Age: 49, Male, 6’5". 250lbs
During the end of COVID, I decided to undergo the novice progression. Due to numerous hamstring injuries suffered after 20 years of beer league hockey, I started with the empty bar and went up fairly slowly at 2.5lbs per workout rather than 5 lbs. The linear progression went fairly normally (at least from my limited experience). I ended around 235 squat, close deadlift, 175 bench, and 135 overhead press after about 4 months.
However in the last part of the progression, I developed a significant pain in my upper back near the base of my neck, around the top of my shoulder blades, right where the bar sits in the low bar squat position. It got to the point where I developed a searing pain in my right arm, travelling along the back of my triceps and ending in my right ring finger. Some days it was worse, but now, whenever I place the bar in the low-bar position, the pain and burning returns and can take weeks to reside.
After arguing with my doctor, he agree to have an MRI performed, which returned with a “moderate foraminal stenosis” diagnoses between C4 and C5, and C5 and C6, with “severe” between C6 and C7. At least by my lay-persons understanding, the nerves exiting the spine in the upper back to my right side are being compressed affecting my feeling in my right arm. I underwent a few courses of steroids, which immediately helped, followed by a procedure to inject liquid steroids directly into the area, which allowed the nerves to heal over the last 6 months. Most of the symptoms have subsided, however even now when I place even a moderately loaded barbell (perhaps 135) in the low bar squat position, the pain immediately comes back.
I think the emergence of this nerve compression was coincidental with the novice progression, as apparently this kind of stenosis is common for people in their late 40’s, especially tall people. I’ve always had back problems in this area even growing up, and I probably just have narrow foraminal canals in this area. Surgery is a crap-shoot (apparently), as it involves fusing the vertebrae and opening the canals up which can cause the load to just transition to other discs, and cause stenosis in other areas. There don’t appear to be any medications that can help correct this, other than to (temporarily) relieve symptoms. The PT was unhelpful, other than recommending that I stop all barbell exercises involving the upper back, and do more “functional” training to stretch the upper back. I tried some of them and they didn’t seem to change anything.
So my question: I feel (low bar) back squatting isn’t something I really do anymore: the other lifts don’t cause symptoms, even overhead pressing for some reason, so I feel ok resuming those. I’ve substituted back squatting with front squatting, which doesn’t seem to cause the same discomfort, even though I know it’s not the same posterior chain that is being exercised.
Are there any considerations I am missing?
