Pulled back from squatting - Help!

[solarnova]

Hello all,

 

I started strength training with Strong Lifts 5x5 back in December, and over the course of 3 months managed to get from an empty barbell to 210 pounds on my last work out. Up until now, I managed to stay injury free and strictly followed the program by only adding 5 pounds after each successful workout. On the day of my last workout, two older guys at the gym saw me squatting and asked if that hurt my back. I explained how the program I follow increases you in weight gradually, and how I've yet to hurt my back.

 

And then that very workout I pulled my lower back muscles... 

 

It's been over 3 weeks now that I've been waiting to completely heal (on the advice of my doctor) before going back to the gym and potentially hurting myself by trying to lift again too soon. I feel 90% better, but there's still some residual tightness in my lower back when I bend forward sometimes. I really want to get back into my gym routine and feel like I'm wasting away with all these weeks off, yet that last bit of tightness in my lower back feels like it's taking forever to heal. All the while I keep looking at my Strong Lifts app and the weight it recommends I squat keeps plummeting as the days pass by (at last count, I was downgraded from 215 to 145..). 

 

Can you offer any advice on when it should be safe for me to go back? I'm getting worried that it'll be several more weeks, and I don't think just trying to eat clean alone will help me reach my fitness goals. 

 

 

[Bernard Marx]

1 hour ago, solarnova said:

Hello all,

 

I started strength training with Strong Lifts 5x5 back in December, and over the course of 3 months managed to get from an empty barbell to 210 pounds on my last work out. Up until now, I managed to stay injury free and strictly followed the program by only adding 5 pounds after each successful workout. On the day of my last workout, two older guys at the gym saw me squatting and asked if that hurt my back. I explained how the program I follow increases you in weight gradually, and how I've yet to hurt my back.

 

And then that very workout I pulled my lower back muscles... 

 

It's been over 3 weeks now that I've been waiting to completely heal (on the advice of my doctor) before going back to the gym and potentially hurting myself by trying to lift again too soon. I feel 90% better, but there's still some residual tightness in my lower back when I bend forward sometimes. I really want to get back into my gym routine and feel like I'm wasting away with all these weeks off, yet that last bit of tightness in my lower back feels like it's taking forever to heal. All the while I keep looking at my Strong Lifts app and the weight it recommends I squat keeps plummeting as the days pass by (at last count, I was downgraded from 215 to 145..). 

 

Can you offer any advice on when it should be safe for me to go back? I'm getting worried that it'll be several more weeks, and I don't think just trying to eat clean alone will help me reach my fitness goals. 

 

 

I am not at all a medical professional, so my overarching caveat is ask your doctor if you're unsure.

 

That said, what if you started doing some bodyweight squats, or circle back to an empty bar for a few workouts? Something with minimal load that will allow you to get those muscles moving again without risking further injury. The empty bar option might also give you an opportunity to check your form carefully, because my understanding is that lower back injuries from squatting are typically caused by either too much weight too fast or improper form and since you've said you were following the progressive loading in small increments carefully, it may have been a form problem.