Bilateral Pars Defect and Training?

Pain & Rehab Forum [Moderated]
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Hi all! I am a fitness coach. I have a potential client who wants to work with me. She’s 23, and she injured her back when she was 12. She has been diagnosed with bilateral pars defect in her L4 and L5 vertebrae. She has been through PT and had docs tell her to do things, none of of which has helped.

I use something very similar to the Starting Strength model with my clients. I’ve never dealt with this injury, and I’m considering referring her to someone who has. Just curious your thoughts on this are. Can the deadlift and squat be trained with this injury?

My inclination is to coach her and to start with only the bar Andover up very slowly, taking extra time on form. But the last thing I’d want to do is cause further damage. I’m dying to help!

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and move her up*

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This finding is context dependent. A bilateral pars defect may be congenital or the result of trauma. Often times when people complain of low back pain, and if imaging is requested, this may show up as an incidental finding. It’s quite rare for traumatic cases to warrant surgical intervention.

Given that this was discovered 11 years ago, it’s safe to say that she has since healed and that sensible training should pose no problem.

Anecdotally, I was diagnosed with traumatic spondylolysis (pars defect) with a grade II spondylolisthesis (26-50% anterior slippage of the vertebra) way back in high school, and I train just fine.