Hi,
Does anyone here train in BJJ or equivalent with known back issues and are able to manage this whilst training?
I am currently training in EPAK and am looking at expanding into ground fighting. Long story short I am 39 and have a compressed disc at L5 and currently getting chiro. Right now I have zero pain in my back but it can flare up from time to time although has improved since treatment.
Just curious if anyone out there is in a similar boat to me? Or should I maybe just steer clear and just focus solely on EPAK due to higher risk of injury?
Thoughts appreciated.
Thanks!
They only thing I can tell you is... Heal first then train later. My brother had back pain and it required surgery to fix, the surgery was probably necessary because he probably tried to push through it and made it worse. I don't train BJJ but I use dot injure my back all the time. Not saying this will work for you, but here's what I did.
1. Stopped training and focused 100% on rehabbing my back. It took almost 6 months to get through the worlds most boring exercises for the back. I even shared part of that Journey here.
2. In the past my back pain was related to a worn out mattress. Eventually I will need to replace the one that I have now. I was able to buy some foam that helps, but it makes the bed too soft, but at least now I'm not suffering from the sags in the mattress.
3. I try not to sit down for long periods of times. I often eat dinner standing up at the counter.
4. I drink tea with Tumeric daily to help manage minor swelling. As far as tastes, it's not the best. But I've gotten to the point where I can tolerate it.
You can follow up with your doctor or your Chiro on what types of exercises that you can do to rehab your back. I would recommend taking a look at some of your daily activities and your mattress to make sure those aren't the root cause of your problem. The rehab exercises will strengthen your back in the right place. The key is to not over do it and to just be patient with it. It's healing process so it takes a long time to before it works. After rehab still continue to strengthen your core so that your muscles are supporting your spine more.
Backs are always tricky because just when you think it has healed, you'll end up messing it up again. Backs take a long time to heal, Doctors also have tools to help them see things that you can't see, so it's always good to make sure that nothing is out of order. The only thing I can tell you with certainty is that the healing time will be a long journey. The sooner you accept that the better.
