Let me be transparent about something. I jumped off a roof as a kid and have had back pain on and off my whole life.

Sitting in chairs has been uncomfortable for as long as I remember.

And when I first started lifting, discovering the severity of my back injury is what got me into coaching in the first place.

And when it flares up, thanks to weight training, it’s usually back to normal within 14 days.

But this fall I spent five days bedridden, half a day in the ER, and a total now of 20 days in mild to excruciating pain.

So I think it’s fair to say I’m speaking out of experience with back injuries. Lots of it.

Here is what can get you through your pain and get you into the next steps:

Exercise and Learning

Learning how to manage your pain significantly reduces your risk of a flare up. That said, the stronger your body is the faster you recover from flare ups, so there is a huge benefit to learning and doing here.

Where can you learn?

A coach can help you a lot, especially one who has dealt with either a lot of clients with back injuries or back injuries themselves.

Chiropractors are hit or miss. A lot of them have ruined the reputations of the good ones. You want one who is physically fit and clearly lifts.

The same goes for physical therapists unfortunately.

Major red flags come from anyone who says that a movement pattern needs to be deleted from your life or puts too much strain on your body.

Your injuries come from doing something your body isn’t prepared for. So if you prepare your body for a movement, it will be safer for you to do.

There is therefore basically no movement that is inherently unsafe to do so long as your body is ready for it.

So anyone who acknowledges this in their posts is likely the person you should follow.

Walk. NOW

As soon as physically possible, you need to walk as much as possible. Ease yourself into it day by day, and when there is little to no pain, don’t stop.

This helps your body correct a lot of issues. It will lubricate your joints for one thing. But it will also move your back and leg muscles around so that they can unpinch the nerve.

This reduces the pain over the long term unlike laying down, which temporarily eases the pain but makes it worse over the long term.

Lose Weight

Obesity is a huge factor for back pain. Getting your bodyfat levels down reduces the strain on your spine from holding it up. We can help you with this, just use this link here.

Stop Smoking

The number of people who come to us with back pain who are actually smokers will stagger you.

When I learned about the relationship between smoking and back pain I quit smoking almost immediately.

Smoking damages the discs in your spine, reducing their size. The effect reduces when you quit though.

I know this can be hard, but if you’re reading this post then you’re ready to do some hard things.

Lift Weights

Weight training is one of the most effective ways to recover from and prevent most back pain.

When you weight train you strengthen the muscles that support the chain along the spine and in your legs. Those muscles push discs and nerves back into place and speed up your recovery afterwards.

So as soon as you can lift without pain or without pain you can’t handle, you need to.