BACK PAIN AND BACK INJURIES

Back injuries are very common, especially amongst gym goers, and some are worse than others. However, compared to most other injuries, those to the back can have a much greater impact on our lives, and quite frankly, give us hell.

I first herniated a disc in my back in 2012, at just 21, and then again 18 months later. However, I dealt with sciatica and back pain until mid-2015. Anyone who has been through it will tell you, the pain is exhausting, you can’t get comfortable in any position, the nerve pain will drive you insane, it significantly deteriorates your quality of life and it changes the way you live life.

Back then, I seriously questioned whether I would be able to exercise properly again, let alone put the sort of loads on my back that I do now. But I had to start somewhere, had to do something. Strength training focusing on my core, obliques, glutes, hamstrings and back over an extended period of time taught my body to relief the pressure from my back and helped me return to a pain free life. Combined with regular physio, dry needling and chiropractic, I found that there wasn’t a magic solution to relief, just hard work, but it was not an unobtainable goal.

Some people feel there is nothing they can do and they just have a “bad back”, it’s their reason to not exercise, but in reality it should be the very reason they do. 

DOING NOTHING IS NOT THE ANSWER TO BACK PAIN.