a month I finally was suggested to go see a Chiropractor and after a month of twice a week treatments I was squatting heavy with no pain! I definitely suggest looking into as many non invasive treatments as you can.

[Far from massive]

You do not say how long its been since you injured your back and if you have fully rehabbed it? If surgery is not advised or if you are deadset against it for whatever reason, I would suggest you concentrate on fully recovering your core muscles before working on any lower body other than very light extensions, curls and seated calf raises bike riding and the like.

If your injury is less than 6 months old and of course dependent on condition you may be amazed at the amount of recovery you see by recovering your core muscles. I had 3 severly herniated discs back 25 yrs ago and due to the state of surgery at the time ( they wanted to fuse all of them together...thats 4 vertebrae) I declined it. It took several years to fully recover but even today at the ripe old age of 57 I can still squat, I just need to be resonable with the wieght and keep the form strict.

Anyhow good luck with your recovery and as said do not overload the back and make it worse until you have fully developed the muscles and fibrous tissues that support the spine, keeping in mind that the load on the discs will often be 5 times less with good form and core strength doing the same exercise at the same wieght as it would with shitty form and core strength.

FFM

[jseek]

Go to any cycling club bike rides from lazy joe 10 mile doughnut ride to 100mile weekend sprinters...almost every club will have some awesome level athlete that can't do their favorite sport anymore due to hilorrifucinjuries or whatever and took up cycling to stay or get fit and they find they love the sport...
Core stabilization work is huge for you. Discs are ligaments that hold two vertebra together...ur discs are loose and so the joint is loose ( at three levels). Figure out how to strengthen back & abs without causing pain and progress strength. With good core stability and proper technique, u may solve ur own back problem and return to squats... Work on it. Get a good trainer or PT to help u get started.

[johnnylucifer]

I have a messed up L5. Fought with the injury for year, but it's finally "Better now' I'm still easing myself into exercises. I tried squats and immediately stopped as I could tell it was stressing my back.

I've found though that I can do leg stuff in which my lower back has support. As it stands right now, hack squats appear that they will take the place of squats in my routine. I'm also avoiding heavy stuff right now. My rule is that if i can't lift it 8 times, then it's too heavy. I've been thinking about trying front squats. Not sure right now if front squats will put less stress on my LB or more.

I'm 39 now and have resigned myself from lifting heavy. THe next time I hurt my back will probably result in a much more permanent inconvienance.