Herniated Disk

[Gokudmc1988]

Hi I think its the wrong section but anyhow. I have been suffereing from a herniated disk for 10months now and my back is 85% recovered. I have started training again and can front squat 60kg without any pain now. I have slight pain when flexing more than 40 degrees with straight legs. Anyway I wantede to continue gymnastics again this winter. Can I? Will I reinjure myself again and remain defective in my back region?> Anyone with this experience?

[David Picó García]

I have an herniated disc (L5-S1) and i find this gymnastic training to be very valuable for my back. BUT i use common sense to know what can i do and what not. I DO NOT do squats, i could but any error on my form while lifting is really dangerous for my back. Inestead i do pistols, no stress on back for this. the same goes for deadlifts. I know thouse are probably the best exercises for a bodybuilder and strength gains, but for me there is a major reason to avoid them and search for substitutes. I don't do military press for shoulders, I do handstands where all the preasure i have on the disc is the weight of my legs (so about the same weight as standing) but the shoulders have all the weight of my body, if i do that with military press, my shoulder AND my back would have all that weight.

I found the ring exercises to be great as you stress your muscles a lot but you don't put any real preassure on back as you would do just standing with 30 kg for biceps curls or any other bodybuilding.

Front levers are another great exercise, i don't do barbell rows, yes is a great exercise for middle back and lats, but not for lower back (well it is indeed if you are not injured. I do front levers pullpus which is in fact a inverted barbell row, and again no stress on lower back.

Of course i don't do tumbling at all :roll:

And almost all gymnastic exercises work the core area even not properly specific core exercises, as in a lot of exercises you have to be tight, which is also good for core muscles.

The rule is to avoid heavy weight were you could injury seriously if bad form on a single rep is executed. Inestead use bodyweight exercises where you can find the same resistance for your muscles avoiding risks.

[Gokudmc1988]

Well I can already do most gymnastic exercises and am using common sense as well. But I was really asking about tumbling. Darn it I really liked it was working towards a wall flip :? before my injury

[Romulo Malta]

Hi,

I posted about this here http://gymnasticbodies.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=597

Where is your hernia? If it's in the lumbar region then probably you'd better follow Serotonin's advice and avoid weighted squats, deadlifts, etc. Tumbling is probably not a good idea as well, but maybe you could do some acrobactic moves on the trampoline, where the landing impact is much lower than on the mat, but I'd have to confirm that. There is a lot of literature on accidents causing hernias on trampoline too, so I'd be cautious about that as well. If you're working on rings or paralells, you'd better avoid dismounting with jumps as well and just get down simply.

[braindx]

Avoid impacts... tumbling is not a good idea

As for weights you can build back up but you have to be really careful

Do some physical therapy work like mckenzie exercises to help rehab it back up + don't put any unnecessary strain