Stretching the muscles of the back: symptoms, home treatment * Crossfit

Any well-distributed physical activity is good for health. The same cannot be said so categorically about professional sports. And the thing is that professional sports and the world of serious achievements require constant sacrifices, because of this, most often athletes become disabled at the end of their careers. Hernias, disc misalignments, frayed joints, or at least a sprain in the back muscles?

Almost every athlete has pulled his back at least once in his career. How to avoid injury, what to do when stretching your back? And how can you tell a micro-dislocation (a torn back) from a simple muscle strain? We will talk about this in the article.

Back muscle anatomy

To understand the mechanism of injury formation, you first need to understand which back muscles are involved in the work, and what is the probability of serious injury.

Muscle group	Injury type	At what movement	The likelihood of injury
Trapeze	Stretching	Barbell pull to the chin	Low
Widest	Stretching	Bent over row	Low
Diamond-shaped	Stretching	Deadlift	Low
Large round muscle	Stretching	Front thrust	Low
Long muscle extensor	Stretching	Sharp movements with hyperextension	High
Lumbar muscles	Stretch / micro-dislocation	For any that requires a clear technique, with the neutralization of the static load on this department	High

As you can see, with almost any exercise you can get serious injury, and even more so - simple stretching. And in the case of the lumbar spine, improper or abrupt movement can lead to micro dislocation, which will make itself felt every time you do a hard approach.

Prevention of injuries

In order not to rip muscles and not get sprained, it is worth following simple rules that will protect you from injury.

Rule # 1: nDo not start training without warm-up sets. In ordinary life, the back is not the most mobile part of the body, especially in the lumbar region. Therefore, do light sets before the main one.

Rule # 2: do not stretch your back before heavy sets of deadlifts. While stretching is recommended for any workout, the back is a little different. A stretched back harder comes into a compressed state, which creates additional stress on the spine and may result in micro-dislocation.

Rule # 3: do not use a rasp. When working with a different grip, additional torque is exerted on the spine, respectively, the load on the back ceases to be symmetrical, which leads to rapid sprains.

Rule # 4: use a safety belt. If you are not completely sure that you can do the exercise with the correct technique and heavy weight, it is better to refrain from doing it. But if this is not possible, then use a weightlifting belt.

The most important rule: when working with the muscles of the back, forget about sudden movements, as well as about working with a bounce. A sudden change in load invariably leads to a strong stretching of the back.

Injury mechanism

How is stretching formed? And how to distinguish it from micro-dislocation? We will try to give answers to these important questions so that you can, if not avoid, then at least correctly diagnose the injury and provide qualified first aid.

Firstly, micro-dislocation can form only in the lower lumbar spine if the exercise technique is not followed. This is the most important rule for distinguishing it from stretching.
Second, notice the nature of the pain. In micro-dislocation it is shooting, in stretching it is “pulling”. Although this rule does not work in all cases. With prolonged pumping, the pain from micro-dislocation may not be felt for a long time.

How is the stretching of the back muscles formed? It's pretty simple. When working on a projectile, the muscles get used to a certain range of motion, thereby creating a neuromuscular connection. As a result, the muscles tighten in these sections and lose some of their flexibility. Therefore, if you make a sharp movement (accelerate the pace of execution, or try to work with the rebound of the bar), the following happens:

The range of motion is impaired, resulting in the involvement of those parts of the ligaments and muscles that usually do not work in this range. This leads to their overstressing, and under the influence of loads they stretch.
Uneven abrupt load. When working in the deadlift with a rebound, there is a phase of movement in which the muscles are in a relaxed state for almost half a second. As a result of sudden stress, they can receive an uneven load, which leads to injury.

How to explain it easier. Imagine that you are working with a loose spring (for example, from batteries to a flashlight), and for a long time squeeze it vigorously. Under the influence of the load, deformation occurs, in view of which the spring becomes more rigid to tightening and stretching. But if at the moment of peak load, you start to sharply stretch the spring, then it will receive irreversible deformation and lose its rigidity.

