Getting Back Into It

Hi guys,

31 year old man, 5’9" and about 175. Waist circumference hovering around 37 inches right now.

December of 2022, I slipped a disc in my C5/C6. Wish I Could say I was deadliftting a car or squatting a house, because that would be a lot cooler than “I bent over while vacuuming and lifted my head while hinged at the hips”. Needless to say, that experience humbled me.

I have been off the weights for some time now chiefly to give myself and mainly my psyche the rest I needed, and really feel like I need and want to get back into it. I did the PT thing and in July of 2023 had an injection in my C7/T1, and it has kept me having mostly good days since. Occasionally I’ll have a flair up of pain I will take cyclobenzaprine and diclofenac to treat.

Now, the neurosurgeon I saw doesn’t seem to be a fan of heavy lifting and recommended I avoid squats, but not as a personal prescription but as a “I see many injuries due to squats in my practice”. A general, fair observation.

Recently I got under my barbell just to feel the motions and start getting back into it. Everything feels like I can tolerate lifting again, but my chief complaint is tightness/pain in the upper right arm, which is the same side the disc herniation is located. Years ago, I sought PT for arm pain in the same spot and had some success in getting pain managed to be able to get under the bar for awhile. (in hindsight, I wonder if there had been a nerve pressed there for years and the vacuuming incident was the final straw).

I am curious how you guys might recommend moving forward? I’m going to try variations and avoid pain triggering positions, and overall just listen to my body. But, can you point to any specific flexibility routines for getting to a low bar back squat position again?

I realize I’m staring down the barrell of a consult from BBM to make this work long term, but if there’s any advice or resources you can offer to get me off the ground, I would appreciate it.

Tigif158,

Thanks for the post. A few thoughts here:

  1. I think that you would likely benefit from a consultation due to your history, current management, and concerns around this situation. I cannot comment about the etiology or the medication use here without more info, for example.
  2. I take issue with the neurosurgeon’s concern about injuries due to squats, particularly given your particular issue (unrelated), pain in insufficiently active people, and data on injuries due to resistance training. They’re also unlikely to be an expert in exercise or injury risk reduction in exercise.
  3. While the goal is unrestricted movement, e.g. you can do all the things you want to do, it should be noted that you don’t have to low bar squat. The low bar squat does not use more muscle mass or generate better improvements in strength than other squat variations. Rather, it’s just a particular type of squat variation. Still, we’d use gradual exposure to get you into this position over time. I’d probably start with a safety squat bar or high bar squat in the interim, running something like the beginner program. If neither of these are tolerale right now, I’d be using alternative forms of loading, e.g. dumbbells, machines, and so on as an entry point. Would not do LP or similar program. -Jordan