MY EXPERIENCE WITH A BACK INJURY
Documenting my worst injury in my fitness journey.
Around August last year i was preparing for my biggest photoshoot yet so what would anyone in that situation do? Strive to look your best most certainly! I put in all the work, time and made sacrifices to ensure it all goes perfectly fine which it did but at what cost?
The picture above was a picture from the end of the bulk and believe me, i gained a lot of size and i looked perfect in clothes.
How about the injury?
In the course of my training, I implemented a lot of progressive overload both in my diet and in the gym. I focused on compound exercises that really takes a lot of energy and multiple muscle groups to perform and my prime focus was gaining strength so i did a whole lot of deadlifts. Adding too much weight that fast was one of my biggest mistakes. I added 5 to 10kg every week on my deadlifts. It felt great, i gained a whole lot of strength and quickly too and after two months of this, i realized I couldn’t bend past a certain level and my back started feeling stiff. After noticing this, i pulled back for a little while but the pain only progressed. I had to go to the hospital after another one month and realized that i took an injury to both my bone and a ligament in my lower back. I was advised to stop training for a month and i was put on medication for that month and back management routine.
It most certainly helped and now i have recovered, i have resumed my training and with a deload week. Here, i will slowly work up to my heavy weights.
How to prevent injuries?
- If you are just starting out, i advice you to take things slow. Don’t lift weights you are not comfortable with yet. Slowly work your way up.
- While implementing progressive overload, don’t add extra plates as soon as you can move the current weight. Make sure you are comfortable with your current PR then you can progress.
- Don’t get intimidated by what you see on the internet. Most of these guys have been training for years to achieve what you see. It takes time, be patient.
- Listen to your body. If you feel something is wrong, stop the exercise and adjust your form. If the pain persists or you still get that “wrong” feeling, stop immediately and seek expert advice.
How to recover from injuries
If you by any means you have obtained an injury from your training, you should seek help and you will be put on some kind of management routine. After this, do not jump back into your training, give your body an extra week or two. After this, you can start with bodyweight workouts and wait for your body to respond. If you feel good, you can move back into the gym but take note slow things down. Reduce the weight on your exercises, take things down a notch and slowly work your way up to your previous PR.
Takeaway
Injuries might seem inevitable but you can prevent them by taking things slow and being patient. You will get to lift heavy weights but it will take time. Be patient and trust the process.
With that being said, this brings us to the end of the story, i hope you enjoyed it and will give it a try. Be sure to give it a like and drop your comments below and i will see you in the next post.
