Here is Grunt's herniated disc rehab procedure:
Back in my first year of lifting weights, while I was very inexperienced, I had a terrible L4/L5 disc hernia. It occured on one of the first times that I squatted 135. At the end of the set, because of inexperience, I did not expect what happened: the only way to unbend my legs was by allowing my back to bend forward. That is a pretty bad situation, which I tried to correct by arching my back. This resulted in a herniated disc that prompted my very reputable orthopaedic surgeon to state:
If you lift weights again, you will end up in a wheelchair. The way you are set up now, you are about to cut off some very important lower body nerves.
GULP!
After 3 weeks of intense pain, I was finally able to tie my shoes myself. Good because the wife had been *****ing every single time I asked her to do it for me, unable to bend down. Even though I wasn't in terrible pain anymore, I was still getting some major discomfort. No, even 2 months after the injury, the back was still quite far from feeling good. I felt handicapped all the time.
I did some research on the injury and tried to understand what could help and what not to do. With this information, I decided to go back to the gym. The main key was to NOT put ANY pressure on the injured disc. As a matter of fact, the rehab revolves around taking the pressure OFF the disc as much as possible, in order to let it regain its normal shape and place. This is easier said than done though, because there are just about no normal stretches that allow this. Moreover, finding a good stretch was KEY to my rehab, as even without any exercise at all, my bodyweight does put pressure on the disc, just sitting down or standing up.
Arms exercises remained pretty much unchanged because I was weak at the time, curling 25's doesn't put much pressure on the spine.
Chest exercises, ditto.
Abs exercises were mostly difficult and too painful so I avoided them.
Leg exercises were very difficult. The leg press, squat, hack and sissy squats were obviously out of the question, leaving some very light leg curls and extensions. My leg development suffered. I was ready to accept this for the moment though, just to make sure that my back would eventually let me get back at it full bore.
Shoulder exercises suffered greatly. No overheads, and no upright rows. There remained some front, bent-over and lateral raises. No pressing. Oh well, so be it.
Back exercises were mostly fine with some exceptions: pulldowns better than chinups thanks to greater stability, cable rows better than dumbell rows for the same reason and of course no rack pulls, bent-overs, T-Bars or deadlifts.
The gym I was at had some gravity inversion boots that allow you to hang from your ankles attached by the boots to a chin-up bar. I found out that this was the only way in which I was able to do crunches. The inverted crunches were the most effective abdominal exercise that I had EVER tried, and on top of that they gave my back a good rest. Oh joy! What a relief! For the first time ever, after doing those, I went home pain-free. Only for the pain to return in the morning, but hell, I had had a full evening without the crippling lower back pain! It was a happy moment.
After a bit, though, I had to change gyms and the new one did not have the gravity inversion apparatus, which had me searching for another stretch or exercise that I would be able to do with more standard gym equipment. And did I find it. I called it the ball-atop-bench lower back stretch and later the ball-atop-bench lower back stretch and reverse hyperextension. Hey shoot me, I'm bad with names.
You basically grab an exercise ball and put it atop a flat bench, then, putting the lower chest on the ball, reach over it to the underside of the bench. Plant the elbows into the exercise ball for good balance. You aim to put the injury at the top of the ball, and let gravity gently pull both ends of your body apart at a mild angle, giving the most optimal of stretches. Eventually I was pain-free enough that I turned the stretch into a hyperextension and even with a dumbell between my feet.
This stretch and exercise is superior to other hyperextensions for two reasons:
1. You have a wide angle in the stretch where both ends of the stretched part are supported
2. You can roll on the ball to change the point of greatest stretch very easily and comfortably.
You cannot do this on a normal reverse or normal hyperextension.
I hope reading this can help someone else rehab from the terrible injuries that are herniated discs. Here is an image of the stretch/exercise:
BUT GRUNT WHAT ABOUT GROWTH FACTORS!?!?!?
Ah, ye good olde growth factors. Yes, they can play a very major role in such a situation. As a matter of fact, so can AAS.
GH: Injected either sub-Q or, even better, LOCALLY, it will help regenerate the disc more quickly.
IGF-1: Pretty much the same as with GH, only it is reconstituted in acetic acid, which makes injecting it near your spine a problem
Oxandrolone: Is a potent collagen synthesis and cross-linking (up)regulator
Nandrolone: Same as Oxandrolone
Boldenone: Ditto
Testosterone: As with all other AAS, it WILL inhibit the effects you are looking for, even at what we consider small doses, so I say forgo them entirely during this rehab cycle unless you want to be at it forever.
Now, let me be very clear on this, as I cannot insist on this too much:
If you do not AVOID ALL PRESSURE on the spine, you WILL NOT heal, no matter how much GH or whatever else you take.
The disc must go back to its original place and shape, and it is now like an open tennnis ball, very soft. It cannot take any pressure at all, it just collapses on itself. It can only regenerate if it keeps its original shape and place for long enough for healing to happen.
Avoid *ALL* pressure on your spine for 2 months, do the exercises as described here and take the growth factors and hormones, you will do great.
