Squats Limited by Back

[sillyme]

My legs are gaining strength much more rapidly than my back. I have scoliosis AND I threw out a disc in the past. This means that my back limits what I can do for squats. I could easily lift 50% more if it wasn't for fear of crunching my back.

Anyone else have this problem? How do you deal with it?

I have a weight belt. But I'm wondering if there is anything else that I can do.

[Wolfnatas]

I would just pick a moderate weight for squats and stick with it for awhile to build up back muscle. Add only 5 or 10 pounds every month or two rather than increasing at a faster rate. This method seems to have helped me keep squats in my routine rather than scrapping them altogether due to my disk injury and my fears of re-injuring it.

[sillyme]

Wow, only five to ten pounds a month - that's so little! But, as you say better than scrapping squats all together.

I also do lunges (4 sets), hack squats (2 sets), leg presses (2 sets), and hip abductions (4 sets). What do you do? Do you have a leg exercise that works well and doesn't bother your back?

[DaRkAnGel]

10 pounds in a month for any lift i would kill for...

[Wolfnatas]

Originally Posted by sillyme

Wow, only five to ten pounds a month - that's so little! But, as you say better than scrapping squats all together.

I also do lunges (4 sets), hack squats (2 sets), leg presses (2 sets), and hip abductions (4 sets). What do you do? Do you have a leg exercise that works well and doesn't bother your back?

I occasionally do lunges too, but lately I've skipped them due to some knee pain. I haven't found anything that works nearly as well as squats, so I usually put in 4 or 6 sets of those and finish up with calf raises, leg extensions, and leg curls.

I've heard that good mornings are another good one for lower back & hamstring building, but I find them too intimidating with my back problems.

The only exercise I can recommend that even comes close to squats is deadlifts. In my opinion if squats are an exercise that begs good form, deadlifts are an exercise that absolutely demands good form, especially if you go heavy. I believe that my tall form and my weak back combine to make deadlifts a dangerous exercise for me, but I fully intend to pick them back up with much the same weight limitations I use for squats. Slow weight increases, no big jumps, and stick with it for awhile to build rather than break.

[velvetpunk]

Originally Posted by sillyme

My legs are gaining strength much more rapidly than my back. I have scoliosis AND I threw out a disc in the past. This means that my back limits what I can do for squats. I could easily lift 50% more if it wasn't for fear of crunching my back.

Anyone else have this problem? How do you deal with it?

I have a weight belt. But I'm wondering if there is anything else that I can do.

I also have scoliosis and some other weird back issues. My spine is attached to my hip on the left side, and I was "blessed" with an extra vertebrate. I also have a previous injury from a motorcycle wreck a few years back. I have back pain pretty much constantly, which is a nuisance, but has immensely improved with weight training and regular exercise.

Don't laugh at me -- but I was proud to full squat just the bar without pain or issues. I've found that taking things extra slow, focusing on form, and upping weight very slowly has helped me avoid injury but still progress. Your body is only going to be as good as its weakest link -- and if that is your back -- that's something to work on. Try doing more back exercises outside of squatting. That way your back can start to catch up to your legs.

Hope that helps some.

[midgetcop]

I'm kinda thrown into the same situation too....after my car accident earlier this summer, my back has been acting up like crazy, and I finally went to see a chiropractor.

What I had *thought* was a crushed disc from an earlier accident, turned out to be a broken and imperfectly healed vertabrae. Throw on top of that scoliosis and years of scar tissue accumulation, and I have one SCREWED up back.

For a while I've been advised to do something other than squats for my legs...I was thinking that when I head back to the gym I'll probably be replacing my squats primarily with lunges. At this point, anything will be better than the big load of NOTHING that I have been doing this summer.

[Italianang]

Originally Posted by sillyme

My legs are gaining strength much more rapidly than my back. I have scoliosis AND I threw out a disc in the past. This means that my back limits what I can do for squats. I could easily lift 50% more if it wasn't for fear of crunching my back.

Anyone else have this problem? How do you deal with it?

I have a weight belt. But I'm wondering if there is anything else that I can do.

Keep on your squat as is, but try to train your back to catch up. There are great exercises you can do other than deadlift or hypers, such as pilates and ball work with do wonders for the back.
I have worked with clients with the same issue, I too have this in my upper back but with the right patience and redundant silly little exercises you can condition the helpers and back muscles to give you a bit more strength in turn later on being able to add a tad more weight to your squat but slowly.
YOu must let your back progress first. Focus on that then once you feel a bit better you can go back to focus on increase in squat weight.

I am assuming its your lower back.........but where is the scoliosis? Lumbar (lower), thoracic (mid) or cervical (neck, upper) spine? Let me know and maybe I can throw some exercise suggestions out your way!

Linda