“Your better waiting an extra month than coming back a day to early”. So true brother. Having dealt with a couple very frustrating, stubborn injuries, making one or two bad decisions can extend a rehab much longer than it should be.
Very informative! It annoys me to see so many people on youtube saying you just need to man up and push through the pain, but for sure they must be thinking a disc issue is the same as a muscular strain..
I went through the same injury herniated my disc had back surgery too. I couldn’t drive , my leg went numb, shooting pain I couldn’t sleep, finally surgery but no rehab. My doctor never prescribed me rehab after another 6 months of pain I finally went to rehab which helped me a lot learning how to relax stretching and warming up properly. Slowly back to exercise without going heavy. The key is listening to your body and be patient. Walking and swimming helped me rehab too. Conclusion is if you herniated your disc get professional help do not take pain killers for too long get help to fix it or suffer more later. Thank you for this video to remind me train safely is most important 👍💯
I am six months post surgery for two herniated discs and without medication, I have a hard time functioning and also dealing with a lot of pain. I’m trying to learn from these stories to figure out how to feel better and get off the meds. I switched from ibuprofen to using gabapentin and meloxicam. Now trying to figure out what to do to get off of meds.
very similar experience especially with the throwing up part. Literally could not even get down to the toilet to throw up when I had food poisoning. It was that point when I went fuck this I am just doing the damn surgery. Took a break from college (luckily kept my scholarships) and did it early september. My nerve damage was so bad after the surgery I could barely move. God bless my parents for loving me because they had to wipe my ass for four weeks. Fast forward almost six months I am the happiest I have been in as long as I can remember. Still working my way back into the gym but I am living and enjoying life.
I had the exact same experience, 2 years of the fire burning timer every time I stood up!! Micro discectomy and I’m back lifting, running and playing hockey! Listening to your story brought back so many crappy memories!! Haha Makes me really grateful for where I am now, thanks for sharing 👊
This came out at the perfect time. The point on powerlifters becoming overly specific really hits home. I've pigeon holed myself into this, where I now have extreme imbalances in my hip abduction vs adduction, leading to constant glute and lower back pain. Dropping the heavy lifting for the moment and started a rehab program for the moment
A day too soon is worse than a month too late! I wish someone told me this sooner back when I was battling recurring pain from various injuries! I made a lot of mistakes and spent my late twenties in brutal recurring pain after some injuries in my mid twenties but I took some time entirely off lifting due to unrelated reasons and the pain mostly subsided. I'm now able to lift again and relatively pain free which is amazing but Chad's advice here will allow me to be even more patient as I return to getting in shape again
Dude, this was super helpful to me, mostly because I’m going through it right now and I needed to hear an encouraging voice. Thanks for sharing your story.
That amount of tissue removed is crazy. Im struggling like mad with back pain and sciatica, currently waiting on an mri scan. Im glad you were able to resolve your issue, thanks for sharing.
Good luck !!!! I had an mri late last week my appt is Monday morning Most of my bad horrible pain went away still have some minute symptoms nothing like I need to take pain killers or Tylenol… my mobility & flexibility is coming back Good luck!
I can relate to this immensely but still feeling a little hopeless lately. About a year ago I had something called discitis and osteomyelitis. Which means I had an infection that basically ate an entire disc away and then travelled to my vertebrae and destroyed about a quarter of it. My T11 T12 has now naturally fused from the inflammation. I was once a pretty strong guy with a 600 pound squat and a 400 pound bench press but these days I’m just hoping to get through my shifts at work. Not much information on people with the same circumstances as me and my doctors don’t know what to tell me either. Glad you’re doing better Chad.
Man, what you said about the sandals hits so hard. I had a herniated disc from when I was about 15 until 20. I probably never wore proper shoes for the last 2 years or so before my surgery. It was crazy just being able to bend down and tie my shoes after healing up from the procedure. One day, I was walking the 100 feet or so to my porch in pouring rain when I realised I could run again, and that I had not run for 5+ years. Crazy what a disc injury can do to your life. Glad to hear you are back up and good. I just got into lifting this year and you are a huge inspiration.
Thanks for this. Just had the same procedure, same symptoms. I'm.afraid I'll.never be able to do the basic movements, let alone lift heavy. This gives me confidence I can return to something like normalcy. Will.never go.for PRs again, but would like to be able to perform the lifts for 10-15 reps
Thanks for sharing. Gives me some hope from the hospital, was bed stuck for two days, then i had a night with 10/10 nervepain which made me call emergency, now i'm in third day in the hospital with a back shot which did not help at all, so now have time for a magnetic xray tomorrow, and se what's wrong. At the moment i can sit for like 5 seconds or stand for 10 before the hourglass starts filling up.
