does the lower back ever recover?

[Ropo]

i dont think the stretching helps it, it may only 'feel good' but it doesnt help

the lower back muscles seem so unconquerable compared to other body parts that it pisses me off that there is no way around the pain except to not bother it

If you really want to know what is going on in your lower back, I can tell you. As I say earlier, it is all about the muscle balance. I bet you prefer sit ups instead of crunch, you don't do hyper extensions at all, and  instead of that, you continue that stupidity which you think is "working out". The balance of the muscles in your middle body is important, because it effects to your posture. For example, if you do sit ups, but doesn't strengthen your lower back with same measures, you hip flexor muscles becomes stronger, thicker and same time shorter, and it make your pelvis tilt forward because your muscles in your lower back isn't equal in strength. When this happens, you will suffer lower back pain, meaning extended muscle soreness after any work and pain in your spine because the wrong posture. With lower back you need at the same time some hi rep/low resistance exercise, and some low rep and high resistance exercise to maintain your posture and health of your back.  High rep hyper extensions, stiff legged dead lifts or good mornings for endurance, and dead lifts for strength. For abs, just crunch, no sit ups at all. Crunch on the floor, crunch with the rope, crunch in the machine. Sit ups are worst piece of shit for exercise your abs and in same time it is the first exercise you ever learn. That's why everyone is doing it, no because it is good for you, but because they learn it in their childhood.

[johnny1]

What you have to understand is that all of your nerves at some point run through the spine.  So let's say that you get Spondylo (where the disc slippage begins)- the result will be a bulging intravertebral disc, the question is this: will the disc detioriate, push out the front, or push out the back? Either way the nerves will get trapped in what is called "forimanal narrowing" and probably some form of "facet arthropathy"- since you can't (in the U.S) replace the discs, the only thing you can really do is try to straighten the discs that are "subluxated" by some type of manipulation, which is usually done by a chiropractor. One would only hope that you would be referred to a chiro who takes X-rays and understands what your MRI or neurologist states in his limitations. This may ease the pain somewhat (along with P.K's)- but then you have to deal with the constant adjustment of the surrounding musculature. They may spasm, they may constrict, they may stretch, and it will all be dependent on your genetic structure, how you sleep, and what you do during the day.

If your disc is bulging out the front (rare) the last thing you want to do are hyperextensions. If your disc is popping out the back, the last thing you want to do are flexion exercises. Sitting may even be a problem because when you sit, the muscles relax and the total weigh of your UB rests on these fucked up discs which in turn, press even harder on the nerves. The nerves will inflame and the opening (tunnel) for the nerves will seemingly constrict.

Back injurious are insidious: By the time you realize that your back is severely fucked up, the damage has already been done without your knowledge. Like the previous poster ( sorry) said, you will wind up on the floor crawling around the damn house wondering WTF?


Deadlifting is a great way to build total body musculature. It is one of the "kings' of all exercise, but when you get older, not only will you NEVER attempt them again, you will also wish you had NEVER done them in the first place. There is a point in the deadlift during the lift where your weakest link has to be incorporated. I firmly believe that this is where it all starts.

Even Frank Zane says if he had to do it all over again, he would not have lifted as heavy and as long as he did. Sure, he developed fantastic side delts, but he says he's been paying the price with daily pain ever since- to the point of where he can't even work his shoulders anymore.

when you are young....ahhhhhhhhh... to be young and have a chance to do it all over again, knowing what you know now.


Good luck my friend. The Pain Killers and the anti-inflammatories will fuck you up worse than your back in the end. At the same time, I've never met anyone who has had a "successful" back surgery to where there is no residual pain.


this is why Workers Comp Insurance companies fight tooth and nail over back injuries. They are insidious, they are hard to "prove" with even MRI's, EKG's, Cats, and X-rays, yet they are very real, and just about 80% of the population sports a sore back at one time or another- or eventually.


Call it wear and tear, old age, whatever. I say, be fucking careful NOW and think real hard about those special "lifts" you perform in the gym. Just cuz someone say's they work, doesn't mean they are not permanently detrimental to your health.

I could start another diatribe on the idiocracy of bench pressing. I'll just count my blessings that this isn't a powerlifting forum.  

