Injury during HST

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stu1508

New Member
Hi

I am currently doing my first HST cycle. Lately I have been feeling a bit of stiffness in my lower back. Some days its quite stiff and then other days I have been fine.

Anyway today I have woken up with what feels like a strain/pull in my lower back. It almost feels like a vertical line where the pain is. My question is this though. I am suppose to start my 2 week sycle of 5's. Should I take a week of from the weights to give my back some extra time to heal. I thought about doing light cardio and stretching and see how I stand in a week. I even thought about removing the sldl's from my programme and doing leg curls for my hams until my back is 100%

Originally I was doing the sldls with a bb but I move to the Smith's machines as it allows me to stick my butt out more and get more emphasis on my hamstrings.

Any thoughts? Has anyone ever experienced anything similar?
 
Do you have any history of back pain? Lower back etc?
If you are seriously concerned about it I wouldn't even think about training, just getting to the nearest chiropractor! You don't want to slip a disk etc.

As for sldl's I'm not a fan, whenever i do these i always feel like i'm going injure myself. Just feels to harsh on my back. Funny though as conventional deads don't do this. Leg curl has always felt a safer option for me. As you are about to start the 5's I wouldn't chance the sldl with heavy loads. Hope this helps.
 
take some aspirin and keep lifting you wuss!
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...No, just kidding, an injury takes precedent over all else. Cut out all lifting for a couple days, and see how you feel. SLDLs are risky, conventional deads are easier to hold the lower back flat and better for growth in my opinion.
 
Stop using the smith machine for SLDL's. When you do SLDL's you want to keep the bar as close as possible to your thighs and shins just like regular deadlifts. You can't do that with a smith machine because you are fixed to it's vertical path. Using the smith machine is going to put a lot more strain on your lower back.
 
Yeah, forget the Smith machine for SLDLs + the rest of what Bulldog said. I like SLDLs but now, having shifted to Oly squats, I reckon that regular deads alternated with Oly squats are a great combination of power compounds for your legs and more. Regular deads allow for greater load with your back in a more upright position. There's still potential for injury of the lower back if you drop your form off though. Get your form right, avoid max singles and you will be far less likely to sustain an injury.

It may be that you have a bit of muscle spasm going on in your lower back (I get that quite often in my upper back/traps after a good workout - painful as heck but not really due to muscle damage. Gives me a cast iron neck if I leave it.). Getting a good sports massage can work wonders. Give that a shot if you can.
 
Thanks to you all for your advice. I think some of the problems was I was doing squats and sldl's in the same workout. I think I may have put to much stress on my lower back. when i do my 5's i'm going to drop the sldl's for a while. I think when I start my next cycle I might alternate some exercises. I thought about squats on one workout and then deadlifts on the other workout.
 
Adding freeweight squats to my routine has given me some hip troubles. ( I was doing super heavy machine squats before) I've kept it at bay so far with abwork, and alternating deads and squats. I think it's a good idea.
Your idea of stretching is solid too, and add in a break as the guys suggested - you'll know if it's an injury or not by then.
 
I had lower back pain from sldls so chopped them from my workout. deadlifts feel better for my back and i can lift alot more with this exercise. Perhaps alternate squats and deadlifts.

Tho sldls with a smith machine is your main problem. What benefit is this over a bar? U never naturally lift any weight in a predetermined line of motion - your body should choose the line -  I avoid the smith machine - it is not a natural groove and line of motion.

... and I wouldn't sqaut in a Smith for the same reasons!

Get in the groove baby!
 
many thanks for the advice. Over the last couple of days the pain in my lower back has changed to something I had before. I think what is happening is my quads are getting really tight and as my abs are not as strong as they could be its causing problems with my pelvis and therefore issues with my lower back. My quads are quite naturally big and do get tight very easily. I just need to make sure that I give them a good stretch and work a bit more on core stability on my off days. I was thinking of adding 3 sets of hamstring curls into my workout. This would be an hst format but more like 3 sets of 8-12 to strenghten them up a bit. I think the fact my quads are much stronger than my hamstrings and the other things I have mentioned added totgether constitute my lower back probems. Any thoughts?
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Originally I was doing the sldls with a bb but I move to the Smith's machines as it allows me to stick my butt out more and get more emphasis on my hamstrings.</div>

All in all it seems to me you have noticed what caused the problem, my opinion?

1 - Stop the SLDL's for now, do the whole two weeks without them, don't even do the leg curls as that is going to engage the lower back again.

2 - When waking up in the morning, lie flat on your back and open your arms wide, bring up your left leg towards your right arm, try not to lift the other arm too much, do the same for th eother leg.

3 - get into a foetal position while lying on your back, hold your legs and pull towards you.

4 - keep these stretches for 30 seconds each.

This is what i did when my lower back gave me issues.

When you re-start doing SLDL's get your form absolutely right, that'll mean taking less weight, then avoid teh smith machine like the plague, the only thing I'd do on there is overhead presses and even those I'd be skeptical.
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<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I think some of the problems was I was doing squats and sldl's in the same workout. I think I may have put to much stress on my lower back. </div>

Yeah baby...that is definitelly an issue, why do you guys torture yourselves? You seem to know what to do? Why hurt yourself?
 
yeah I think on my next workout I may alternate a few exercises, squats and sldl's being one of them. Thanks for the stretching exercises
 
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