🙏 Glad that you’re feeling better. This experience probably makes you a better, more empathetic, coach. I know that the time you were injured must have been really difficult, and it might have been a blessing in disguise. I had a spine injury, due to a birth defect and lifting, and I developed spondylolisthesis end of 2020. My L5 collapsed onto my S1 and I have no disc. I basically spent my life laying down until I got two spinal fusions in July 2021. Then I couldn’t lift more than 20 pounds for 8 months. That pain was awful and I hope to never have it again. The surgeon and the PT told me that they had no idea how much weight I could lift after the surgery so I hired Dr. Derek Miles at Barbell Medicine who I did my rehab with and is now my coach. I am training for a Powerlifting meet in March. I am constantly working through fear of reinjury, but I gotta remind myself to trust the process and to trust my coach. I also have to block out what people who don’t train say to me about what they think I should do and not do. I’ve been told several times that once a person gets a fusion that they will have another in 10-15 years, and then another, and then another. Those people don’t train, though. My back is strong. I need to keep it strong and supported to prevent further injuries. This experience has given me an enormous amount of gratitude for my able body. I know how fortunate I am that the surgery was a success. I do not take this for granted. I’m going to enjoy my body for as long as I have it.
L4:L5 here, took about 4 months to get under the bar, working super low weight. Pain is much better / almost gone now (8 months later). Big thing to remember is now the disc is compromised, and unlike bone it doesnt grow back stronger. Disc's also generally compress in height over time, which to your comment - puts strain on facet joints etc.
Wishing you a surgery-free rest of your life. Your Juggernaut program was one of my faves to run. Ever considered switching to full bodybuilding for the time being?
Chad I know the feeling. I had the same surgery L5 S1 over a decade ago. I started powerlifting again in October of 2021. After a few months of lifting I started getting alot of pain in my right hip. I thought it was bursitis from my long commutes. At the USPA State Championships in February of 2022 I could hardly put weight on my leg. Alot of pain. I still managed to finish the meet and set some state records. After the meet I went to an orthopedist and he ordered an MRI. I had a nerve impingement at L5 S1 with nerve on bone. Bottom 3 discs bulging 3.8 mm's. I went to my chiropractor that had a DRX Spinal decompression machine. Sessions on that machine with his adjustments eliminated the pain and had me Squatting and deadlifting heavy within 4 weeks.I wish I would have known about spinal decompression before my surgery. I also incorporate reverse hypers in my training
@@JuggernautTrainingSystems Awesome! appreciate you. Been doing some of Dr. Andrew Lock's back rehab work, out of years of issues its been the most beneficial
I've delt with a herniated disk. Two weeks after my first meet 2019. When it fell out, i dropped to my knees, damn it was brutal, layed out of work for a week and to be completely honest movement is medicine. Took some time off, mainly did bird dogs revrse hypers with no weight, planks and other bracing exercises,Now I rarely have a issues, maybe minor stiffness or slight pain, but I'm not sure if that's just from a manual labor job on concrete all day. But now training is always never really over 80-85%. Mainly focusing on form and execution of the lift and not grinding reps.
Thank you for sharing this is helpful. I have degeneration of my lower back disc from L4-S1 I believe. Mine appeared in January of 2021. I work in the medical field so I pick up people for a living for many reasons and I am a small 5ft woman. It's so tough. I am currently in Nursing School and sometimes find myself having trouble finding the motivation to getting through it because I'll have to continue to do this for patients as a nurse and I'm trying to navigate how I can still do my job without having to compromise my back. The pain sucks. Trying to still cope with the fact that I will have this for the rest of my life and it'll most likely get worse since it's linked to arthritis.
Good talk and advice, thanks for sharing. Herniated a disc 9 months ago and dealt with very similar issues (no surgery). Finally back squatting and deadlifting again and pushing my PRs, something I wasn't sure I would be able to do again.
@@vdengineering2666 Nothing special really, went to a physiotherapist who helped get me imaging for my back and prescribe a rehab protocol. Essentially starting with typical abdominal/core strengthening exercises like McGill's big 3, rotation exercises, and doing this 2x a day. Also going on walks for at least 15min/day, even though they got painful towards the end (avoid standing as much as possible as it triggered the pain exactly like Chad mentioned). I could still train upper body so I continued to do that throughout. Then slowly start the lower body movements with easy pain free variations and progress those into loaded movements, then barbell movements. Bulgarian split squats were pain free so I started with those, bodyweight single leg RDLs, then goblet squats, then heel elevated front squat, then front squat, then high bar, then finally back to low bar--progressing the movements from easy to "difficult" over a long period of time (months). TLDR: move as much as possible in the ways that you can do so and give yourself time.
@@blazedones I don't have access to one where I train, but similarly to you the 45° hyperextension was my staple barometer of how my back was doing that I used throughout rehab. Once I was back to doing reps with 100lbs on that I knew I was good to deadlift close to pre injury working weights again.
Thanks for this video Chad! Please can you do a video going through your rehab process and routine. Exercises etc. from early phase up to lifting again?
