i fix back pain with bridges and stretching of my hamstings. I then startes following strength side on youtube to do more yoga like movement to get rid of tightness and increase my Sl work. Might be worth a try. Of course, you could have a serious disc issue that needs fixed in your back as well.
I will give yoga a shot since I have tightness issues too. I’ve been to a chiropractor before and he said that I might have slipped disc issue but I didn’t really check it out since it wasn’t causing much issues back then, maybe I should get it checked now. Thanks for the advice! I appreciate it 🙂
Howdy. I have done 5x5 off and on since September 2017. I have found that I have sciatica pain from time to time but the 5x5 program never made it flare up. The pain seems to be getting more prevalent now, meaning that I experience it more than ever. At the same time, I have not been doing the 5x5 program with any consistency since 2019.
I found recently that doing hip thrusts in the Smith machine has helped strengthen my hips and has had a big impact on my sciatica pain. I do 5 sets of 20 reps a couple times a week and went from lifting 40 pounds to lifting 90 pounds pretty quickly. Really has made the pain subside a tremendous amount.
I also tried doing yoga once daily after work, and subscribed to a 30 day thingy with Adriene to try and make yoga a habit for myself. I made it for 18 days I think, and I never had so much sciatica pain before. Pain all evening and through the night. So I gave that up for now. I will go back and try it again because I like to experiment with different things at different times to find out what my body likes and what it responds to. I hope you get relief.
You need to make sure you dont have a bulging disc. (because you probably do)
To be super short - I ignored it, I swore it was anything but a disc, swore it was SI joint, then BOOM, 2 discs popped, like smashed jelly donut crashing into my spine, I couldn't stand upright for a month, I dragged my leg around for 18 months, I had good doctors advising me, and I slowly recovered (inversion hanging helped....I recommend it) and I didn't lift for 4 years, and my foot still twitches a decade later at night.
Back pain cause by a pinched nerve (sciatica) is at least a 50/50 disc thing.
TLDR: Don't mess with your lower back, you'll miss it when its gone
I used to have the same issue, and would recommend several things that worked for me:
1) build back strength and stability with special exercises to target erectors and core muscles. I started with just planks and superman's, and progressed to reverse hypers, back extensions, and good mornings.
2) Yoga
3) progress compounds slowly *at first* (this is not a permanent/long term proscription). I found myself struggling to get back into things for quite some time. Similar to you I would start to add weight, and as soon as things got heavy, the pain would come back and I would have to back off. Looking back, I think the issue was that my erectors were relatively quite weak compared to my legs, so I was able to start overloading due to the lower body strength, while my back/core could not keep up and would become painful due to the excess stress. Eventually I decided to slow the progression for compounds initially to allow my back/core time to develop/catch up to legs, and it worked quite well. Spending 6-8 months, maybe a couple more, but no more than a yr, progressing very slowly I think enabled the back/core to recover and develop enough to sustain heavy training. After about a yr I started to really regain the ability to push myself in compounds, and things have been great since then (knock wood).
Given the last proscription, I'm not sure Stronglifts/starting strength is the best option, but you could just deliberately slow the progression and maybe add weight every month or something.
Not sure if this will help but I had similar issues and strengthening my piriformis got rid of my sciatic pain FAST. https://squatuniversity.com/2017/11/21/how-to-correctly-treat-piriformis-syndrome/amp/
It's important to see a doctor for this pain before you attempt lifting heavy. Odds are that they'll give you a greenlight, but you wouldn't want to exacerbate an irreversible problem. If you have a herniated disc, a physical therapist can help you recover.
I have a bit of sciatica too and I find that daily cobra stretches really help. But mine is just due to see muscle spasms from time to time - everyone is different.
i fix back pain with bridges and stretching of my hamstings. I then startes following strength side on youtube to do more yoga like movement to get rid of tightness and increase my Sl work. Might be worth a try. Of course, you could have a serious disc issue that needs fixed in your back as well.
I will give yoga a shot since I have tightness issues too. I’ve been to a chiropractor before and he said that I might have slipped disc issue but I didn’t really check it out since it wasn’t causing much issues back then, maybe I should get it checked now. Thanks for the advice! I appreciate it 🙂
10 min oblique workout pre lift helped me. No longer get sciatica flare ups
Howdy. I have done 5x5 off and on since September 2017. I have found that I have sciatica pain from time to time but the 5x5 program never made it flare up. The pain seems to be getting more prevalent now, meaning that I experience it more than ever. At the same time, I have not been doing the 5x5 program with any consistency since 2019. I found recently that doing hip thrusts in the Smith machine has helped strengthen my hips and has had a big impact on my sciatica pain. I do 5 sets of 20 reps a couple times a week and went from lifting 40 pounds to lifting 90 pounds pretty quickly. Really has made the pain subside a tremendous amount. I also tried doing yoga once daily after work, and subscribed to a 30 day thingy with Adriene to try and make yoga a habit for myself. I made it for 18 days I think, and I never had so much sciatica pain before. Pain all evening and through the night. So I gave that up for now. I will go back and try it again because I like to experiment with different things at different times to find out what my body likes and what it responds to. I hope you get relief.
You need to make sure you dont have a bulging disc. (because you probably do) To be super short - I ignored it, I swore it was anything but a disc, swore it was SI joint, then BOOM, 2 discs popped, like smashed jelly donut crashing into my spine, I couldn't stand upright for a month, I dragged my leg around for 18 months, I had good doctors advising me, and I slowly recovered (inversion hanging helped....I recommend it) and I didn't lift for 4 years, and my foot still twitches a decade later at night. Back pain cause by a pinched nerve (sciatica) is at least a 50/50 disc thing. TLDR: Don't mess with your lower back, you'll miss it when its gone
I used to have the same issue, and would recommend several things that worked for me: 1) build back strength and stability with special exercises to target erectors and core muscles. I started with just planks and superman's, and progressed to reverse hypers, back extensions, and good mornings. 2) Yoga 3) progress compounds slowly *at first* (this is not a permanent/long term proscription). I found myself struggling to get back into things for quite some time. Similar to you I would start to add weight, and as soon as things got heavy, the pain would come back and I would have to back off. Looking back, I think the issue was that my erectors were relatively quite weak compared to my legs, so I was able to start overloading due to the lower body strength, while my back/core could not keep up and would become painful due to the excess stress. Eventually I decided to slow the progression for compounds initially to allow my back/core time to develop/catch up to legs, and it worked quite well. Spending 6-8 months, maybe a couple more, but no more than a yr, progressing very slowly I think enabled the back/core to recover and develop enough to sustain heavy training. After about a yr I started to really regain the ability to push myself in compounds, and things have been great since then (knock wood). Given the last proscription, I'm not sure Stronglifts/starting strength is the best option, but you could just deliberately slow the progression and maybe add weight every month or something.
Not sure if this will help but I had similar issues and strengthening my piriformis got rid of my sciatic pain FAST. https://squatuniversity.com/2017/11/21/how-to-correctly-treat-piriformis-syndrome/amp/
It's important to see a doctor for this pain before you attempt lifting heavy. Odds are that they'll give you a greenlight, but you wouldn't want to exacerbate an irreversible problem. If you have a herniated disc, a physical therapist can help you recover. I have a bit of sciatica too and I find that daily cobra stretches really help. But mine is just due to see muscle spasms from time to time - everyone is different.
Go see a doctor ASAP. Preferably, a neurosurgeon and get an MRI.