Training through pain and types of pain

[RewardingLabor]

A few weeks ago I did a few sets of deadlift heavier than i had done in a long time. I felt a slight tweak in my lower back but like most injuries i have experienced in the weight room, it got much worse later when i didn't have a thousand pounds of blood flowing through the muscle. fast forward to a few days ago and it got so bad I actually started to feel dumbbell standing lateral raises in my lower back, and the next day i could barely stand. Since then it has gotten slightly better.

I'm just not sure I should really call it an injury. I can barely even sit down without being in some pain and it hurts more on one side of my body than another, but isn't that my goal? I'm trying to tear up my muscles so they grow, did I just really do a good job? Is this an injury or is it just another day of what I have to go through to build the body I want?

I've been avoiding training the area (it feels like a hip flexor so thats lower back through the flutes and into the quads) and stretching seems to help a bit. What would people on this site do in my situation, completely shut down? avoid squats/ deadlifts and focus on other parts of the body for a while? Some sort of painkillers? Ignore it completely and just keep hitting every area? Something else?

[Times Roman]

I've been working through pain, especially back pain, for so long.

not sure how I'd react if I could get one whole day of training without pain.

(and when I say for so long, I mean decades.....)

[Hard_Body]

I can remember having a similar problem from dead lifting but it does not seem as bad as what you are describing. I might of pulled something in my left lat, my right was fine. I would set up a camera just to see your form on dead lifts, hips might be shooting up to high at start. I switched to rack pulls for awhile because the chances of injury are much less than conventional dead lift.

[Mr.BB]

Only you can tell if its injury or not, but from your description it really looks like an injury.

You need to see a doctor and let him diagnose it. Some injuries dont heal by itself, might require meds and/or therapy.

Injuries that dont get properly treated might become cronic.

[Khazima]

See a doctor. If you still want to hit the gym don't do movements that compress your spine or aggravate the pain.

[Pericu]

I'm trying to tear up my muscles so they grow, did I just really do a good job?

You don't need to injure yourself to make your muscles grow, that's for sure. But honestly, you don't necessarily need to "Tear" you muscles to make them grow. The main thing is training volume and progressive overload+proper nutrition. As long as you have them in check, you will grow, there's no way around it.

To the actual injury itself. Go see a doctor.
Further I would take a closer look on your deadlift form, if it's good, then I'm left saying that injury and small tweaks simply happen and are kind of the usual stuff if you're training hard.

[RewardingLabor]

I've been working through pain, especially back pain, for so long.

not sure how I'd react if I could get one whole day of training without pain.

(and when I say for so long, I mean decades.....)

Brother, after experiencing back pain for just a few weeks, my hats off to you. To push through this for that much time would be an incredible act of will.


Update for those interested… Since this hip flexor thing travels through the leg Intense stretching of the gluteals, obliques, and lower back itself has helped a lot… though the process is at times almost unbearably painful. And as it seems to really be localized on one side I am ready to call it an injury. Saw a doctor today and he recommended that i lay myself in a coffin for 6 months to a year. So… probably just gonna stick to stretching haha.

[Khazima]

You should take a few weeks off and see how it recovers. If you nip it in the butt it may prevent it from becoming a chronic injury. If you do choose to workout make sure not to do any exercises that put pressure or strain on the area.

[Times Roman]

Brother, after experiencing back pain for just a few weeks, my hats off to you. To push through this for that much time would be an incredible act of will.


Update for those interested… Since this hip flexor thing travels through the leg Intense stretching of the gluteals, obliques, and lower back itself has helped a lot… though the process is at times almost unbearably painful. And as it seems to really be localized on one side I am ready to call it an injury. Saw a doctor today and he recommended that i lay myself in a coffin for 6 months to a year. So… probably just gonna stick to stretching haha.

when the pain gets especially bad, yes, the intensity drops. I minimize those routines that aggravate and keep marching. I used to look down my nose at those that relied on pain meds to get by, but now that means looking down my nose at myself. I feel guilty by not pushing through, and even now, today, leg day was light.

Fortunately, for me, the discs are still healthy and bone density is strong. It's this friggin arthritis, and before ya'll start flashing the pvssy sign, the pain is real. you can see the arthritis on the mri, and it is crowding the spinal chord and three discs. I'm getting a procedure to kill some of the nerves back there, and eventually, I will have to have a better remedy. but I can't remember the last time I entered or left the gym not in pain.

So, just learn to adapt. don't do anything to do damage. but don't let the pain be an excuse to become a couch potato either....
....it's a b1tch, I'm telling you.

Good luck
---Roman

[Chicagotarsier]

Why I do not do heavy weights.

Check out German Volume Training. Better hypertrophy for most people than heavy weights. Almost no chance for injury unless it is a true accident.

