Leg Exercises - herniated disc

[sub7percent]

Hey guys looking for a little help. I have a herniated L4/L5 I am working on now, I have some loss of movement and numbness in my foot but it's getting better. No pain - just a lot of tightness in my lower back and glutes which has gotten better with my current stretching routine and seeing a chiropractor twice per week.

I need help getting my legs back up there. I can't do any standing exercises because it aggravates my condition. No squats or deads- I can't even do lunges. I can't use the plate loaded inverted leg press but I can use the cable leg press.

What I have been doing is a lot of position variation on the seated cable leg press and also extensions and curls. I'm looking for some advice on how I can keep my legs growing until I heal and can squat and dead again. I can't do low rep heavy weight, 8 would be the lowest.

Any advice on additional exercises, routine, frequency, variation (rest, tempo, rep range, etc) would be helpful. I'm going to run a light cycle for 15 weeks to assist in healing but will be eating a little above maintenance so I would like to see some growth of possible. Will be using 200 test, 300 EQ, 300 Deca per week. Also using gh peptides and possibly synthetic gh, and injectable Curcumin.

Thanks bros.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[thethinker48]

Hey guys looking for a little help. I have a herniated L4/L5 I am working on now, I have some loss of movement and numbness in my foot but it's getting better. No pain - just a lot of tightness in my lower back and glutes which has gotten better with my current stretching routine and seeing a chiropractor twice per week.

I need help getting my legs back up there. I can't do any standing exercises because it aggravates my condition. No squats or deads- I can't even do lunges. I can't use the plate loaded inverted leg press but I can use the cable leg press.

What I have been doing is a lot of position variation on the seated cable leg press and also extensions and curls. I'm looking for some advice on how I can keep my legs growing until I heal and can squat and dead again. I can't do low rep heavy weight, 8 would be the lowest.

Any advice on additional exercises, routine, frequency, variation (rest, tempo, rep range, etc) would be helpful. I'm going to run a light cycle for 15 weeks to assist in healing but will be eating a little above maintenance so I would like to see some growth of possible. Will be using 200 test, 300 EQ, 300 Deca per week. Also using gh peptides and possibly synthetic gh, and injectable Curcumin.

Thanks bros.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's honestly dependent upon the type of equipment you have in your gym. I would say experiment with seated leg exercises (like that cable leg press), and use very light weight, and controlled form to build up to that burn.

Don't try to push it bro, trust me it's easier in the long run to heal better, and come back, than push it in the present time, and delay the overall healing process.

Back injuries can effect a large portion of your training, so heal well brother!

 

[maldorf]

Swing Squat

If you are lucky to have a gym near you with one of these swing squat machines then use it. I used it once and it is a miracle for those with knee or back trouble. They sell them out of Columbus Ohio it looks like. Here is a video that shows it:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tkigw1m1bM"]Atlantis Fitness Machines Overview - Part 1 - YouTube[/ame]

You can go quite heavy on it too. I used three 45s on each side once if I remember right. I lift at home now and I am seriously thinking about buying one of these for my home because my low back has really been messed up, lots of pain these days.

Website: **broken link removed**

The gym I used to lift at had one and one day the guy that invented it walked in and showed me how to use it. After that day I was sure to use it from time to time. I think if I had one now I would use it on leg day each time and never do squats.

 

[GettingBackIn]

I have a pretty bad back injury, and my sciatic nerve was crushed and is permanently damaged. Before I workout I lay on an ice pack to numb the nerve at the spot of my injury. My leg day pretty much consists of a light leg press, leg extension and leg curl, followed by calf raises. Sometimes my first set of leg press hurts too much and I just have to stop and go home, but most weeks I get a leg day in.

My right leg can do more than my left, but I keep the weight light and only do as much as the weaker leg can handle. I've managed to keep pretty decent mass on my legs and kept them symmetrical this way.

If you think you're getting better, the best thing you can do is take it easy. You don't want to push it and end up at the point I'm at or worse. Also, when you do recover, this injury will still be there, so start preparing yourself mentally to adjust your leg workouts in the long term.

 

[jm425]

My L4 and L5 are also ruptured 2mm at the time I got an MRI on them. I would imagine they are now about 3mm or more now. For the first 6 months I couldn't do more than light squats leg presses. My back finally started to feel a lot better after a lot of visits to the chiro and time away from heavy squats and deads. Your situation is very similar to mine and all I can say is to do what you can that doesn't not aggravate your back and don't push it until you give it plenty of time to heal.

