lower back pain

[Klown]

BE VERY, VERY CAREFUL OF LOW BACK INJURY.

I have a slightly herniated disc caused by doing that stupid back extension machine (ironically I was doing it because I realized I didn't work the lower back much, and wanted to strengthen it), even though it was light enough that I could pull out 10 good reps. It was weird... in the middle of one rep I felt a really sudden and sharp pain in my left upper thigh, but I was fine after that brief moment, and I finished up my workout. It was the next morning that I was incapacitated.

Anyway, that was 3 years ago, and I still have a bad back. I can lift anything heavy, but standing in the same place for 5 minutes hurts a lot. My orthopedist's explanation for the prevalence of low back pain is that humans aren't yet fully evolved for standing erect, and that's why we have weak lower backs. He told me that basically there are 2 options: 1) Get PT, and since I'm young, there's a fairly good chance it will move back into place by itself (that hasn't happened); or 2) Get surgery, in which they don't actually fix your back, but just remove the tissue that's agitating the nerve.

I've learned to live with it, but my life sure would be a lot better if I didn't have it. I'm not saying anything like squating will cripple you (I do squats myself, which do not hurt my back at all), but if you are experiencing pain as it is, be extremely cautious because modern medicine can't really do jack to fix an injury there.

This is exactly what I am wondering. I am not trying to be a pussy here, but at the same time I don't like working out while missing out on all the most important exercises. Sometimes I think it may have been caused from heavy deadlifts, cause it seemed like no matter how hard I tried to keep my back arched on heavy reps, there was still some rounding in my lower back, even if I could manage 5+ reps with that weight. I've also heard sometimes it can be caused by an imbalance in ab strength, so I am trying to improve that as well.

My squat is something I really want to improve, but even moderately heavy loads give me a pain. Oddly enough if I go parallel, I am fine. It's only right in the hole that bothers me. I've been squatting atf for at least a year with no problems before, though. I hear all this stuff about herniated discs and nerve damage, and it just worries me.

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

Get an MRI to determine if you have a herniation.