Back injury - ideas for back/core conditioning for rucking

[colek42]

My lower back got pretty messed up during my deployment in '05. I never let it recover during that year as my unit was always over tasked/under staffed.

My doc at the VA said that my spine was fine and that I had some pretty bad scaring in my muscle tissue from not letting my injury heal properly.

Since I have returned I was able to give my back time to heal and have improved my core strength significantly. When I go on extended marches my back is still the first part of my body to try and tell me to stop.

I'm sure many of the soldiers on this forum have also had similar problems. My question is what you have done, as far as training in and out of the gym , to overcome these problems.

Thanks.

[bmf175]

I concentrate more on exercise physiology and this would need input from somebody that has experience in physical therapy or athletic training, but since this post has gone for about a week with no reply I will try and throw some things out there that may help you.

First, back injuries are a very sensitive subject and its hard for somebody to truely know what you are going through without having seen you in person.

I will say that the fibrous connective tissue that comprises the discs inbetween your vertebrae are a dense irregular tissue with very little blood supply. What this means is that when you do have a back or knee injury this tissue takes a long period of time to heal. If you continue to do work with an injured back sometimes you will see scarring and even compenation from other muscles around the injury. When this happens, especially in your back, long term problems can result even after the initial problem has healed.

Fibrous connective tissue is the ideal tissue to have in your back and knees because it is best at absorbing shock. As i have said the bad part is that with that strentgh comes a draw back.... little blood supply and prolonged healing time.

As for my experience with back injuries. I had a jump injury while I was active duty. Bruised coccyx (tailbone) and a pinched nerve, Im think I compressed my lumbar region a bit. For a year after the injury my lower back clicked while I was doing sit-ups during PT tests.

Now, 6 years later I dont feel any lingering effects of my back injury. Time is the best thing for you now. If you feel you are ready to do some PT to get back to preinjury shape go for it. But you are going to have to be your own judge on how far you can push yourself.

[PocketKings]

Muscular stuff is tough for rucking. I broke my L-1 on a jump in 2000. After I 'healed' I had to be real smart about rucking in particular. I'll be honest; I did it as little as possible. Outside of EIB, AASLT, and required unit stuff I layed off the ruck and just ran. I pretty much had to to make it to the end of my commitment. My muscles in the lumbar region would seize up from time to time, but that comes with the territory.

Now I try to concentrate on keeping my cardio fitness up and my weight down. Every extra pound on the gut has a ten fold increase in back (lower) pressure. The ab ball is great for the core, so is swimming. If you want to keep ruck fitness up go biking. You get the leg slowtwitch fibers going without the pounding.

I'm past 30 now so things seem to be getting arthritic. Not a day goes by when my back doesn't get my attention.