I had a herniated disc, during covid 2020, full sciatic numbness down my right side to the point I couldnt stand for longer than a few minutes, affected my walking, posture etc NHS didnt wanna know, offered no solutions other than wait a few years, physio was useless, mckenzie method is maybe useful for some but wasnt for me, the only options I had was to attempt the physio or pay for private. I spent probably 6 months out of training, no improvement, decided to start light training and it improved from there, only just back up to my previous strength. Awful injury to have
Dear Chad, Thank you for your testimony. It gives me hope for the future. I herniated 2 discs in my back (L4-L5, L5-S1) in December 2020 training judo/GPP and spent around 2 months incapacitated. Thankfully, I was a student at the time, in between two degrees, so it wasn't really impactful on the professional level. I never really went through the rehab process, I don't really know why, but It seemed like all the medical practitioners I met didn't see the point of me getting back to Judo/lifting, and I think at some point, I started to believe it, and was more concerned about being able to put my socks on than lifting. Anyway, I have been trying to get back in shape, more or less by myself, without reel success. It seems like after a few weeks of light bodyweight training (lunges, push-ups, ring rows and planks) my pain always gets exacerbated and I end up in a worse place than when I started. It led to a very mentally tough situation, where I am kind of caught between the urge to move/train and the seemingly inevitable perspective of pain. Your story is motivating me to try to seek some help from likeminded people who see the point of me getting back moving; Thank you sir!
I remember not being able to sleep dreading the pain of knowing I had to put my socks on the next morning. Makes you appreciate the little things for sure.
Im 25 and just into my second week of my new strength program I had severe back pain squatting because of but wink issues. And have an L4-L5 and L5-S1 bulging disk. Idk if I should have surgery or rehab and see how it goes. Everyone tells me to rest and not move at all. But as a trainer and Kinesiologist myself I fell not moving is contraproductive. Im glad I found your video. And see that you still get to do things you love and be able to train after such an injury which everyone tells me its the career killer. If anyone here has any suggestions or advice that could help id gladly appreciate it. Id like to recover and powerlift
@@heyimpat well the orthopedic surgeon said I didnt require surgery. Went from crawling out my bed to get to work because of pain. To bodyweight squating or bar only To squating 365lbs, deadlifting 405lbs. Which were weight I never touched before. Im currently having a few flare ups if I get lazy on working my core. But ive been able to mostly get back to what I was before. Still have pain sometimes and sometimes I feel awesome. Thanks for asking. I not only got better but had new personal records. And that makes me glad.
It's nice to see you recovered well!! I have herniated the same discs on the past but I'm definitely not 100% back. I don't have leg pain anymore my I feel pain in the back and it feels "fragile"
I'm not recovering from a back injury however I've had a patella tendonopathy in both knees for 2 years that I'm still working on and I've not been squatting or deadlifting for over a year and I really miss it. I took myself out the gym for about that length of time because I was on a downer. I hope I can work on squatting again this year at least!
Been dealing with the same thing in addition to a patellar tendon tear in one of my knees and now I’ve gotten a lot better. If it’s any help, check out Jake Tuura’s stuff on UA-cam and Instagram. There’s an abundance of research that supports the use of isometrics and slow strength training in the rehabilitation of patellar tendinopathy.
i am going through the exact same thing now. L5-S1 herniated disc, sitting down long time period and a bad deadlift got me to the point that i couldn't walk. even with rehab, sitting long periods of time continues to irritate it and constant pain in back, glute, and hamstring. i am waiting for approval for the epidural shot. i am hoping to avoid surgery but doctor says it is severe that eventually i will need it. another symptom they told me to watch out for is incontinence, i dont want to piss and shit myself
Please look up Barbell Medicine before you take a surgical route or medical intervention. So many healthcare practitioners are criminally ignorant about back pain and cause so much more harm.
I suspect doing high rep sets 15+ is better for overall health. I’m currently doing a block with squats and deads for 30-50 rep sets. The long sets take a different type of mental fortitude. For the record, I’ve done 5 PL meets and probably will do more.
Not necessarily. This is old school thinking. Look up Barbell Medicine's videos on this topic. Overload can come in different ways but medical imaging and healthcare practitioners have done more harm than good in many of these situations.
Watching this upsets me.. I was a personal trainer at 22-23, I wasn’t even into weight lifting, body weight, cardio and dieting was good for me and I was healthy.. the gym I worked for had no ammenities to offer my $1000 a month clients except for a barbel.. I compromised my entire belief system to be a squat/ deadlift coach / weight caddy and now I live in debilitating pain.. I was saying it when I was a kid, heavy lifting is bad for the back regardless of “technique” if you do it too often you’re going to get hurt, I just didn’t know it would be permanent.
With all of your history and more knowledge on hyperspecific powerlifting training i.e., lack of rotation, internal rotation of the quads, etc do you implement more of this in your coaching? I know you mentioned that you implement this in your own training which helped you recover from your injuries. However, has this changed your way of thinking within your coaching techniques and overall ideology of powerlifting specificity? As always great information and I appreciate everything you all do over there at Juggernaut.
I've got a herniated L1 disc which was discovered by accident, because it doesn't hurt at all and I've got a bulging L4/L5 which comes from training. My problem is, the doctors are just saying "Why recovery? Just stop sports at all." And I don't get any more advice since I'm "very healthy." Yeah... I'm healthy because I am doing sports. I don't want to sit on the couch for the rest of my life.
If it doesn't hurt, then why stop anything from it. I had 13 herniated discs in an MRI before, only one caused any pain. Most people who train hard will have herniated discs and most of those will be asymptomatic so they will never get imaging or even know.
