Lower back injuries, anyone hurt their back in the gym lately?

[coach]

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[JimP]

Holly crap coach! I wish I had that kind of dedication to get ripped up like that. I read your previous post again, you guys are pushing some serious lbs too. I think when I go back I'll be focusing more on conditioning. I'd like to get down to 220 for the summer.

 

[coach]

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[longball]

you can see the 'christmas tree' in his back!

 

[turbobuick]

About three weeks ago I pulled something in my lower back while warming up doing squats. I've been doing this exercise along with dead lifts for some time and have never hurt myself. Anyone ever do this before, and how long did it take to heal. Is there anything to help speed the healing process up? exercises, stretches that you found worked.

I hate walking around and feeling like it's going to let go again and I haven't been able to workout.

Thanks

Most likely your spine "buckled" because you failed to maintain neutrality during the activity. This happens for a variety of reasons.

http://www.backfitpro.com/
This guy is pretty much the leading researcher on this topic today. If you want to recover well and not have it happen again I would look into his exercises and find a professional familiar with McGills work and lumbar stabilization techniques. Excellent exercises for everyone and you can find most of them on youtube. I wouldn't necessarily run out and buy his book as it will be pretty dry reading for most, lol.

Manipulation is usually pretty good for an injured facet joint (which is probably the correct DX). It gets proper motion back into the joint so it can heal correctly and usually provides relief. Inversion tables for an acute facet joint will probably hurt I would be careful with that. I like inversion tables but not for acute pain like this.

Good luck and give it time to heal. Its how you recover from this that will determine if you will have problems with it in the future. Therapy followed up with a lumbar stabilization program is the best way to go. If you find someone good at it they should be able to identify why it happened and correct it. This should even help with your exercise routine. Feel free to PM with any questions I am a chiropractor with advanced board certification in rehab.