Help rebuilding my routine with injury limitations (front squat, hex DL)

[drewchristopher]

I’m grateful for any advice anyone has time to give.

TL, DR: Hurt my low back. McGill’s protocols saved my butt, but my body only seems happy if I make some substitutions to key lifts. What does Barbell Medicine think and what if anything should I add to compensate?

I lifted semi-seriously on beginner and advanced-novice programming from 2014-16. Tons of suboptimality and inefficiency, but at my peak, I was squatting around 295 and deadlifting just shy of three plates (sets of 5, not maxes). I was only weighing in around 175-180, so I was fairly happy with relative strength and aesthetics.

Then I tweaked my low back badly during heavy squats. Long story short, I let a combination of injury flare-ups, subsequent demotivation, and personal life changes keep me away from any solid routine until recently. MRIs showed herniation at L5-S1. After long periods of sitting, I’d get back pain plus occasional weird sciatic symptoms like saddle numbness and leg pain. Gnarly stuff.

Once I got serious about research and rebuilding, Stuart McGill’s methods and his Big 3 saved my butt. They’ve helped me ease back into barbell training pain-free.

However, even while experimenting at light weights with careful form, I’ve found that my back does not seem to like certain staple lifts. A few substitutions seem to be working okay thus far with no pain:

Can’t seem to tolerate:	Substitutions working pain-free, so far:
Squats	Front squats
Deadlifts	Hex-bar deadlifts
Bent-over rows	Chest-supported row (plate-loaded device, not machine)

I know the traditional response: This is suboptimal. “You should be able to get back into back squats and deads just fine if you do it slowly.”

But here’s the thing: At this point in my professional and family life, my primary goal is not to rediscover the traditional lifts at any cost. I just want to control for the variable of not messing up my back any further, and within that parameter, work hard to rebuild a good lifting routine and take as much advantage as possible of the best templates and routines.

So – any thoughts or advice on my plan to move through a standard beginner LP, but with these three substitutions? Would you suggest different substitutions or other low-back-sparing additions to compensate for the added emphasis on quads/knees and the decreased work for the posterior chain? I’d really like to stick as close as possible to well-traveled programming and avoid reinventing the wheel any more than I have to. Simple, fixed templates work best with my psychology and schedule.

Thank you!

[Jordan_Feigenbaum]

@drewchristopher

I’m grateful for any advice anyone has time to give.

TL, DR: Hurt my low back. McGill’s protocols saved my butt, but my body only seems happy if I make some substitutions to key lifts. What does Barbell Medicine think and what if anything should I add to compensate?

We think it is ill-advised to attribute your reduced pain to “fixing” something and subsequently learning/participating in social situations where this type of information is propagated are concerning for long term success.

@drewchristopher

Then I tweaked my low back badly during heavy squats. Long story short, I let a combination of injury flare-ups, subsequent demotivation, and personal life changes keep me away from any solid routine until recently. MRIs showed herniation at L5-S1. After long periods of sitting, I’d get back pain plus occasional weird sciatic symptoms like saddle numbness and leg pain. Gnarly stuff.

I am empathetic to your experience and am glad you’re feeling better, however there are lots of things to address here:

1. It is highly unlikely that you acutely herniated a disc during squats. Rather, you most likely had the herniation and pain secondary to improper load management or acute fatigue increases resulted in pain.
2. Sitting, not training, etc. all likely increased perceived risk of pain with movements you’re trying to “sub out” along with deconditioning from not training.
3. I take issue with calling what you’re describing sciatica. I don’t think that’s what it is and by eliminating this idea from your brain, you can free yourself from “having sciatica” the rest of your life.
4. Have you read any of our stuff on pain? If no, I would highly recommend it.

@drewchristopher

Once I got serious about research and rebuilding, Stuart McGill’s methods and his Big 3 saved my butt. They’ve helped me ease back into barbell training pain-free.

This is not unusual given the normal course of low back pain, but we would strongly caution you from attributing any success to McGill. His material is antithetical to our views on pain science and injury. It is highly likely that your current “intolerance” of certain movements are colored by the influence McGill has had on you.

@drewchristopher

I know the traditional response: This is suboptimal. “You should be able to get back into back squats and deads just fine if you do it slowly.”

Suboptimal for what? I’m not sure we would say that. Again, have you read any of our stuff? You can lead a full and complete life without back squats and deadlifts.

That said, if you’d like to get back to back squats and deads you can probably do that.

@drewchristopher

But here’s the thing: At this point in my professional and family life, my primary goal is not to rediscover the traditional lifts at any cost. I just want to control for the variable of not messing up my back any further, and within that parameter, work hard to rebuild a good lifting routine and take as much advantage as possible of the best templates and routines.

You won’t “mess up your back any further” because it is not “messed up.” You have had pain, yes, but this does not mean you have a “messed up back.”

@drewchristopher

So – any thoughts or advice on my plan to move through a standard beginner LP, but with these three substitutions?

We would not recommend beginner LP in any situation.

@drewchristopher

Would you suggest different substitutions or other low-back-sparing additions to compensate for the added emphasis on quads/knees and the decreased work for the posterior chain?

The posterior chan is not worked “less” in other squat variants.

@drewchristopher

I’d really like to stick as close as possible to well-traveled programming and avoid reinventing the wheel any more than I have to. Simple, fixed templates work best with my psychology and schedule.

I would actually argue that they do not given your history of pain and time away from training. As far as what you should do, I would recommend the Bridge with the substitutions you seem to prefer- that’s fine with me. If you need specific guidance then I would recommend a consult with Michael Ray or Derek Miles.

[drewchristopher]

Thanks very much for your time and attention. I appreciate your points about not getting trapped in the psychology of thinking “I’m permanently messed up!” All I meant to communicate was that I’ve had several trainers and resources suggest that re-introducing back squats and conventional deadlifts are (A) totally essential for any good routine and also (B) should work fine if I go slow enough. Yet when I’ve tried reintroducing them, even at very, very light weights, I’ve experienced the same electric-shock pain through my left leg and low back that I felt during the initial injury. Whereas front squats and trap bar deads haven’t triggered that symptom.

I am grateful for your review of my substitutions and will definitely look into rebuilding my strength with The Bridge instead of an LP as you suggest. It’s great to hear your reassurance that omitting back squats and conventional deads aren’t the end of the world, when lots of other folks have given me the opposite advice. Thanks again for your time and for all the resources you guys put out there.