[Screwston]

I was lifting some weights today and felt a sharp pain in the middle of my back. I almost dropped the weights on my foot. I don't know if I pulled something but this shit is killing me especially when I'm sitting down. Is there anything I can do to speed up the recovery process?

[raliv]

can you describe what kind of lifting you were doing when the pain started?

[Frost]

Yoga has been huge for helping rehabilitate back injuries for me.

In terms of prevention in the future, here are some useful links:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments...pper_body/

http://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments...c_tilt_or/

[Screwston]

I was standing up and doing curls with a bar

[Gunner]

Mm try to use cold therapy and after 24 hours hot and cold.

[T and A Man]

Describe middle of your back?

Say the 12 inches above your waist line?

Could be a sciatic nerve pinch, especially if it is a sharp pain. It is very hard to solve outside of time. it usually has a negative feedback loop where it swells due to the pain, but the swelling rubs against your spine, thus agitating it to swell more. usually anti-inflamatories are required (ice pack at the very least) to just get relief from the nerve rubbing against your spine.

But that said, that's only if it is nerve damage, if it is a muscle tear, you need to rotate between cold pack and heat pack treatments.

[Smitty]

(10-25-2011 09:18 PM)houston Wrote:  

I was lifting some weights today and felt a sharp pain in the middle of my back. I almost dropped the weights on my foot. I don't know if I pulled something but this shit is killing me especially when I'm sitting down. Is there anything I can do to speed up the recovery process?

I just got over the same type of injury from doing squats. My experience was there was nothing I could do to heal quicker, other than limit my movements so as not to irritate the area. Use a heating pad at night before bed and take ibuprofen.

I tweak my lower back a few times a year...get lazy with my form, try to rush, or do exercises that do more harm than good (standing barbell curls).

[gringochileno]

There's no way to diagnose this over the internet. Go to a doctor if it doesn't improve after 24 hours avoiding movement and alternating hot and cold. Most likely you just pulled a muscle but it could be something neurological too.

To prevent recurrence, make sure you're warming up properly and using good form, and let it heal completely before you start lifting again.

[Screwston]

I feel a lot better after 24 hours. I think I didn't stretch properly and was trying to rush myself with the work out.

[Roosh]

Happened to me the other day. I was doing Presses and on my last rep I felt a real sharp pain in the back of my neck. For the next day I couldn't move my head to the side without a lot of pain. By the third day it was fine.

My rule: if it doesn't improve in a week, see a doctor.

[memcpy]

I'm no doctor but i've had plenty of torn ligaments and tendons in just about every part of my body. Ligaments/tendons take the longest to recover depending on how bad you've torn it. I couldn't so much as hold a glass of beer in both of my hands for about 3 months because I injured it and didn't let it heal, just kept lifting. it took upwards of a year to fully heal.

My best advice is to just leave it alone and ice it or just run it under cold water for a few mins, just when it you feel it's too inflamed. Try not to use it. Don't get frustrated and paranoid if it takes a while to heal.

Nowadays, if I feel any pain such a twinge or something that doesn't feel right I just stop doing it.

[Chad Daring]

Does the pain feel muscular or does it feel like its in your spine? Is it sharp and stabbing?

While were talking about hurting yourself randomly in the gym, let me share a story.

DO NOT USE INCLINED LEG PRESSES

I was doing leg presses on one of the inclined deals and when I went to push the sled back up I felt a jerk in my lower back, and I could barely stand or walk. I was put out for three weeks and finally fixed with an inversion table and some time off. I did some research and apparently this type of injury (a spinal misalignment) isnt uncommon when using those types of machines.

[FretDancer]

Remember to warm up before starting to exercise/lift. Its very common to get those kinds of pain due to lack of muscle warm ups.

[MikeCF]

Become friends with the foam roller.

Before touching a weight, I spend 3-5 minutes on the foam roller.

There are lots of articles on it. Hurts like hell, but works.

[Hokie30]

(10-26-2011 11:31 PM)houston Wrote:  

I feel a lot better after 24 hours. I think I didn't stretch properly and was trying to rush myself with the work out.

Amen bro, you figured this out yourself. For every 2 hour workout that I do I invest in at least 20 minutes of stretching (especially focusing on the back and lower body) and another 20 minutes of warmup cardio. Haven't had a weight-lifting injury since HS (i'm 32 now) and I believe this routine is the key.

[Screwston]

What kind of stretching do y'all do?

[Hokie30]

(10-28-2011 02:01 AM)houston Wrote:  

What kind of stretching do y'all do?

The superman is a favorite of mine, here's a good explanation of how to do it correctly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8szJuzPt-sg
and here are some more exercises:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stretching/SM00043

[OSL]

Yoga man, yoga.

[Chad Daring]

But studies have been increasingly clear that static stretching alone before exercise does little or nothing to help. The largest study has been done on military recruits; results showed that an almost equal number of subjects developed lower-limb injuries (shin splints, stress fractures, etc.), regardless of whether they had performed static stretches before training sessions.