Did decades of squats and crunches herniate my disc?

[lesia]

firmboogie I truly hope your road to recovery is smooth and steady. Best wishes.

Debbie, you continue to inspire me. My mom in her 30s-40s had an accident similar to yours. She went through many back surgeries and is now 65. She is a near invalid. No joke. I really wish that she had gone thru some kind of therapy, exercise, something. But for her, in truth, the pain was too strong. This accident led to my Mom's downfall but on the positive side, I witnessed it and promised myself to always remain strong and physically fit. Its the force that drives me in my exercise journey.

Thanks so much.
Lesia

[Debbie S.]

Originally Posted by lesia

firmboogie I truly hope your road to recovery is smooth and steady. Best wishes.

Debbie, you continue to inspire me. My mom in her 30s-40s had an accident similar to yours. She went through many back surgeries and is now 65. She is a near invalid. No joke. I really wish that she had gone thru some kind of therapy, exercise, something. But for her, in truth, the pain was too strong. This accident led to my Mom's downfall but on the positive side, I witnessed it and promised myself to always remain strong and physically fit. Its the force that drives me in my exercise journey.

Thanks so much.
Lesia

Lesia, hugs.

I was at that crossroad in my life and I had to make the decision to continue to go downhill or take control of my life and body. Making that decision was super tough. I was filled with anger (two strangers did this to me) and self pity. It would have been easier to continue my down sloop honestly.

My husband is the one who told me that I could walk after one of my emotionally outbreaks. I was crying and telling him that I could never run again, lift weights, or play softball. He looked up at me and said, "Well you can walk." I hated him for saying that, but his words did save me. Yes, it was walking that saved me.

Every time I read your posts about your mom I think of my MIL. She has no desire to move even though she is perfectly capable. Her muscles have atrophied so bad that even she can't even control her bodily function. It is heartbreaking.

[dbclark44]

Originally Posted by Debbie S.

Lesia, hugs.

I was at that crossroad in my life and I had to make the decision to continue to go downhill or take control of my life and body. Making that decision was super tough. I was filled with anger (two strangers did this to me) and self pity. It would have been easier to continue my down sloop honestly.

My husband is the one who told me that I could walk after one of my emotionally outbreaks. I was crying and telling him that I could never run again, lift weights, or play softball. He looked up at me and said, "Well you can walk." I hated him for saying that, but his words did save me. Yes, it was walking that saved me.

Every time I read your posts about your mom I think of my MIL. She has no desire to move even though she is perfectly capable. Her muscles have atrophied so bad that even she can't even control her bodily function. It is heartbreaking.

Kudos to your DH! I pray that if anything like this ever happens to me I have someone in my life dishing out tough love who tells me to stop whining about what I can't do and be thankful to do what I can. Sometimes we need that in our lives.

ETA: Mary, please don't think I'm addressing you here in any way. I have absolutely no idea what your situation is so would never presume to say anything like this to you. I am honestly very happy that DebbieS had someone in her life that gave her what she needed at a pivotal moment. I do hope you find what will work for you to deal with the chronic pain you're experiencing. So sorry for your difficulties.

[lesia]

Yes, Debbie it is great that your hubby's one little sentence basically got you to where you are today. That is so awesome.

Lesia

[gigi]

Debbie, yes, yes, yes, your story is inspiring and please promise me to re-tell your story to me if I ever stop exercising or think I can't for whatever reason. My goodness. I forget the details of your story and then I'm amazed all over again.

Lesia, it is so difficult to watch the people we love make decisions that hurt them. I'm so sorry you've had to experience this.

Well, I think I'm going to get my late but better than never workout in tonight after all!

[RedPanda]

Originally Posted by eyefit

...I have heard that if you are only doing crunches without correspondingly strengthening the low back and obliques (like say with plank work) then you can set yourself up for a muscle imbalance that can hurt your spine. If the rectus muscles are strong but the rest of the core is weak, it can set you up for back problems.

The same is true for knee problems...muscle imbalances lead to knee injuries and pain.

That's my understanding too - on both counts.

Originally Posted by gigi

Debbie, yes, yes, yes, your story is inspiring and please promise me to re-tell your story to me if I ever stop exercising or think I can't for whatever reason. My goodness. I forget the details of your story and then I'm amazed all over again.

What she said! Debbie S is an inspiration to many of us here.

[eyefit]

Originally Posted by Debbie S.

Lesia, hugs.

I was at that crossroad in my life and I had to make the decision to continue to go downhill or take control of my life and body. Making that decision was super tough. I was filled with anger (two strangers did this to me) and self pity. It would have been easier to continue my down sloop honestly.

My husband is the one who told me that I could walk after one of my emotionally outbreaks. I was crying and telling him that I could never run again, lift weights, or play softball. He looked up at me and said, "Well you can walk." I hated him for saying that, but his words did save me. Yes, it was walking that saved me.

Every time I read your posts about your mom I think of my MIL. She has no desire to move even though she is perfectly capable. Her muscles have atrophied so bad that even she can't even control her bodily function. It is heartbreaking.

Debbie- hugs to you, too! You are an inspiration! I am just filled with awe thinking of everything you've gone through and the path you took to heal yourself. You are an amazing woman!

Originally Posted by gigi

Debbie, yes, yes, yes, your story is inspiring and please promise me to re-tell your story to me if I ever stop exercising or think I can't for whatever reason. My goodness. I forget the details of your story and then I'm amazed all over again.

Ditto!

firmbogie- I'm so sorry for the pain you are going through. I hope with all my heart that you can come out the other side of this completely healed and pain free. {{{HUGS}}}

[bfit]

As some others have said, I think it depends on the person. Some exercises may not be for everyone. When I had a muscular injury in my low back squats were one of the things the PT actually told me to do and showed me how to do properly. On the other hand, both of my sisters-in-law have had disc problems (and both had surgery), and neither has exercised much at all ever - certainly no squats or crunches.

[Vee]

Debbie S, just reading what you went through is difficult. Your will and determination are amazing.

[firmbogie]

Thanks, everyone! I'm actually doing ok. I went back to work 6 weeks post-op, haven't missed a day since. I'm at my best when active. Sitting is impossible for any length of time. So, no travel, no vacations for now.
I've been told that regardless of the "cause" --and I'll never know, squats and crunches are a never thing for me. I'm doing planks almost exclusively for core work. I will never put a barbell on my shoulders again. Lunges I can do, though with dumbbells.
ITA about the long recovery. I'm hoping this second year after surgery will be when I turn the corner. As a nurse, I see too many "failed back" patients. They always have a long list of meds, almost all are narcotic addicts. Thankfully, I take nothing for the pain other than Tylenol and ibuprofen. Don't want to go down that road.
Again, thanks for all the suggestions! Staying active IS the key to recovery.