 

[Giants83]

I have L4-L5 and L5-S1 herniations. I use to have terrible weakness, pain and numbness. Now I deal with occasional pain which I've pretty much gotten use to and when things are real bad I get sciatic pain. The things that helped me the most are core strengthening and stretching to increase mobility. There are still some things I can't do on leg day. Stiff leg deadlifts and leg presss specifically. Bent over barbell rows also bothers me. I can do squats again after years of not doing them. I don't max out like I use to and focus more on higher reps and perfect form.
My advice to you is get your core up and stretch like there's no tomorrow. In the mean time find out what you can do and what you can't. Start low with the weight and go with higher reps with great form. You'll notice such a huge difference when do those couple things. As far as medical treatment I personally stay away from injections. Do your research on pros and cons. Another thing, don't lift if you've taken pain meds. You need to feel pain or else you might really hurt yourself.

 

[Big Slice]

Pretty much in the same issues with my back . I'm doing a lot of cardio on the stair master.It kicks my butt, and the legs have gotten bigger.

 

[Massive G]

I have a lot of wear and tear in my neck and low back from years of heavy heavy front and back squats.


This is a really good link to belt squatting, https://www.t-nation.com/training/hip-belt-squats which primarily puts a lot of weight and pressure on the hips once you go real heavy -
I got this from ironmind - [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8yd0RH2vqU"]IronMind’s SUPER SQUATS Hip Belt – How to Use for Big Gains - YouTube[/ame]
I got to 300 lbs and it ground into my hips which was quite distracting. I got about 3-4 pairs of old sweat pants and cut them off at the knee and put all 4 pairs on and it really helped the pain from the heavy belt on my hips. (I wore mine lower on the hips than in the video)
It does take some getting used to balance wise but I found I could blast out 20 30 and sometime 50 reps with the belt.

I wish more gyms had traditional belt squat machines.
Sorry for the dork in the video
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ-OQHwAa0g"]Belt Squat Machine Demonstration - YouTube[/ame]

of course westside barbell and louie simmons have some great machines too

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8ongBV7XZ0"]Belt Squat Machine - YouTube[/ame]


worse case you can use a dip belt
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SliuV24IqyU"]Belt Squats - YouTube[/ame]

search around on the videos for hip belt squats
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZgrRpv7E2I"]Bar Squat vs. Belt Squat - YouTube[/ame]

 

[chinaboy]

Rethink how you train legs. One leg squats, one leg squats on balance pads, step downs without touching floor, one leg staight leg deads, front squats, lunges and etc... A lot of those machines and devices force a person to engage their ass cheeks more than they would with previously used exercise choices. The glutes protect the spine a lot. The exercises I stated above also force you to use tremendous muscle strength and coordination therefor thrash your legs and core without adding axial spine compression.

Traditional leg training focuses on quads and hams and less on glutes and core. This leaves a person generating great forces with their body while not allowing the protective mechanisms to be equal in strength and absorb these forces. In the long run creates mechanisms for accelerated degeneration.

 

[Ashop]

I like the seated Iso Lateral leg press by Hammer Strength.

 

[wargam19700]

I have DDD and bulging discs in my lower back. One of the best remedies has been yoga. Its great for stretching your tight hams/quads/ glutes that put pressure on your low back. Also work on strengthening your core as the supporting muscles stabilize and keep pressure off. Think of investing in an inversion table their relatively cheep and work well for relief.

 

[XtremeMuscle]

Glad I seen this thread. I'm dealing with the exact same issues and actually coming to terms with not being able to do certain movements.

 

[sub7percent]

Guys - thank you all for your input. Glad I joined this board.

Giants83 - what you are saying seems to be helping, focusing on my core and stretching. The reason I am looking into the epidural injection is not for pain relief but to try to temporarily shrink the disc/inflammation to allow it to slide back into where it should be which could potentially result from he chiropractic treatments I am doing twice per week.

I'm going through this thread and I appreciate all the experience and suggestions - looking up some of these exercises and will be putting together a new routine for when I get back from vacation next week. Main focus would be healing while trying to keep the strength and size up in my legs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Giants83]

Guys - thank you all for your input. Glad I joined this board.