OP. I am diagnosed with Performis and scheduled for surgery. It mimics the hip flexor issue. I did the stretches for a year and they are NA for me..cutting the tendon. Going to cure it before i get heavy enough weights that a tweek of the performis caused a real accident.

[RewardingLabor]

I'm getting a procedure to kill some of the nerves back there, and eventually, I will have to have a better remedy. but I can't remember the last time I entered or left the gym not in pain.

So, just learn to adapt. don't do anything to do damage. but don't let the pain be an excuse to become a couch potato either....
....it's a b1tch, I'm telling you.

Good luck
---Roman

Hey man, before you go killing nerves I really think you should try stretching. It's real hard at first but today I did an hour and a half just going through stretches for my lower back piriformis + hamstring + calf (basically the whole posterior chain) and hip flexor + lower abs… It took forever and was absolutely no fun and was really painful and I probably looked like a goober but I can tie my own shoes again for the first time in weeks! I used light weights and bands to help me push the stretches further. When I started doing the piriformis stretch (pigeon pose) I literally had to hold myself up with my upper body, but by the end I actually got into the position and that moment when i stood up and wasn't actively in pain was unbelievably refreshing. It's coming back now but its not as bad as before.

@chicagotarsier, yea i have that too… i basically pulled my ass deadlifting haha. Its actually really painful and not as funny as it sounds. When you did the stretches did you go well beyond comfortable (i.e. was it actually painful and you hated every second). When I didn't go that far the stretches didn't work for me. And yea i'm basically forced into a GVT situation… yesterday I worked on the leg extension machine for 55 minutes doing literally hundreds of reps each leg at … 30 pounds. I used to do sets of 260 pounds each leg for 5-7 reps. I'm feeling it today and it really gave me a chance to focus on squeezing the muscle but i'm afraid i'm not gonna grow.

[Times Roman]

Hey man, before you go killing nerves I really think you should try stretching. It's real hard at first but today I did an hour and a half just going through stretches for my lower back piriformis + hamstring + calf (basically the whole posterior chain) and hip flexor + lower abs… It took forever and was absolutely no fun and was really painful and I probably looked like a goober but I can tie my own shoes again for the first time in weeks! I used light weights and bands to help me push the stretches further. When I started doing the piriformis stretch (pigeon pose) I literally had to hold myself up with my upper body, but by the end I actually got into the position and that moment when i stood up and wasn't actively in pain was unbelievably refreshing. It's coming back now but its not as bad as before.

@chicagotarsier, yea i have that too… i basically pulled my ass deadlifting haha. Its actually really painful and not as funny as it sounds. When you did the stretches did you go well beyond comfortable (i.e. was it actually painful and you hated every second). When I didn't go that far the stretches didn't work for me. And yea i'm basically forced into a GVT situation… yesterday I worked on the leg extension machine for 55 minutes doing literally hundreds of reps each leg at … 30 pounds. I used to do sets of 260 pounds each leg for 5-7 reps. I'm feeling it today and it really gave me a chance to focus on squeezing the muscle but i'm afraid i'm not gonna grow.

my back condition has been deteriorating for over 20 years. I do some stretching at the gym, (twists and light good mornings) and so for a while, the pain goes down. But by the end of time in the gym, the pain level is rising.

Realistically, stretching aint gonna get it done. What I have shows on the MRI, and although is called arthritis, these calcium deposits are like little hooks and barbs on the vertebrae. they inflame the surrounding tissue. NSAIDS control some of the inflammation. Ice helps. Stretching helps. But the next round of pain is never far away. I'm tired and it's worn me down. I've had my game face on for so long. My woman tells me that I sometimes yell out in pain in my sleep. This yelling out is becoming more and more frequent, til here lately, it's two or three times a week.

So, I give in. I'm going in Dec 8 to have nerves killed. And I'm looking forward to it.

[RewardingLabor]

Well best of luck to you in your surgery. I'm sure theres a reason the calcium deposits can't be removed so I guess this is your best option. Having just experienced this kind of pain for a few weeks Im confident that I would do the same thing in your position.

And an update: Found new ways to stretch even further using gravity and random mach chines in the gym and already i'm feeling better. I still wake up in pain so it doesn't las forever, sort of two steps forward one step back kind of thing. I also found that I can do ridiculously light weight for hours at a time and after 10-15 minutes of constant movement i can actually feel it a bit.

[RewardingLabor]

OP. I am diagnosed with Performis and scheduled for surgery. It mimics the hip flexor issue. I did the stretches for a year and they are NA for me..cutting the tendon. Going to cure it before i get heavy enough weights that a tweek of the performis caused a real accident.

I looked up piriformis syndrome and at least this one source says surgery doesn't help… Do you have pain from your butt (deep, like in the joint itself) that goes down into your calf? I think I have what you've got in addition to a hip flexor issue. The thing is, I have stretched the living shit out of the whole area, to the point of literally crying, and everything responds well except this one part. Is there anything that works?

Good luck on your surgery.