Kettlebell Returning to S&S after low back muscle strain

[azsixshooter]

I had been doing S&S for about 5 months when I hurt my back about 5 weeks ago. I strained it on a sunday and normally did S&S 6 days a week starting on Sunday.

I took s, m, tu and wed off, then on th I tried going through the warmups with my 16kg kb and back started hurting after 2 sets. I finished the 3rd set, but did not swing or do any TGU's.

Over the next week I aggravated it twice and the 2nd time I was hurting very bad. I spent 2 days completely resting and using NSAIDS and heat and epson salts. I consulted with a PT and agreed to rest for 2 weeks. I did only pullups and some really mild Original Strength resets during that time.

After 2 weeks I began doing corrective exercises such as bird dogs, side planks, modified MacGill curl ups, hip bridges and more OS resets. Now that I'm feeling stronger I'm doing the correctives a little more intensively and have been adding unloaded TGU's into the mix just balancing a shoe on my fist and focusing on form. I also started walking and did 3 miles in 1 hr with no pain.

I wanted to post this to hit y'all up for any ideas or strategies you might have for easing back into S&S. My PT said I should start back with very light weight such as 3 or 5 lbs and progress from there. I can't bring myself to buy a tiny kb so I was wondering what else I could use. I have a black Army fitness band (tubing) but I wasn't sure if there's a way to use that to approximate a swing. I tried standing on it and doing a swing movement but it didn't feel right. I'm thinking maybe a 1 gallon water jug with a towel through the handle but if anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them!

I am 43 this Septemeber so as much as I'm dying to get back to S&S, running and hiking I want to be smart about it and recover the right way, patiently. I know many people get injured and come back so all thoughts are welcome! Thank God for pull-ups, those and God are the only things keeping me from going crazy this last month or so!

Thanks,

Steve

 

[Steve Freides]

See a doctor, get a diagnosis. Let us know what he/she says.

See an SFG and identify what's causing you injury.

-S-

 

[Al Ciampa]

I had been doing S&S for about 5 months when I hurt my back about 5 weeks ago. I strained it on a sunday and normally did S&S 6 days a week starting on Sunday.

I took s, m, tu and wed off, then on th I tried going through the warmups with my 16kg kb and back started hurting after 2 sets. I finished the 3rd set, but did not swing or do any TGU's.

Over the next week I aggravated it twice and the 2nd time I was hurting very bad. I spent 2 days completely resting and using NSAIDS and heat and epson salts. I consulted with a PT and agreed to rest for 2 weeks. I did only pullups and some really mild Original Strength resets during that time.

After 2 weeks I began doing corrective exercises such as bird dogs, side planks, modified MacGill curl ups, hip bridges and more OS resets. Now that I'm feeling stronger I'm doing the correctives a little more intensively and have been adding unloaded TGU's into the mix just balancing a shoe on my fist and focusing on form. I also started walking and did 3 miles in 1 hr with no pain.

I wanted to post this to hit y'all up for any ideas or strategies you might have for easing back into S&S. My PT said I should start back with very light weight such as 3 or 5 lbs and progress from there. I can't bring myself to buy a tiny kb so I was wondering what else I could use. I have a black Army fitness band (tubing) but I wasn't sure if there's a way to use that to approximate a swing. I tried standing on it and doing a swing movement but it didn't feel right. I'm thinking maybe a 1 gallon water jug with a towel through the handle but if anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them!

I am 43 this Septemeber so as much as I'm dying to get back to S&S, running and hiking I want to be smart about it and recover the right way, patiently. I know many people get injured and come back so all thoughts are welcome! Thank God for pull-ups, those and God are the only things keeping me from going crazy this last month or so!

Thanks,

Steve

Steve, what do you do for work? Desk job; manual labor? What's your lifestyle like outside of the weight room? Are your weekends typical much different from your weekdays? Were you doing anything else for exercise at the time?

Im trying to ascertain a posture related history.

I see in your profile pic that you have something slung over one shoulder. Do you do a lot of this asymmetrical loading, or was that an irrelevant snap shot in time?

 

[Darren Best]

First thing is go to a doctor and find out what exactly is wrong.

That being said I can tell you what worked for ME. I have a very long history of back injuries and S&S has improved my quality of life so much that I'm absolutely sold on it for life.

Remember, the following is just my opinion and what I have found to work for me, take it with a grain of salt.

I saw on your other thread that you went to a coach, smart move. Apply what you learned not only with your KB sessions, but work, other training and everyday activities. You might not have injured your back with KB, but poor form may have set you up for it or vice versa. Remember that the back is the weakest link in the chain from your feet to your shoulders. Something hinky with your hips or posture almost always shows up in the back first. So the back may not be the actual problem.

I ditched the pain killers, I felt they were dulling the pain to the point that I wasn't paying attention to my form all day long. I also ditched ice packs, same deal. I do use a heat pad, this is for two reason, one it keeps the muscles, ligaments and tendons elastic (I feel cold muscles get strained more often) and it keeps the blood flowing more throughout which promotes healing.