Giants83 - what you are saying seems to be helping, focusing on my core and stretching. The reason I am looking into the epidural injection is not for pain relief but to try to temporarily shrink the disc/inflammation to allow it to slide back into where it should be which could potentially result from he chiropractic treatments I am doing twice per week.

I'm going through this thread and I appreciate all the experience and suggestions - looking up some of these exercises and will be putting together a new routine for when I get back from vacation next week. Main focus would be healing while trying to keep the strength and size up in my legs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The stretches and core strength work will do wonders. After about a month of steady work you'll see a great difference. There are some yoga stretches too that I really like. I did yoga for a while. Chiropractor didn't work for me but I hope it helps you. As for the epidural injection it's not the disc that it's shrinking. It's the inflamed nerve. It basically bathes your nerve in a solution. Short term I suppose it may not be too bad but long term it's not good. They are not FDA approved and are considered experimental and the are actually taking a different direction with these now. They agree long term is not the best idea. The medication they injection actually weakens bone, joints, muscles. Plus the repeated needles going in and out of your epidural space carry a risk as well. I'm not a doctor by any means but I always think people should be well aware of every aspect of their treatment. Definitely research the pros and cons. The following day or two after I was in a lot of pain. The pressure was immense.

 

[chinaboy]

Guys - thank you all for your input. Glad I joined this board.

Giants83 - what you are saying seems to be helping, focusing on my core and stretching. The reason I am looking into the epidural injection is not for pain relief but to try to temporarily shrink the disc/inflammation to allow it to slide back into where it should be which could potentially result from he chiropractic treatments I am doing twice per week.

I'm going through this thread and I appreciate all the experience and suggestions - looking up some of these exercises and will be putting together a new routine for when I get back from vacation next week. Main focus would be healing while trying to keep the strength and size up in my legs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Epidurals do not shrink herniations. They do reduce imflamtion. Use them to call down pain and inflammation and then get into physical therapy with a good therapist. Chiros can only do so much.

 

[JJR48]

I'm in the same boat had crazy back pain going down both legs at times but mainly the left got a mri 3 disc bulging and spinal stenosis they called it. same thing with these injections I don't want to get them I feel as if over the next month if I don't allow them to do it that they will stop seeing me altogether my family doc and pain clinic that's all they talk about injection injection .. on to how to work legs as you know everyone is different as what limits you there are no tricks or anything like that the pain does calm down in time you should have better days soon pain wise . even to train upper body its hard I had to be very careful even pickimg up a 45 plate to put on a bar heavy barbell curls hurt so you will have to just see what you can do you can do leg curls and extensions with different , super sets, drop sets, pause reps . high reps low reps . you might even get on a good hack squat or laying press where you lay flat back supported and get you moving on something like that I do know what your dealing with.

 

[JeanClaude]

I had a back injury a while ago. Couldn't do much and was afraid legs would lose size so did a variation of things for legs.


I kept the weight light and reps high so I wouldn't put too much pressure on my back.

I'd start out with 4/5 sets leg extensions, 20-30 reps.

Then do stationary lunges 3 sets each leg holding a 25lb plate each hand. Back to back on the lunges basically, one leg then the other then the first leg again, etc with no rest.

Then leg extensions again but single leg now 20 reps each leg. 3-4 sets

Then lying leg curls 3-4 sets of 20 reps.

Try it out. I went more for a pump so I wouldn't lose size and It's def low impact


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[john161]

Make sure your sacro iliac joints are moving, so more weight will be done with the hips, rather than all back.
Epidural + chiro+ massage is the secret, and keep gluts very stretched by having wife kneel into them daily, or sitting on baseball.

Single leg Romanian dead lift with a 70-80 lbs dumbell can work nicely too.

 

[simon birch]

man, I've got a herniated L4-L5, S1 that protrudes in my sciatic nerve (So fucking painful!!) so I have to do all kinds of core strengthen 2x/day 7 days/wk. Before I can even go to the gym. This all started 2 years ago and had a few cortisone shots since then and 8 months of PT. Got my last cortisone shot in Dec 2015 and I'm still hesitant to put any weight on my squats. Still nervous about doing any leg workouts cause my cardio and other weight training has been going so good. Prob gonna start light weight, high reps today on my legs. Using the exercises everyone mentioned. Thanks!

 

[wargam19700]

Had BP that extended down my legs so bad couldn't sleep at night. Got inversion table off CL, 3x day 5 min and pain went away. Watch YouTube vids on how to use properly or u can mess your back up worse.