8 years of lifting, injuries are annoying...

[sonny4753]

OK all I have been lifting since 23 years old I just turned 32. I didn't start till about July of my 23rd year. I weighed approx 155 lbs and my bodyfat was about 19%.

I will post pics at some point, not right now though, because I think some would be impressed, and some can point out things I may need to work on. I am currently 6' (haven't shrunk LOL) - 204lbs (first AM naked), with 10% bodyfat (winter time bulking right now), I get down to around 8% in the summer.

Anyway, I'm stuck right now in part due to injuries.

Here are the injuries I deal with (and none from what I can tell or remember come from training, all occurred outside the gym):

1. Labral Tear in my Right Shoulder (I'm left side dominant) - 2 options surgery or conservative treatment (ice packs, ibuprofen/Alleve out the wahzoo) and moderate excercise.

2. L4/L5 mild disc degeneration (I have little fluid left in those two discs if any) - Dr's told me to basically never lift again...I have not stopped, and only WHEN I stop do I have more issues.

The labral tear has impacted me more, anyone ever have the same thing? The same goes for disc degeneration.

My heavy squatting days are over, same goes for deadlifts; how the hell do I still build size without the meat and potatos of all workouts????

Help, advice anyone...

BTW with my back when I do either straight leg deadlifts, moderate to heavy squats, or step forward lunges I begin to lose the feeling in my right leg along with a numbing pain in my right hip.

I'm in very good shape and have built quite a body but fu&* these injuries are annoying.

[tooncesthecat]

Sonny, I'm sorry to hear about your woes. Getting older sucks, doesn't it? Anyway, the labium tear will not heal on it's own. You're stuck with it unless you get surgery. Question is, does it cause too much pain or limit you to the extent you feel this is necessary? Surgery will likely help if you decide to do it.

The discs are a real problem too. You should pm italianangel. She's stuck in a similar situation. Check out her blog. These discs being worn causes the vertabrae to move closer together and put pressure on the nerve root. Surgery can sometimes fix this problem, but you might opt for chiropractic first to see if a misalignment is partly responsible for your impingement. You are best off avoiding heavy squats (as you mentioned) or any other exercises which load the vertebral column directly. Listen to your body. If you have pain (as you mentioned with certain exercises) you should avoid them. This leads to your question about how to keep working out despite these injuries. My advice would be to consult a sports medicine professional or physical therapist who is trained in exercise related injuries. Ask their advice about specific exercise routines, exercises, amount of weight, rest period, etc.

Bottom line is to protect yourself from a truly debilitating injury. You're too young to get permanently screwed up or suffer from chronic pain the rest of your life.

[wildstang]

sonny the tear in the shoulder ive never dealt with that but the discs in the lumbar region yes i have there. i currently have my tailbone fused to the vertabrae above now and from what the docs said lately they have better teqniques of surgery nowadays compared to what i had done to me back then. doc had said they now replace the discs with an artificial one nowadays, so that sounds better to me there. but i also had an lamenectomy done in the lumbar region also wich is basically carving a little bone out to make more room for the nerves surrounding another damaged disc. as far as the meat and potates i feel you there but you can still do them but with lighter weights then used to. implement more machine work into your routine for the legs as opposed to free weights. thats how i get by. hope this info helps.