Exercising with a bad back

[Deleted]

Read the post...

Squats: Out. Direct downward spinal pressure.
Deads: Out. Same reason.

Learn a bit of basic physiology surrounding spinal interaction with the sciatic nerve, and you will also appreciate that:

Leg Extensions, Out.
Calf Raises, Out.
Leg curls, Out.....

Seriously, you attack someone with a serious spinal condition for not doing a leg day when he basically crippled himself for life DOING a fucking leg day.

And you have the fucking gall to insinuate that I am a "bro".... Fuckwits.

---------- Post added 2013-01-27 at 01:03 AM ----------

I now remember why its been over a year since my last post on this forum...

OP, I hope you find a way to work with your condition. In a way I can empathise...
Just don't expect anything too much from this forum. BodyBuilding.com is also full of gobshites, but there are a lot of very knowledgeable people willing to give some great answers to genuine questions.

I guess if you ask a monkey the time of day, he is more likely to throw his own shit at you than look at his wrist and answer.

There are lots of people that still work out their legs even tho they have a back injury.
You just named a few leg exercises, there are lots.

[jbhasban]

Read the post...

Squats: Out. Direct downward spinal pressure.
Deads: Out. Same reason.

Learn a bit of basic physiology surrounding spinal interaction with the sciatic nerve, and you will also appreciate that:

Leg Extensions, Out.
Calf Raises, Out.
Leg curls, Out.....

Seriously, you attack someone with a serious spinal condition for not doing a leg day when he basically crippled himself for life DOING a fucking leg day.

And you have the fucking gall to insinuate that I am a "bro".... Fuckwits.

---------- Post added 2013-01-27 at 01:03 AM ----------

I now remember why its been over a year since my last post on this forum...

OP, I hope you find a way to work with your condition. In a way I can empathise...
Just don't expect anything too much from this forum. BodyBuilding.com is also full of gobshites, but there are a lot of very knowledgeable people willing to give some great answers to genuine questions.

I guess if you ask a monkey the time of day, he is more likely to throw his own shit at you than look at his wrist and answer.

He did not say he had sciatica. The disorder he named is a disorder that causes problems with the vertebrae slipping which COULD lead to sciatic pressure but not necessarily. Sheering forces will increase the chance of this. As such, exercises that do not induce much sheering forces should be ok. But he should see a PT or a trainer who specializes in spinal conditions to figure out how he should train.

[Deezlar]

"I'm just interested in other people's stories about keeping fit when their back is getting in the way"

I made a post based around this question, I did not suggest I had a magic workout that would fix it... Our injuries/diseases are different. Even if we had exactly the same problem, our recovery path would most likely be entirely different.

My particular manifestation of the disease means that any pressure exerted through the legs with lower back involvement causes crippling pain.
So the suggestion that I am leading the OP down the garden path for not suggesting a leg day offends me...

[Omega10]

A year ago my back was getting so bad that two times walking to my car from work I had to stop walking because my back hurt so bad. I just could not walk another step. Sometimes when walking upstairs to my apartment with groceries, I wondered each step if my back would give out and I would fall back down the <cement> stairs. Each step was slow and kind of scary.

My problem? Well I am aged 52, and pretty much spent two decades sitting in front of a computer at work, then coming home and sitting in front of a computer to play EQ in the olden days, WOW or Diablo III in the newer days. Plus I sat with bad posture.

My solution: First of all I fixed my posture, particularly making sure that my foot and knee always face the exact same direction. Furthermore, I now keep my knee and foot facing exactly straight out, no funky curves. I also make sure I get up at least once and hour and walk around, even if it is just for a very short time.

Second of all, once that got kind of ok (for me, just this fixed the worst of it, but not all of it), I started taking karate, particularly Oom Yung Doe. This roughly translates in Korean to "karate for older people with back and/or joint issues". It would probably work pretty well for younger people as well

I am at the end of my third month of karate, and I have noticed steady progress in my back. The following has happened:

Oom Yung Doe focuses a lot on fancy circular, almost effeminate, sets of movements that end with a kick or a punch that utilizes the power of not just your leg or arm but brings in the power of your whole body twisting around to provide a huge amount of power. I like the Ying and Yang part of it, where you have flowing, graceful, circular movements followed by explosions of pure power that, if well aimed, would break someones jaw or even rib cage. When I am paired with much smaller people in the self defense practices, initially my partner cannot overcome my power as I grab their arm and they CAN"T BREAK FREE. Until they get their technique perfect. Then, in 2 seconds, they have me on my knees in an awkward position, and if they did not control themselves they could snap my arm. <Note - I am 6 foot 6 and slender, but my bones are large and I got some power in me when I get my forms correct. My weaknesses are flexibility and speed.>

There are two ways that karate has helped my back. First of all, a lot of the movements are particularly aimed at strengthening my knees, ankles, and waist area. My muscles are more limber, and also much stronger. So the newfound strength of my muscles supports my back each and every time I lift something (like myself out of a chair). Furthermore, with the new flexibility of my muscles around my waist, I no longer wrench my back every time I twist around for any reason. My back has to move quite a bit less since my muscles can move more.

When the class exercises are too much for my back, I replace back strengthening exercises for the ones the rest of the class is doing. I am not in competition with anyone else as there is no sparring in this karate school, so let others do exercises suitable for them while I do exercises suitable for me.

The best way to see if a karate school is right for your needs: If the average age of the students is 40+, it is probably good. That means the teachers understand the issues involved with back and joint issues. If the average age is in the 20s with lots of sparring, then find another school. With your back, you want to be doing exercises and forms that strengthen not just your back, but your joints and all your muscles.

A variation of the theme would be yoga along with mild weight training, specifically avoiding exercises that would be dangerous for your back. But my very unprofessional advise would be to focus on an exercise regimen of some sort that focuses on flexibility and strengthening the muscles around your knees and around your waist. At least this seems to be the part of karate that has been most beneficial for my own back issues.

---------- Post added 2013-01-28 at 02:07 AM ----------

One more comment. I am sure you know this, but get your weight down to where you are either the "ideal" weight for your height, or preferably 5-10 pounds below that.