@@JuggernautTrainingSystems Ignoring my L1 Disc, I don't want my L4/L5 disc to go from bulging to hernia and I'd love some expert around here, who would help me with that. But I can only find doctors (even specialized in sports) to stop lifting at all and find something else like Tennis.
I had a 5mm herniation at L4/L5 and 7mm at L5/S1 (btw bulging and herniation aren't different) that I became aware of in 2013 (likely already had them but were less symptomatic/asymptomatic) and then lifted all the heaviest weights of my life in 2014-2016. You do not need to have a fear of injury from bad technique or training, you need to manage volume/intensity/frequency and be able to control your lumbar through all movement patterns. I'd give these a try for a few weeks and see how you feel then: ua-cam.com/video/yIAXwKivuHY/v-deo.html
Hey great videos as always. I have had some back pain for a few months now and it's at the point where standing up for 10/15 mins becomes uncomfortable and after bjj sometimes it's hard to straighten up for a while. It started being very uncomfortable sitting etc and had a loss of strength in my left leg but now it's all when standing....does this sound similar to your experience? Cheers 👍
Watching this and thinking i deadlifted 285 weeks ago and got an injury that went away in 3 days,,, and didnt recover enough i got injured again 2 days ago lifting 205... smh
Hey Chad, I am a lifter and BJJ addict, Iam also a police officer. I have a bulging disc l4/l5 & l5/s1, I have numbness in my right calf and in my inner leg, and butt. Iam in pt & getting injections. Would you give a younger you the advice to stop BJJ and worry of quality of life??? Have you changed your BJJ game in anyway in reference to your lower back protection??
I don't think you'll need to stop BJJ, just be diligent with the PT work (even after you feel better), strategic about how much you train, etc. I was never playing inverted guard or anything really demanding on my low back so no changes really.
Thank you so much for taking the time to make this video. In constant tolerable pain with very bad flare ups for 5 years. I think i'll try to save up for the surgery...
Of topic, how can you lift doing BJJ days, i started this week per your guide line and i feel weak as hell lol. I am also trying to lose fat, i am 230lb at 2600 cal doing BJJ 3 times a week and doing pull/push 4 days a week. Sled pull and sprints on none BJJ days with rowing for at least 40 minutes. Any suggestion?
If you are actually eating 2600 cal (like accurately accounting for them all) you are going to be in a very extreme calorie deficit at that size with level of activity and are going to feel very low energy. You want to be in a 300-500 cal/day deficit.
@@JuggernautTrainingSystems so pretty much a baseline should be around 3300k and take from there? I use my fitness-pal to track, plus i am eating almost the same thing daily and measuring everything. Thanks in advance
They aren’t. Doing them for general health and fitness will be very helpful to their health. Trying to do them to the upper limits that anyone in the world ever has (like I was) is not going to be healthy in the same way being a professional marathon runner isn’t healthy but jogging for general fitness is.
My god, I would never lift heavy again 😅. Any way I got fucked by the office chair. And I even started gym a couple months prior to back issues. No deadlifts, no heavy squats. Sitting new smocking 😮
Opioids are wicked medicines for some. They make me sick too, dizzy and must lie down, profuse sweat and urge to vomit. I guess that is a blessing in some ways.
“Your better waiting an extra month than coming back a day to early”. So true brother. Having dealt with a couple very frustrating, stubborn injuries, making one or two bad decisions can extend a rehab much longer than it should be.
Very informative! It annoys me to see so many people on youtube saying you just need to man up and push through the pain, but for sure they must be thinking a disc issue is the same as a muscular strain..
I went through the same injury herniated my disc had back surgery too. I couldn’t drive , my leg went numb, shooting pain I couldn’t sleep, finally surgery but no rehab. My doctor never prescribed me rehab after another 6 months of pain I finally went to rehab which helped me a lot learning how to relax stretching and warming up properly. Slowly back to exercise without going heavy. The key is listening to your body and be patient. Walking and swimming helped me rehab too. Conclusion is if you herniated your disc get professional help do not take pain killers for too long get help to fix it or suffer more later. Thank you for this video to remind me train safely is most important 👍💯
Hopefully this helps
I am six months post surgery for two herniated discs and without medication, I have a hard time functioning and also dealing with a lot of pain. I’m trying to learn from these stories to figure out how to feel better and get off the meds. I switched from ibuprofen to using gabapentin and meloxicam. Now trying to figure out what to do to get off of meds.
Thanks for sharing your story, it feels like everyone gets humbled in life but hearing your story about you coming back makes the cope easier.
very similar experience especially with the throwing up part. Literally could not even get down to the toilet to throw up when I had food poisoning. It was that point when I went fuck this I am just doing the damn surgery. Took a break from college (luckily kept my scholarships) and did it early september. My nerve damage was so bad after the surgery I could barely move. God bless my parents for loving me because they had to wipe my ass for four weeks. Fast forward almost six months I am the happiest I have been in as long as I can remember. Still working my way back into the gym but I am living and enjoying life.
I had the exact same experience, 2 years of the fire burning timer every time I stood up!!
Micro discectomy and I’m back lifting, running and playing hockey!
