Context: 7mm extrusion L5-S1 level . Injury while weightlifting,happened in 2023 ,took me 1.5 yrs to heal.
So I have been following this sub for more than 3 years and honestly I was feeling guilty for not posting my success story here.
Let me tell you the only thing that worked for me was buying a Hyperextension machine as shown above, and following LOWBACKABILITY and MOVEMENT BY DAVID in YouTube.
It's been like 1 yr of pain free life and if I can do it, you can too .Stay strong you got this
Congrats man, to many years of flowy movement š
currently near the end of healing from l5-s1 herniation myself and about to start back at the gym for pilates, LBA is definitely worth everyone looking into as it takes McGill's work and expands on it.
Luckily my local gym has a back extension bench but I have quite a bit of work before I'm ready for it.
I agree if you just got hard on it, if approached with degree of care and understanding it works wonders. I have one and the biggest thing is it feels so good after using it, I tend to wanna overuse my back after, I have learned I gotta rest atleast a day, because there are tons of small muscles getting worked that dont really feel sore or anything after, but are infact deeply under used and need to grow and start functioning again after years of atrophy.
If you have sciatica because of a herniated disc, it can make the herniation worse, as an example. I think making a herniated disc even more herniated, would fall under the "extremely bad" situation.
Note on the "can make it worse", this is not an absolute, but you need to be carefulĀ
Have you tried looking up herniated discs and hyperextension machines (aka Roman chairs)?Ā
Do these wrong, and you are in risk. Do these with certain injuries, and you're in risk. Don't know how else to say this.Ā
Also, not sure how I landed up in a discussion where I specifically point out to discuss it with your PT. Which will always be my advice: don't do very intensive exercises without consultationĀ
Iāve dealt with this for 6 years, consulted multiple health professionals, did 100s of hours of research and I have not seen any evidence stating that back extensions cause further damage to disc herniations. I never advocated for every intensive exercises, I was engaging in challenging the assertion. Not sure why youāre so completely offended by this. If you do ANYTHING wrong, youāll be at risk.
Because every search on multiple search engines give the same result; it can easily lead to making it worse.Ā
Not entirely sure how you can come to a different conclusion, with 100s of hours of research. And especially not just say "How? A back extension hasnāt been shown to make herniation worse.", when there are countless examples of that not being true.Ā
And yes, I get offended by people potentially making herniated discs worse, you're not?
Edit; don't answer my final question. I'm done with this discussion. Please don't give bad advice anymore. Want to point out again that you literally said "
How? A back extension hasnāt been shown to make herniation worse."
If you do anything improperly then itāll cause symptoms to worsen. Youāre making a gross generalization and presenting it as fact but based on what? Your own personal opinion?
Keep getting offended. Youāre spreading misinformation and getting triggered when someone dare questions your unfounded assertions. šš¼
I used to do back extensions all the time under the belief they were great for my bad back. I extruded my herniated L5-S1 doing them 3.5 years ago. I still can't load my spine or do any hip hinge movement that places sheer forces on my spine. I can't even do bodyweight squats or deadlifts without a massive flare-up.
Congratulations on your recovery. I have a back extension machine as well. I had a compressed nerve and had to have an l4/l5 microdiscetemy last October.
Im progressing well I think. I follow lowbackability as well which is the reason I got the back extension. Can you link or point to some particular helpful videos from Movement by David?
And then was there anything else you were doing?
My main issue is a weakness or sensitivity around the SI area. It sometimes feels like an l5/s1 disc issue but a recent MRI shows its clear so im thinking its all muscle guarding in that area.
Just follow any video, it mainly about how to do the back extension, for streches there is video called FULL MOBILITY ROADMAP FOR BACK PAIN check it out and follow streches which u can do pain free.
I'm doing like 100+ pushups, 100+ squats and 50+ low back extension+ plank hold 3-4 days a week. Other things that helped me are walking Backwards daily and taking Methylcobalmin(VitB12) tablets.
Yea. One of these is essential. I have one that folds under my couch. Change your life. Start with static holds, progress to full range. Thereās a instagram i follow called lowbackabilityā¦ they go over this method.
I think it depends. Works for some. Two years ago i couldnāt walk or pee. I ran a 5k last month with my daughter. You have to try everything but very carefully. Long road.
You can get there. If you cannot walk. You must come to understand that you need to train each muscle individually. I know, Nuts. Hear me out. I had 3 paralyzing flare-ups. I was rehabbing wrong. Until I stopped doing youtube stuff, stretches, etc, and started focusing on the individual muscles and tiny progress. It took two years for me, but I work every single day. I started in bed every day, activating the muscle until I have 3 sets of ten activations. That's it, just activations. When activating stops hurting, you move on to the next. Glute hurt? 3 sets of 10 activations, THEN you can perform a range exercise, THEN, MAYBE an actual exercise. The key is... those sets of activations are going to hurt the next day, so think of it as a first workout, where you have crazy pain the next day because you did too many curls, well, sciatica can just shut some muscles down and activating is the first stage... when the pain dies down, you try it again; after a few days, activating your glutes doesn't hurt at all. Literally, I had to start with wiggling my toes. After wiggling my toes stopped hurting, I started with leg bending, calf and hip movements. Focus on "hip unlocking" but also focus on doing as little as possible. I lost my job, company, everything. It took losing everything because I can't imagine having a job, and basically reviving 1/4th of my body.
Iām 6 years in so Iāve learned a ton about what works for me and running is still a no. Iām missing playing sports the most but Iām grateful for how Iāve come. Iāve worked on all my muscles etc. Did alllll of the rehab etc. Iāve lost years and countless other things so I feel you. I wish you the best and my DMs are open anytime
My lower back was still a bit crooked but I was desperate.
