Back Injuries - Help/Advice Wanted

[Swill]

Hi Guys,

So I have a problem with recurring back injuries... have had a few minor tears in upper back muscle (rhomboids), had a nasty one beginning of the year, and also have lower back problems with certain exercises, whereby I get shooting pains after a flare up.

I manage the upper back/neck tension with a bit of maintenance sports massage once every six weeks or so, and haven't had a tare in a while, but the lower back can put me out of action.

Resultantly, my back workouts are typically Bent Over Barbell Row, One Arm Dumbbell Row, Straight arm pull down and seated rows. I have avoided deadlifts for around a year because I have previously instantly had problems in the lower back after them, and this worked well... but thought it was time to re-introduce them in the gym the other day as I have gotten considerably stronger and I started light (3 sets, 10 reps, 60kg) but low and behold I've been in discomfort for the last 5 days again, and it really affected my leg day on the gym today, particularly with leg press.

I assume this is some sort of imbalance? does anyone have any advice on how to get this fixed long term rather than just patched up? a few physio's haven't been able to help.

Would going super light on the deadlifts help with correcting maybe? I really don't get on with deadlifts, but I know how good a lift it can be.

Thanks for any input or advice guys!

[silverstrand]

does anyone have any advice on how to get this fixed long term rather than just patched up? a few physio's haven't been able to help.

Adjusting your workouts until you find something that works; but, here's something you might want to look into:
TB500, its a peptide I've used in the past - excellent at increasing your healing factor substantially.
I would suggest using 5mg for the first 5 days and then 2.5mg every 5 days after that for about 3 to 4 pins (15 to 20 days). You should see considerable lasting improvement. Also, if you take Sermorelin 250 mcgs per day, big synergy. Get off the Sermorelin once you stop only if you are still 5ar deficient as your aromatase will rebound much faster on it.

[Swill]

Thanks for the advice Silver, it is appreciated, but I'm not really looking to go down the route of correcting this with peptides or medications, ideally looking to get to the route of and correct the issue naturally. This is more of a chronic than an acute issue, and I want to get things sorted sustainably.

Hope all is well.

Anyone else have anything to suggest?

[northcutt]

There's so many variables to it, but if you haven't looked into "Becoming a Supple Leopard" its a great book.

Youtube any of these for deadlift:
"low back smash lacrosse ball" (this is good for just pain relief, not corrective, however until you reach corrective its $$$$ great)
"hamstring barbell smash" (I'd seriously not overlook hamstrings too huge and overlooked, and if they're too tight, your low back Will hurt on deadlifts, plus triggers and tight points hide deep deep deep so a regular foam roller in my experience has just wasted my time)
"Hip Impingement: AIS | Feat. Kelly Starrett"
Also at top of hamstrings up against glutes, you can sit on lacrosse ball and rock and find tight points, this area is very overlooked and tight quite often. You can even sneak this in at work for a break if you work at a desk.

For upper back - I would be adding in "lacrosse ball peanut" given that you said massage has helped. Thoracic mobility is a good guess. Ebay some lacrosse balls and they come right to your door.

[Swill]

thats great thanks man, will definitely look into that

[moleculargainz]

There's so many variables to it, but if you haven't looked into "Becoming a Supple Leopard" its a great book.

Youtube any of these for deadlift:
"low back smash lacrosse ball" (this is good for just pain relief, not corrective, however until you reach corrective its $$$$ great)
"hamstring barbell smash" (I'd seriously not overlook hamstrings too huge and overlooked, and if they're too tight, your low back Will hurt on deadlifts, plus triggers and tight points hide deep deep deep so a regular foam roller in my experience has just wasted my time)
"Hip Impingement: AIS | Feat. Kelly Starrett"
Also at top of hamstrings up against glutes, you can sit on lacrosse ball and rock and find tight points, this area is very overlooked and tight quite often. You can even sneak this in at work for a break if you work at a desk.

For upper back - I would be adding in "lacrosse ball peanut" given that you said massage has helped. Thoracic mobility is a good guess. Ebay some lacrosse balls and they come right to your door.

^ Totally agree with all of this. I work as a corrective exercise specialist and I utilize a lot of the techniques that Kelly uses. He's a great resource. But before doing any of the things northcutt mentioned you should focus on making sure your posture is perfect. Any time you get some sort of injury you'll naturally try to immobilize that area but this almost always leads to postural malalignments as your body will try to find a way to compensate. I'd imagine the reason you keep experiencing back back is because of poor movement patterns and your spine not being in a neutral position. One of the most common deviations people have is an anterior pelvic tilt where their pelvic girdle is tilted forward. With your pelvic bones in this position it causes abnormal curvatures in your lumbar, thoracic, and cervical spine. An easy way to assess your posture is to stand with your heels against a wall. With your butt also touching the wall there should only be enough space to fit your fingers behind your lower back and the wall (unless you have a squat booty). While doing this your shoulders should be flat against the wall with your head about an inch or so away. Your ears should fall directly over your shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles and your cheek should be over your collar bone. That is a neutral position. Next you'll need to address your muscle tissues. I'd recommend any type of lacrosse ball/foam roll myofascial release techniques that were mentioned above and also address your hip flexors such as using the handle of a kettlebell on the anterior part of your illium bones to target your illiacus and psoas muscles (look that up on google). Another thing to add to your upper back is use a foam roller but as you're doing it hold on to something behind you like the bottom of a coach to get a good stretch and really open up your t-spine and shoulders. Also hug yourself to protract your shoulder blades which will help you target your upper back muscles better. There's a lot more to add to this but i gotta get to the gym
I highly recommend getting two lacrosses balls because you can do so many awesome things with them.

Hope this helps!