Listening to your story brought back so many crappy memories!! Haha
Makes me really grateful for where I am now, thanks for sharing 👊
This came out at the perfect time. The point on powerlifters becoming overly specific really hits home. I've pigeon holed myself into this, where I now have extreme imbalances in my hip abduction vs adduction, leading to constant glute and lower back pain. Dropping the heavy lifting for the moment and started a rehab program for the moment
A day too soon is worse than a month too late! I wish someone told me this sooner back when I was battling recurring pain from various injuries!
I made a lot of mistakes and spent my late twenties in brutal recurring pain after some injuries in my mid twenties but I took some time entirely off lifting due to unrelated reasons and the pain mostly subsided. I'm now able to lift again and relatively pain free which is amazing but Chad's advice here will allow me to be even more patient as I return to getting in shape again
Dude, this was super helpful to me, mostly because I’m going through it right now and I needed to hear an encouraging voice. Thanks for sharing your story.
That amount of tissue removed is crazy. Im struggling like mad with back pain and sciatica, currently waiting on an mri scan. Im glad you were able to resolve your issue, thanks for sharing.
Good luck !!!! I had an mri late last week my appt is Monday morning
Most of my bad horrible pain went away still have some minute symptoms nothing like I need to take pain killers or Tylenol… my mobility & flexibility is coming back
Good luck!
The mri tech showed me my results and said it looks like a disc bulge . Feels like my spine got ran over by a semi 😂
I can relate to this immensely but still feeling a little hopeless lately. About a year ago I had something called discitis and osteomyelitis. Which means I had an infection that basically ate an entire disc away and then travelled to my vertebrae and destroyed about a quarter of it. My T11 T12 has now naturally fused from the inflammation. I was once a pretty strong guy with a 600 pound squat and a 400 pound bench press but these days I’m just hoping to get through my shifts at work. Not much information on people with the same circumstances as me and my doctors don’t know what to tell me either. Glad you’re doing better Chad.
How is it to live with fused vertebraes? My othopedist sees that in my not too distant future-
Man, what you said about the sandals hits so hard. I had a herniated disc from when I was about 15 until 20. I probably never wore proper shoes for the last 2 years or so before my surgery. It was crazy just being able to bend down and tie my shoes after healing up from the procedure. One day, I was walking the 100 feet or so to my porch in pouring rain when I realised I could run again, and that I had not run for 5+ years. Crazy what a disc injury can do to your life. Glad to hear you are back up and good. I just got into lifting this year and you are a huge inspiration.
Thanks for this. Just had the same procedure, same symptoms. I'm.afraid I'll.never be able to do the basic movements, let alone lift heavy. This gives me confidence I can return to something like normalcy. Will.never go.for PRs again, but would like to be able to perform the lifts for 10-15 reps
Thanks for sharing. Gives me some hope from the hospital, was bed stuck for two days, then i had a night with 10/10 nervepain which made me call emergency, now i'm in third day in the hospital with a back shot which did not help at all, so now have time for a magnetic xray tomorrow, and se what's wrong.
At the moment i can sit for like 5 seconds or stand for 10 before the hourglass starts filling up.
Hoping it all works out for you.
🙏 Glad that you’re feeling better. This experience probably makes you a better, more empathetic, coach. I know that the time you were injured must have been really difficult, and it might have been a blessing in disguise. I had a spine injury, due to a birth defect and lifting, and I developed spondylolisthesis end of 2020. My L5 collapsed onto my S1 and I have no disc. I basically spent my life laying down until I got two spinal fusions in July 2021. Then I couldn’t lift more than 20 pounds for 8 months. That pain was awful and I hope to never have it again. The surgeon and the PT told me that they had no idea how much weight I could lift after the surgery so I hired Dr. Derek Miles at Barbell Medicine who I did my rehab with and is now my coach. I am training for a Powerlifting meet in March. I am constantly working through fear of reinjury, but I gotta remind myself to trust the process and to trust my coach. I also have to block out what people who don’t train say to me about what they think I should do and not do. I’ve been told several times that once a person gets a fusion that they will have another in 10-15 years, and then another, and then another. Those people don’t train, though. My back is strong. I need to keep it strong and supported to prevent further injuries.
This experience has given me an enormous amount of gratitude for my able body. I know how fortunate I am that the surgery was a success. I do not take this for granted. I’m going to enjoy my body for as long as I have it.
That sounds like a real struggle, glad you're doing well now.
Is your back broken now?
L4:L5 here, took about 4 months to get under the bar, working super low weight. Pain is much better / almost gone now (8 months later). Big thing to remember is now the disc is compromised, and unlike bone it doesnt grow back stronger. Disc's also generally compress in height over time, which to your comment - puts strain on facet joints etc.
Man of this level of strength+stature and humble enough to learn bjj and train till purple? Absolute beast!!
Wishing you a surgery-free rest of your life. Your Juggernaut program was one of my faves to run. Ever considered switching to full bodybuilding for the time being?
Thanks. No that has no interest to me.
Chad I know the feeling. I had the same surgery L5 S1 over a decade ago. I started powerlifting again in October of 2021. After a few months of lifting I started getting alot of pain in my right hip. I thought it was bursitis from my long commutes. At the USPA State Championships in February of 2022 I could hardly put weight on my leg. Alot of pain. I still managed to finish the meet and set some state records. After the meet I went to an orthopedist and he ordered an MRI. I had a nerve impingement at L5 S1 with nerve on bone. Bottom 3 discs bulging 3.8 mm's.
I went to my chiropractor that had a DRX Spinal decompression machine. Sessions on that machine with his adjustments eliminated the pain and had me Squatting and deadlifting heavy within 4 weeks.I wish I would have known about spinal decompression before my surgery. I also incorporate reverse hypers in my training
Currently watching this in the hospital bed with a disc bulge thanks for sharing man 😂
Thanks so much for sharing!
You’re welcome
Adding my 5 cents, rehab and prehab is everything. I've got L5-S1 7mm and feel nothing now. When I had 10mm at the beginning I couldn't raise my leg.
Love to see the recovery work 🙏🏾
Coming soon
@@JuggernautTrainingSystems Awesome! appreciate you.
Been doing some of Dr. Andrew Lock's back rehab work, out of years of issues its been the most beneficial
Thank you for sharing Mr Smith. I can definitely relate to pieces of this story, this shit sucks from a psychological standpoint
It is tough for sure
Interesting story, may your life be as free from pain as possible. Back pain can be terrible
I've delt with a herniated disk. Two weeks after my first meet 2019. When it fell out, i dropped to my knees, damn it was brutal, layed out of work for a week and to be completely honest movement is medicine. Took some time off, mainly did bird dogs revrse hypers with no weight, planks and other bracing exercises,Now I rarely have a issues, maybe minor stiffness or slight pain, but I'm not sure if that's just from a manual labor job on concrete all day. But now training is always never really over 80-85%. Mainly focusing on form and execution of the lift and not grinding reps.
Thank you for sharing this is helpful. I have degeneration of my lower back disc from L4-S1 I believe. Mine appeared in January of 2021. I work in the medical field so I pick up people for a living for many reasons and I am a small 5ft woman. It's so tough. I am currently in Nursing School and sometimes find myself having trouble finding the motivation to getting through it because I'll have to continue to do this for patients as a nurse and I'm trying to navigate how I can still do my job without having to compromise my back. The pain sucks. Trying to still cope with the fact that I will have this for the rest of my life and it'll most likely get worse since it's linked to arthritis.
Thank you Chad for making this video
Good talk and advice, thanks for sharing. Herniated a disc 9 months ago and dealt with very similar issues (no surgery). Finally back squatting and deadlifting again and pushing my PRs, something I wasn't sure I would be able to do again.
That's good to hear, interested to know what rehab exercises you did.
@@vdengineering2666 Nothing special really, went to a physiotherapist who helped get me imaging for my back and prescribe a rehab protocol. Essentially starting with typical abdominal/core strengthening exercises like McGill's big 3, rotation exercises, and doing this 2x a day. Also going on walks for at least 15min/day, even though they got painful towards the end (avoid standing as much as possible as it triggered the pain exactly like Chad mentioned). I could still train upper body so I continued to do that throughout. Then slowly start the lower body movements with easy pain free variations and progress those into loaded movements, then barbell movements. Bulgarian split squats were pain free so I started with those, bodyweight single leg RDLs, then goblet squats, then heel elevated front squat, then front squat, then high bar, then finally back to low bar--progressing the movements from easy to "difficult" over a long period of time (months). TLDR: move as much as possible in the ways that you can do so and give yourself time.
Great. Thx!
id only add reverse hypers at body weight. doing that helped my rehab
@@blazedones I don't have access to one where I train, but similarly to you the 45° hyperextension was my staple barometer of how my back was doing that I used throughout rehab. Once I was back to doing reps with 100lbs on that I knew I was good to deadlift close to pre injury working weights again.
Im in the same situation right now and it sucks. Thanks for the motivating video.
Thanks for this video Chad! Please can you do a video going through your rehab process and routine. Exercises etc. from early phase up to lifting again?
fantastic post...thanks
Chad, can you post MRI pre and post op, please?
I had a herniated disc, during covid 2020, full sciatic numbness down my right side to the point I couldnt stand for longer than a few minutes, affected my walking, posture etc
NHS didnt wanna know, offered no solutions other than wait a few years, physio was useless, mckenzie method is maybe useful for some but wasnt for me, the only options I had was to attempt the physio or pay for private. I spent probably 6 months out of training, no improvement, decided to start light training and it improved from there, only just back up to my previous strength.
Awful injury to have
Dear Chad,
Thank you for your testimony. It gives me hope for the future.
I herniated 2 discs in my back (L4-L5, L5-S1) in December 2020 training judo/GPP and spent around 2 months incapacitated. Thankfully, I was a student at the time, in between two degrees, so it wasn't really impactful on the professional level. I never really went through the rehab process, I don't really know why, but It seemed like all the medical practitioners I met didn't see the point of me getting back to Judo/lifting, and I think at some point, I started to believe it, and was more concerned about being able to put my socks on than lifting. Anyway, I have been trying to get back in shape, more or less by myself, without reel success. It seems like after a few weeks of light bodyweight training (lunges, push-ups, ring rows and planks) my pain always gets exacerbated and I end up in a worse place than when I started. It led to a very mentally tough situation, where I am kind of caught between the urge to move/train and the seemingly inevitable perspective of pain. Your story is motivating me to try to seek some help from likeminded people who see the point of me getting back moving;
Thank you sir!
yeah putting your socks on with herniated disc is no joke.