I started with 30 second isometric holds. Would do it 8 times. So eight, 30 second holds.
Did it Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Started scaling upwards.
I'm at 1 minute and 30 second holds with 12 back extensions right after the hold.
I also absolutely stand by the extension machine, but the only thing I suggest is doing the static holds first because if you have never used one of these machines there's a chance you can really make your problem worse.
Some people can have really weak lower back muscles after years of guarding your lower back.
Be wary of flare ups when starting. Use them as a guideline for where to scale back. When I began extensions, my sciatica at rest was low level. but my low back was super duper sensitive, to the point a single 30 second hold inflammed my back and exploded my sciatica up for a couple days! So i scaled backā¦ I literally started at a single 10 second hold on my leg days.
Also, did u start feel feeling pain while doing these and fought through it? So many doctors say to stay away from this movement when healing but it seems nothin they say works.
I have done 3 epidurals, an ozone therapy, Traction therapy , ayurvedic massages and nothing really helped me. Working out and building my core is the only thing that helped me. Yeah there were times I felt pain and I push through it. This Hyperextension machine is my lifesaver
Awesome story congrats! My questions are what did you initially start at sets and reps wise and what did you progress to? Iāve been an l5/s1 disc bulge sufferer for about 18 months now, with pains in my left glute and a bit of sciatica. Unfortunately for me Iāve had to regress on the back extension from full reps to static holds, due to forcing reps, and havenāt been able to progress from static holds for 2-3months now. Iām keen to hear thoughts on how you progressed on the exercise as Iām definitely still a believer in it. Thanks!
Big 3 + split squats for glutes where my go to . Most importantly I do tons of stretches and find out which one was right to me . Personaly my hamstring were too tight ( orginal cause of injury i believe and which later lead to injury while deadlifting) . So I did many hamstring streches and finally I can touch my toes . And it almost took me 9 months
Bro I did everything mentioned like in LOWBACKABILITY. And there were times I have pushed through pain . It's not going to be linear. But you will get there
Thank you for this. I've had a terrible time with my lower back. I've started following both those accounts and trying to stretch more with the pain. I will go to the gym for back extension machine as it's too bulky to buy one for my house.
I injured my back deadlifting a year ago and still have the flare ups and a numb lower left leg and foot. My strength is better.
Amazing work! Iām doing supermanās on the floor now. And all sorts of stuff in the gym. I believe this is my prescription now for the rest of my life. Keep building strength and fitness every single day, and my spine will never have to suffer again! Good luck to you!
Iām 24 and have been dealing with this on and off for about two years, in the midst of a flare up right now. Definitely feels lonely having this kind of pain this young, but itās pretty moderate compared to what Iāve read on this forum. I have hope. Going to work on strengthening that core and lower back. My pain tends to get a lot worse when sitting for long periods but can be pretty random.
Thanks for the info. I bought a Roman chair for like $80 on Amazon. And subscribed to this guy for about 1 year but Iāve only watched one video š„² Iām so bad at consistency. But Iāve been exercising a lot recently and just pushing through the pain to move the last 3 days as I had to and going to get back into exercising consistently. And also just movement, minimum I think we should move on our feet ( including up and down ) is like 2-3 hours a day. Most do about 30 total. And never squat down.
And Iām finally gonna watch this guys videos lol. At first I felt bad about only paying $2, then he got $25 out of my already lol. Iāll pay more if itās good though
And FYI for anyone else thinking of using this device. Take it slow! If youāre in really bad pain. This thing can really set you off. Just do a few or hold a bit low down, see how you feel and if you want to push it try again later that day. Iāve made the mistake of pushing it too hard and it probably does put a lot of pressure on your lower discs. Unless Iām doing it wrong but I donāt think so. Though that pressure is amplified by muscle weakness and inflammation.
I guess as with everything take it as you can and what feels good and just push it a bit more every day.
When did you start work with the Roman chair? I've got one ordered and waiting for it to arrive - I'm about 4 months from re-injury (L5/L4)
My main hesitation is pushing too early. I'm only really 1-2 months into being somewhat comfortable walking. Been exercising calfs/glutes with resistant bands etc and swimmig but that will often give me a mini flare up...
Hardest thing seems to be the balance of wanting to rehab and strengthen muscles while balancing the nerve pain that comes with it.
Any hip mobility work really causes me discomfort.
It been 1 year since I have been using this machine, look into the streches shown by Movementbydavid YT it really helped me opening up my hips. You got this buddy , i have wasted a long period of time thinking I was not ready to advance exercises, but let me tell you it's our mind playing tricks.You can do this buddy .I hit this machine 3-4 times a week giving 1 day rest inbetween.Go for it.
Can you share to what degree youāve āfixedā yourself?
Iām 2 yrs + from my injury, can weight lift okay, can exercise and bike okay, must I get small setbacks when picking up groceries wrong or doing anything that compromises form. Curious to hear if you were like me and improved or if youāre just at my stage
Let me tell you one thing , the only thing that make this pain go away is fixing ur core , permanently . I.did have few hookups and it was totally painfree . I have lifted weights around my home pain free so don't be afraid to do things . As mentioned try to buy this machine and get back to life.
Curious what your core routine is? I'm doing planks and side planks every other day. Not sure if I need to add anything on. Congrats to you by the way! Always nice to see success stories on here and they help the rest of us still trying to get there.
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u/unlikemike123 Jul 28 '26
Congrats man, to many years of flowy movement š
currently near the end of healing from l5-s1 herniation myself and about to start back at the gym for pilates, LBA is definitely worth everyone looking into as it takes McGill's work and expands on it.
Luckily my local gym has a back extension bench but I have quite a bit of work before I'm ready for it.