Injury Question

teh_captain

teh_captain

teh_captain

Soldato
Joined
2 Jun 2003
Posts
3,032
Location
Bristol UK
Hey guys,

First post in SA and it's not a good one. Since the start of last year I've been going to the gym on and off, nothing really too serious. Since about 6 weeks ago I made a conscience decision to go by myself (I used to go with a mate who lost interest), and since then I've been going 4/5 times a week.

Whilst I've not been overdoing it I've started to notice a difference here & there, and I've been pretty happy with how it's going. I've not been in any pain (only soreness from the days previous) and been feeling good....until today.

It was leg day today, so did calf raises and squats on the smith machine (there's no squat rack as such) and racked up for deadlift (Romanian grip). I was on my last rep (10th) of the first set of 3 and when coming up I felt something go in my lower back, and it was at that point I knew something ****ed up. I unracked and went home straight away (only live right across the road) as I was a bit worried about doing any more damage. I was at 42.5kg, and while that is nothing compared to what some of you guys do I've been increasing it by a couple of Kgs every couple of weeks and it's been feeling fine. I thought my form was good (can really feel it in the hamstrings), but maybe not. Or it's just a freak accident?

I'm more more annoyed than anything else, I just don't want this to impact on the rest of my regime as I've really been pushing on since going again. I know it'll be tomorrow when it's going to be really sore and I'll have a better indication of what I'm in for.

My question is that tomorrow would be chest & back day - what would you experienced guys do in my shoes? Not go, do chest, do both but very light back exercises? I'm just a little worried right now and hope I haven't done any major damage.

Thanks for reading.
Tom

tl;dr I felt my back go doing deadlifts and need some advice about what to do next.
 
Go to the doctor.

It will still hurt like a nasty thing tomorrow, so dose up on ibuprofen and paracetamol. Ice is optional (15 minutes on, 15 off), but take it easy.

This is why smith machines are bad and why form is important.

Good luck with your recovery (it won't take long from my guess) but set up some doctor time (you will be told to not lift... But what do we expect from civilians? :))
 
I disagree with NSAID advice, if its a muscle injury then acute inflammation will aid in recovery - blood vessels dilate, reducing blood pressure and allowing more blood to get to the damaged area.

I would just take it easy and be mindful for the next couple of weeks when doing other exercises, if it hurts at all avoid it. I recommend finding a local osteopath - I go quite regularly for myofascial release (muscle knots), tight hip flexors and posture correction, they work wonders if you have a sedentary job and lift weights a lot.
 
Brozart said:
I disagree with NSAID advice, if its a muscle injury then acute inflammation will aid in recovery - blood vessels dilate, reducing blood pressure and allowing more blood to get to the damaged area.

I would just take it easy and be mindful for the next couple of weeks when doing other exercises, if it hurts at all avoid it. I recommend finding a local osteopath - I go quite regularly for myofascial release (muscle knots), tight hip flexors and posture correction, they work wonders if you have a sedentary job and lift weights a lot.
Click to expand...

Of course NSAIDs increase healing time... by up to 30%. ;)

But the weird thing about NSAIDs is that they reduce pain. They do this by reducing the effect of prostaglandins (amongst other things) which are painful little whatsits. So whilst it is cool to say "don't ice, or use NSAIDs," the outcome of not using either technique to reduce the inflammation is a lot of pain. Given tissue damage like this can take between 10-12 days, being miserable for that period or less miserable for 13-15 may be a judgement the OP can make.

I know I prefer an existence that is less painful. :)
 
You're not a professional athlete and I'm assuming you have a life away from the gym... (ignore post if either or those are wrong).

Take some NSAIDs (as mentioned it'll stop the ouch) and a week off the gym, even if you're feeling better add a couple of days. You'll make much less progress if you injure yourself again and a week won't really halt your gains.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys. I guess I did the sensible thing and saw a doctor this morning.

She said it's most likely one of the discs has slipped a little, as that could be the sensation I felt yesterday morning. She said it could take as long as 6 (!) weeks to recover fully but more likely is 2/3. I've got some Ibuprofen and anti-inflammatories so going to take a week or 2 off lifting and (depending how I feel) go from there. She also gave me some back stretching exercises to make things a bit more supple.

For sure I want to get back to the gym asap but I'd rather take that little longer and make sure I don't do this again.

I'm definitely going to do warm up sets in future and take extra care with my form from now on. Thanks guys.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom