How to Recover From a Back Injury
Strength training is one of the safest physical activities. It is much safer than playing soccer, playing basketball, or even running. However, injuries do occur. Many of the injuries are due to poor form and attempting weights well beyond the athletes limits.
Even with correct form and the proper weights, injuries do occur. Whenever you are pushing yourself and improving your body, there is going to be a risk of injury.
This article will describe a recovery method for when you do get injured. I deal specifically with back injuries as they tend to be the most common injury.
Stop training immediately. When you injure yourself, you need to stop training immediately. Continuing to train will just make the injury worse and can cause you to spend even more time away from the gym.
Wait for the sharp pain to disappear. When you are initially injured, you will feel a sharp pain in your back. You should stop all training and physical activity until the sharp pain goes away. This usually takes 3-4 days.
Ice. When you are first injured, you should apply ice to the site of the pain. Rotate between 15-20 minutes of ice on the spot and then 15-20 minutes without ice.
First steps. When the sharp pain is gone, you may return to the gym. On your first day back in the gym, your goal is to get the blood flowing. Try doing a set or two of squats with just the bar. Do 15-25 reps per set. The pain should decrease throughout the sets. If it does not, then you have returned to the gym too early and should take more time off.
Add weight. Each day you are back in the gym, add a little more weight to the bar for your squats and slowly start to decrease the number of reps. You should continue to make sure the pain decreases throughout the sets. At this point you can also start to add in some back extensions. Start with just your body weight and slowly add more weight.
Back to normal. When the pain is completely gone for a few days, you should be healed up and ready to continue your normal training routine. You should not jump completely into the weights you were using before you were injured. Try backing the weights down 5-10% and building back up to your previous records.
The whole process can take anywhere from 7 days to several weeks depending on the extent of your injury.
2 responses so far
Hi, I was wondering whether I should do only squats when im in the gym and back extensions or any other excersises to? The sharp pain is gone but I have strong sense of discomfort in my back,which is probably due to weak back muscles. So I hope you answer soon, my email is syphor131@hotmail.com.
Lauri,
You should only do what you feel comfortable with. Back extensions are great way to strengthen the lower back. If some exercises bother you, try using lighter weights and/or working a single leg version of the exercise. For example, if squats bother your back, you can work single leg squats and lunges.