Ditch the extra training for the time being, especially the sandbag work (I think I saw you mention that on the other thread). Follow the rule in S&S, do nothing for a bit after S&S that aggravates the back. I have found that walking and rucking does indeed aggravate it. If you run and or hike, do it several hours before or after S&S or do it on it's own day.

Are you doing the 90/90 and straddle stretch? If so back off on the side bends on the straddle and just sit up straight with a neutral spine. Same deal with the 90/90, don't allow your lower back to round. The tactical frog and hinge stretch (think KB hinge but hold it at the bottom) do wonders for my back. Also there is a Flexible Steel stretch using a KB held behind your back that also feels great.

Visit a chiropractor.

Flip and turn your mattress or get a new one that's firmer.

Try sleeping or laying on the floor instead of sitting in a chair.

Stay with 2 hand swings until you are fully healed, even then go back to 1 hand swings slowly.

This part is controversial, when I tweaked my back I kept going, (S&S) but focused on absolutely perfect form. I even had a session when I pulled my lower back in the middle of get ups with the 24 and kept going with it. The next three days I used the 16 for swings and get ups and was back on the 24 four days later. I now don't take any time off when I tweak my back, I just drop down to the 16 and keep going. I feel this makes my back heal up much faster and I also feel that taking days off and resting by sitting in a chair or laying in bed just makes it worse and prolongs the recovery. I have also used no weight goblet squats (by grabbing the kitchen sink in place of the counterweight), swings and get ups.

I know that people say get ups fixes shoulders, but they also do wonders for backs too. On days that I was feeling more pain than usual I would do extra get ups throughout the day with no weight. Again I stress that perfect form has to be used.

The most important thing of all is maintaining a neutral spine at all times, practice it, live it, breathe it.

Again, this is what worked for me, it doesn't mean it will for you, or it may make things worse, proceed cautiously.

 

[Benedictine Monk]

My first stop would be a solid Chiro with ART and preferably one who has access to a PT-SFMA.

You need a solid biomechanical appraisal but first you need some work done on the acute dysfunction.

 

[MarkSch]

@azsixshooter

I'd really encourage you to go to a doctor and get a diagnosis ( and follow it!) , as Steve Friedes says. That's what I did, the very same day I had a terrible back pain during S&S--I had passed Simple weeks ago and was working the 40K into swings and TGU. It turned out to be only muscle spasms, but it was probably the worst pain of my life , and kept me out of any exercising for 2 solid weeks, and very light work for a month after that.
Any training setback is worth it to fully address the problem, IMO. This "life" thing is a marathon, not a sprint, and you have to be able to finish it strong, too. I've watched my sister re-injure her back a few times by going too hard too soon, and vowed not to do that to myself.
Good luck!

 

[Benedictine Monk]

If its any consolation, I've found that daily use of S&S will rather quickly surface any issues. That's not a bad thing in the context of your lifelong training.

 

[azsixshooter]

I'm sorry if I wasn't clear, I did not get hurt while doing S&S. I was holding my little daughter and dipped her and she flung herself backwards and I got a muscle strain from trying to keep from dropping her.

I don't have insurance or any money to see a doc or a chiropractor right now so I am kind of on my own. I've been listening to interviews with Stuart MacGill and leaning on a couple of physical therapists who are close to me/related.

I got laid off at work 2 days before I hurt my back so the timing has been rough. I used to be a CNC setup machinist, but now I'm temporarily working 10 hour shifts as a quality inspector. So instead of walking around and standing all the time I've been stuck sitting and hunched over working at a desk the last couple days. I hate sitting for long hours so I try to take breaks and work standing for an hour or so when I can. I'm going to try to work up to standing the majority of my shift and moving around as much as I can. Sitting for 10 hours is not going to help my back.

I've gained about 8lbs since I hurt my back so that is making me feel like crap and I really want to get back to running and S&S as soon as possible. I took a milk jug today and half-filled it with cement and put a towel through the handle and that works great for swings. It is way lighter than my 16KG kb. I'm thinking I can try doing S&S with that jug instead of a kb next week and see how I feel. I'm hoping I feel good and can add more cement gradually until I can do S&S with my 16KG kb and eventually work back to using my 24KG like I was doing before I got this muscle strain.

Thanks for all the good advice and feedback. I got in touch with my SFG coach today and he gave me some suggestions on ways to get back into the swing of things after a back tweak. I'm going to try and go as slow as I can stand going and listen to my body and stop if I feel like anything isn't right. I don't want to keep re-aggravating it and hyper-sensitize the nerves in my dorsal horn.

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[Steve Freides]

@Darren Best, there is ample evidence that, for some lower back injuries, the best prescription is to return to some movement fairly quickly - that sounds like what you're doing, but everyone should be advised to follow such a course with caution. Whatever you do should help, not hurt, and returning to activity should be for the purpose of recovery, not for toughing it out.

IOW, it's good you've found what works for you but let's make sure our original poster moves forward with caution and with his doctor's advice. But at the same time, I want to say it's great you've figured out what works for you.

-S-