I remember not being able to sleep dreading the pain of knowing I had to put my socks on the next morning. Makes you appreciate the little things for sure.
Check out Back Mechanic by Dr. Stuart McGill
Im 25 and just into my second week of my new strength program I had severe back pain squatting because of but wink issues. And have an L4-L5 and L5-S1 bulging disk. Idk if I should have surgery or rehab and see how it goes.
Everyone tells me to rest and not move at all. But as a trainer and Kinesiologist myself I fell not moving is contraproductive.
Im glad I found your video. And see that you still get to do things you love and be able to train after such an injury which everyone tells me its the career killer.
If anyone here has any suggestions or advice that could help id gladly appreciate it. Id like to recover and powerlift
how are you going now man?
@@heyimpat well the orthopedic surgeon said I didnt require surgery.
Went from crawling out my bed to get to work because of pain. To bodyweight squating or bar only To squating 365lbs, deadlifting 405lbs. Which were weight I never touched before.
Im currently having a few flare ups if I get lazy on working my core. But ive been able to mostly get back to what I was before. Still have pain sometimes and sometimes I feel awesome. Thanks for asking.
I not only got better but had new personal records. And that makes me glad.
@@andresmontalvo427 That's awesome
bro! Did you train core every sesh/day? Mcgill Big 3? any advice would
be great
Wow. Crazy story. Wishing you the best
Thank you!
It's nice to see you recovered well!! I have herniated the same discs on the past but I'm definitely not 100% back. I don't have leg pain anymore my I feel pain in the back and it feels "fragile"
Just gotta be strategic and diligent in how you progress your training and you'll get over that fragile feeling.
Would love to see some of the rehab movements you found useful
Video coming next week
I'm not recovering from a back injury however I've had a patella tendonopathy in both knees for 2 years that I'm still working on and I've not been squatting or deadlifting for over a year and I really miss it. I took myself out the gym for about that length of time because I was on a downer. I hope I can work on squatting again this year at least!
Been dealing with the same thing in addition to a patellar tendon tear in one of my knees and now I’ve gotten a lot better. If it’s any help, check out Jake Tuura’s stuff on UA-cam and Instagram. There’s an abundance of research that supports the use of isometrics and slow strength training in the rehabilitation of patellar tendinopathy.
Look up Barbell Medicine's articles on these things. Don't take time off, tendons will detrain and you'll be further behind than before.
Nice! I hurt my back and found out I had boke it. The worst part people told me I was full of shit till I slowed them the x- ray. Coming back now
Great stuff. Would you consider making a video with the excercises you did to get back into powerlifting?
Coming next month.
i am going through the exact same thing now. L5-S1 herniated disc, sitting down long time period and a bad deadlift got me to the point that i couldn't walk. even with rehab, sitting long periods of time continues to irritate it and constant pain in back, glute, and hamstring. i am waiting for approval for the epidural shot. i am hoping to avoid surgery but doctor says it is severe that eventually i will need it. another symptom they told me to watch out for is incontinence, i dont want to piss and shit myself
Please look up Barbell Medicine before you take a surgical route or medical intervention. So many healthcare practitioners are criminally ignorant about back pain and cause so much more harm.
Read all of Stuart McGills work. Start with back mechanic
I suspect doing high rep sets 15+ is better for overall health. I’m currently doing a block with squats and deads for 30-50 rep sets. The long sets take a different type of mental fortitude. For the record, I’ve done 5 PL meets and probably will do more.
Not necessarily. This is old school thinking. Look up Barbell Medicine's videos on this topic. Overload can come in different ways but medical imaging and healthcare practitioners have done more harm than good in many of these situations.
Can you post your MRI image just before surgery? Curious how bad the herniation is.
My surgeon said it was the most substantial he had dealt with.
Watching this upsets me.. I was a personal trainer at 22-23, I wasn’t even into weight lifting, body weight, cardio and dieting was good for me and I was healthy.. the gym I worked for had no ammenities to offer my $1000 a month clients except for a barbel.. I compromised my entire belief system to be a squat/ deadlift coach / weight caddy and now I live in debilitating pain.. I was saying it when I was a kid, heavy lifting is bad for the back regardless of “technique” if you do it too often you’re going to get hurt, I just didn’t know it would be permanent.
What have you done for lumber flexion, hip internal rotation, and rotation? Are they considered in Juggernaut AI program?
ua-cam.com/video/yIAXwKivuHY/v-deo.html
With all of your history and more knowledge on hyperspecific powerlifting training i.e., lack of rotation, internal rotation of the quads, etc do you implement more of this in your coaching? I know you mentioned that you implement this in your own training which helped you recover from your injuries. However, has this changed your way of thinking within your coaching techniques and overall ideology of powerlifting specificity?