Signs of stretching

What are the main symptoms of a back strain?

localized pain in the damaged area (most often in the lumbar region);
increased pain syndrome when massaging and palpating the damaged area;
pain occurs suddenly, usually during or after a hard approach (when working on a pump, pain can occur much later, when the blood leaves the muscles);
with complete relaxation of the back muscles, the painful sensations pass.

It is important to distinguish between pain during stretching of the back muscles and pain during micro-dislocation. Stretching pain, pulling, worse with any movement. The pain during a breakdown is acute, comparable to an internal cut (by sensations).

Note: the article does not cover the case of a muscle connection rupture. It can be identified by a suddenly formed hematoma, and the only help that can be provided to an athlete in this case is to call an ambulance and send him to the surgical table immediately!

What to do when stretching?

As soon as you notice any signs of stretching of the back muscles, urgent action must be taken immediately to avoid aggravating the injury.

First aid

So what's the first thing to do when stretching your back? The first aid procedure is as follows:

Help the injured athlete to free themselves from the apparatus or simulator (for example, in the case of work in Smitht or with pinched nerves);
lay the victim on his stomach to ensure maximum relaxation of the back muscles;
apply a cold compress (cloth soaked in cold water) or ice wrapped in a cloth to the damaged area;
some time after the injury (about 3-5 minutes), try to determine the degree of the hematoma. If not, then treat the site of muscle strain with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory.

As a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug is suitable, for example, the drug "Fastum-gel" (you can use any other). Iaz or a gel of this kind has not only a targeted effect, but also warms and anesthetizes the area.

If the injury is not severe, the athlete can be sent home for further treatment.

Treatment

Next, we will tell you about how to treat a sprained back, including at home.

The treatment takes place in several stages.

Give the opportunity to get complete rest. If the sprain is of moderate severity, then the first few days, the person must give up any physical activity. In this case, the body will be able to quickly localize and begin to regenerate damaged tissues.
To relieve puffiness, use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. In order to find out which ones, it is better to consult a doctor.
On the first day after the injury, cold compresses should be regularly applied to the damaged muscles.

The next stage of treatment begins after the swelling subsides. At this stage, it will be advisable to use warming compresses, which increase blood circulation in the desired area. Heat stimulates blood flow and therefore helps you recover faster. Additionally, you can use the previously mentioned fastum gel or its analogues, which will remove the remnants of inflammation and create an additional thermal effect.

And the most important thing is that the treatment of stretching the muscles of the back at home, although it can be quite effective, is indispensable without first seeking medical advice. Outwardly harmless trauma can have hidden dangers. For example, internal hematomas can easily evolve into tumors. And under the mask of simple stretching, an incipient intervertebral hernia or micro-dislocation of the lumbar spine can be hidden.

Return to training

If the back stretch was not strong (first degree), then training can be started 48 hours after the complete disappearance of the pain syndrome.

If the painful sensations were very strong and prolonged, then before returning to the training process, it is worth being examined by a specialist for the presence of hernias and micro-dislocation. If the doctor nevertheless confirms the presence of severe stretching, and not other more complex injuries, then return to training is possible no earlier than a week after the completion of treatment.

In any case, after stretching the muscles / ligaments, it is necessary to greatly reduce the load and limit the work in basic exercises.

At first, you can work with hyperextension without weight, which will restore the elasticity of the ligaments and muscle groups. In the future, you can add frontal traction with very small weights (25-40 kg), against the usual (70-90). After that, barbell shrugs or dumbbell shrugs and deadlifts are added, again using 80% less working weight. It is better to refuse the barbell pull to the chin altogether.

The load should be built up gradually, remembering to stretch and warm up the muscles before each exercise. On average, returning to normal working weights takes about 15-20 workouts.

Conclusions

Stretching the muscles of the back is a wake-up call. It means that somewhere in the training facility you made a serious mistake. Perhaps they took too much weight or regularly worked in violation of the exercise technique.

Therefore, it is easier to avoid possible injury than to lose muscle mass and the speed of progress from your own negligence. Remember, if you are not going to compete in strength sports, then it is better to do without fanaticism in training. Even if you increase 1 kilogram on working scales every week, then in a year the result will increase by 52 kilograms.

And remember - if you continue in the same spirit, the risk of a hernia falling out or getting a vertebral displacement increases several tens of times!