And you would be bang on right again especially the Dead-lifting issue, @ Just 18-19yrs old i was D/L over 300kg with no belt X3 and repping 260kg x 6-7 with BAD FORM rounding my back like a Damn crane jerking and bouncing the bar off the floor, Repping 220kg x10-12 ass to the floor on the Squats again with no Belt and Bad form leaning FORWARD...then coming up like a "good morning" lift...rep...after...rep same with heavy 100kg Barbell curls with my Damn back leaning so far back it wasn't funny you are correct it starts from wayyyyyyyy....back and yip you do wish like hell you never done them....but that's what happens when your Younger and don't listen to others around you @ THE TIME...anyone in my book back then that was over 30....was over the hill and "old" and if you couldn't Lift more or were Bigger than me etc etc....you and your advices were full of shit ...this of course is a very COMMON fault with alot of younger guys... many more than likey here on this very site, now in the Present day i spend alot of time on the Tread-mills/steppers and stationary cycles and walk a hell of a lot these days just to keep in Check...(all the things i use to say were for "wimps" back in the day) and when i look across the floor @ the young guys now more or less doing the same thing i done with Heavy D/L and squats with Terrible form Rep after Rep i know what there future holds for them if they carry on year after year training like that... unfortunately and sadly for them they don't..... ...

[Tito24]

[Jadeveon Clowney]

That guy could probably buy the Netherlands if he wanted.

[funk51]

is that al davis?

[Rampage]

i am doing things like running 100 yard dashes with two 65 pound dumbells but dam if my lower back right at the base of the spine aint always a little bit tight every day, i wonder if this is a dietary related thing, maybe need more saturated animal fats to recover like some icecream and cake, but wash it down with plenty of water to avoid heart issues

do you want the real answer ?

A guru of mine provided this spiritual answer :

This is actually ejaculation/sex related...........sexual weakness

Constant jerking off is a nono , causes alot of male problematics....stop ejaculating a while and notice the difference

[Marty Champions]

HOW HAS SLEEPING ON THE FLOOR WORKED JOHNNY

it felt good but i think the back is naturally healing on its own, i slept on the floor for two nights but back is 70 percent healed

[Mr Nobody]

it felt good but i think the back is naturally healing on its own, i slept on the floor for two nights but back is 70 percent healed

Yea best to get a hoe to lay on top of you as well to compress the low back area benefits abound from this.

[DEFCON]

well i wont quit at it yet since the benefits seem to outweigh the negatives by some margin, im hoping eventually my lower back will adapt, it could take months or years? who knows the limits and capabilities of human, we cant say for certain that us humans cant adapt to running with two 65 pound dumbells

How old are you?

[Mr Nobody]

 8)Cake and ice cream a good short boost of energy.

[Meso_z]

How old are you?

10

[Marty Champions]

If you really want to know what is going on in your lower back, I can tell you. As I say earlier, it is all about the muscle balance. I bet you prefer sit ups instead of crunch, you don't do hyper extensions at all, and  instead of that, you continue that stupidity which you think is "working out". The balance of the muscles in your middle body is important, because it effects to your posture. For example, if you do sit ups, but doesn't strengthen your lower back with same measures, you hip flexor muscles becomes stronger, thicker and same time shorter, and it make your pelvis tilt forward because your muscles in your lower back isn't equal in strength. When this happens, you will suffer lower back pain, meaning extended muscle soreness after any work and pain in your spine because the wrong posture. With lower back you need at the same time some hi rep/low resistance exercise, and some low rep and high resistance exercise to maintain your posture and health of your back.  High rep hyper extensions, stiff legged dead lifts or good mornings for endurance, and dead lifts for strength. For abs, just crunch, no sit ups at all. Crunch on the floor, crunch with the rope, crunch in the machine. Sit ups are worst piece of shit for exercise your abs and in same time it is the first exercise you ever learn. That's why everyone is doing it, no because it is good for you, but because they learn it in their childhood.

i dont do situps, i do hanging leg raises

[CalvinH]

i dont do situps, i do hanging leg raises

Didn't read this whole thread but did you ever think your back problem might be because of how heavy you are now

[Marty Champions]

Didn't read this whole thread but did you ever think your back problem might be because of how heavy you are now

who knows. but i really have no choice being this massive because i need the calories to work in peace ... less calories=work in anger and less pleasant