As always great information and I appreciate everything you all do over there at Juggernaut.
Mostly just around the structure of off season training and solidifying the importance of its inclusion in broader training strategy.
Man, what a jurney! Why you didnt try with prof. Stuart Mcgill, Andrew Lock or maybe someone from oposite spectrum of them?
Chad, one more thing, Could you do an interview with Dr Stuart McGill? I think you would ask him great question
I've got a herniated L1 disc which was discovered by accident, because it doesn't hurt at all and I've got a bulging L4/L5 which comes from training. My problem is, the doctors are just saying "Why recovery? Just stop sports at all." And I don't get any more advice since I'm "very healthy." Yeah... I'm healthy because I am doing sports. I don't want to sit on the couch for the rest of my life.
If it doesn't hurt, then why stop anything from it. I had 13 herniated discs in an MRI before, only one caused any pain. Most people who train hard will have herniated discs and most of those will be asymptomatic so they will never get imaging or even know.
@@JuggernautTrainingSystems Ignoring my L1 Disc, I don't want my L4/L5 disc to go from bulging to hernia and I'd love some expert around here, who would help me with that. But I can only find doctors (even specialized in sports) to stop lifting at all and find something else like Tennis.
I had a 5mm herniation at L4/L5 and 7mm at L5/S1 (btw bulging and herniation aren't different) that I became aware of in 2013 (likely already had them but were less symptomatic/asymptomatic) and then lifted all the heaviest weights of my life in 2014-2016. You do not need to have a fear of injury from bad technique or training, you need to manage volume/intensity/frequency and be able to control your lumbar through all movement patterns. I'd give these a try for a few weeks and see how you feel then: ua-cam.com/video/yIAXwKivuHY/v-deo.html
Hey great videos as always. I have had some back pain for a few months now and it's at the point where standing up for 10/15 mins becomes uncomfortable and after bjj sometimes it's hard to straighten up for a while. It started being very uncomfortable sitting etc and had a loss of strength in my left leg but now it's all when standing....does this sound similar to your experience? Cheers 👍
Fairly similar yea
Watching this and thinking i deadlifted 285 weeks ago and got an injury that went away in 3 days,,, and didnt recover enough i got injured again 2 days ago lifting 205... smh
Hey Chad, I am a lifter and BJJ addict, Iam also a police officer. I have a bulging disc l4/l5 & l5/s1, I have numbness in my right calf and in my inner leg, and butt. Iam in pt & getting injections. Would you give a younger you the advice to stop BJJ and worry of quality of life??? Have you changed your BJJ game in anyway in reference to your lower back protection??
I don't think you'll need to stop BJJ, just be diligent with the PT work (even after you feel better), strategic about how much you train, etc. I was never playing inverted guard or anything really demanding on my low back so no changes really.
@@JuggernautTrainingSystems thank you, I really appreciate the advice.
Thank you so much for taking the time to make this video.
In constant tolerable pain with very bad flare ups for 5 years. I think i'll try to save up for the surgery...
Thing with pro athletes is they have more discipline than regular folks. That's why they win over an injury like that
Of topic, how can you lift doing BJJ days, i started this week per your guide line and i feel weak as hell lol. I am also trying to lose fat, i am 230lb at 2600 cal doing BJJ 3 times a week and doing pull/push 4 days a week. Sled pull and sprints on none BJJ days with rowing for at least 40 minutes. Any suggestion?
If you are actually eating 2600 cal (like accurately accounting for them all) you are going to be in a very extreme calorie deficit at that size with level of activity and are going to feel very low energy. You want to be in a 300-500 cal/day deficit.
@@JuggernautTrainingSystems so pretty much a baseline should be around 3300k and take from there? I use my fitness-pal to track, plus i am eating almost the same thing daily and measuring everything. Thanks in advance
what are your thoughts on the Jefferson curl for flexion tolerance?
Great movement. I’ve used it quite a bit
Know the feeling. Both legs. Horrible part of my life.
you are my inspiration!!!
Seems like major back injuries are just an inherent part of squatting and deadlifting.
They aren’t. Doing them for general health and fitness will be very helpful to their health. Trying to do them to the upper limits that anyone in the world ever has (like I was) is not going to be healthy in the same way being a professional marathon runner isn’t healthy but jogging for general fitness is.
You really are a Robot!!!
Holy crap I didn't know it had gotten so bad
Injury = load > threshold
FRC is a great way to maintain tissue integrity while lifting heavy
What is FRC?
My god, I would never lift heavy again 😅. Any way I got fucked by the office chair. And I even started gym a couple months prior to back issues. No deadlifts, no heavy squats. Sitting new smocking 😮
Opioids are wicked medicines for some. They make me sick too, dizzy and must lie down, profuse sweat and urge to vomit. I guess that is a blessing in some ways.
This is worse than Layne Norton’s back injury. Back injury seems to be common among powerlifters.
Sounds like he is training like he's 20 years old
Seriously jujitsu and golf are more dangerous than powerlifting
By what metric ?
I have transitional vertebrae with lumbarization of s1 which is affecting my squats and deadlift i dont know what to do 😢