Did you know that 80% of people will, at some point in their lives, have low back pain? EIGHTY PERCENT?! I was really hoping to live my life not being in that 80%…

But… chances are, if you read my blog regularly, get my weekly newsletters, or follow me on any of my social media platforms, you know I injured my back a couple weeks ago while playing volleyball. These past couple of weeks, it’s actually taken up a pretty big part of my mental and physical space, so I thought I’d write an update here. Also: I know there are far worse injuries out there that require surgery and months of healing. But – I also did NOT know how painful a back injury (and back spasms) could be. So with that out of the way…

Backstory: About two weeks before the volleyball game, I was helping the hubby carry a heavy couch up our winding staircase. It was awkward and heavy, and hard to do with great form anyway, and so when the couch started slip, I dropped it…and then caught it, thusly hurting my back.

The couch that started it all! – don’t mind the mess; at the point I took this picture, that was also my office 😉 haha

Now, I’ve never really had any sort of serious injury in my life, aside from a sprained ankle from playing volleyball in college, so I brushed it off. It hurt, but I was able to run and walk just fine. So when my doctor told me to hold off playing volleyball for a while, I think my exact words were, “well, I can’t promise THAT.”

And then my love of the game came around to bite me in the butt (err, the back?) two weeks later, when in the first play of our “championship game” I twisted weirdly while passing the ball, which sent a jolting pain down my spine, and me hobbling to the nearest bench and resulted in my back injury from volleyball.

It was a super scary feeling, and when I woke up the next morning, it was an excruciating feeling. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I realized I wasn’t even standing up straight. And if you look at the picture we took after the game (because I stayed and watched the entire game, obviously) you can see my back hitched to one side!!

Yeah that lean to the left isn’t because I was trying to be cute 😉

What happened was my thoracic spine was still stiff and tight from the original incident, so it didn’t have the mobility to absorb the impact of my movement. Instead, my facet (which is/was strained) did.

The entire next day was spent in bed, and had me dramatically looking up studies and journals on back injuries. I couldn’t move without horrible pain. I try not to even take pain pills when Aunt Flow’s in town, and I was consuming 7+ ibuprofen a day (do not recommend.) Wednesday was pretty much the same, and then Thursday I was finally able to get out to the doctor. Oh, did I mention Shane was traveling for work the entire time, too?

I was trying SO hard to stand up straight in that picture!! (I think that was Day4)

By that weekend, I was able to drive again, and I’d begun pool walking, PT exercises, and moving…slowly. Over the next few days, the pain lessened and lessened, and I only got the stabbing pain when I moved quickly.

sneaky pool pic

Now, 18 days after the injury, I’m walking, running up to 30 minutes, and doing light strength work like goblet squats, kettlebell carries, and bodyweight exercises. And — I’m SO EFFING THANKFUL for all of it.

I have to say, I’ve been pretty damn positive and grateful during the entire experience, and only cried once! Every improvement left me incredibly grateful. Having never had an injury to my body like this, it left me with a couple lessons:

Lesson 1.

Never take movement for granted. I know it might sound like I’m being dramatic here. Again, I wasn’t/won’t be out for months and months, and I wasn’t in a wheel chair, and there are far more serious injuries. BUT – it did leave me feeling much differently about my workouts. I actually enjoy working out for the most part anyway, but now there’s even more of an element of gratitude for being able to move, sweat, lift, and burn in a way that many others can’t. That’s SUCH a blessing, ya’ll.

Lesson 2.

And this is kind of a PSA, as I try to put this at the forefront anyway, but – Always, always, always workout with the intent of bettering my body, enhancing my function of daily life, and balancing muscle groups first. While I don’t think there was too much I could have done about the couch situation – nor the volleyball situation, training-wise, it does remind me to think about the reason behind why I workout.

Your primary focus with your training is to optimize the efficiency and capability of your body. Lifting heavy and being fast are great things, but those should come secondary to bettering your muscular system or prioritizing your cardiovascular health. Also, take care of any muscle imbalances or weaknesses BEFORE adding lots of load or speed or power to it. It might be cool to LIFT ALL THE WEIGHT or DO ALL THE SWINGS, but not if you’ve got imbalances, weaknesses, or tightness affecting your form.

/endrant

So! That’s where I am. On the road to healing! Yeehaw. Also, I’m already thinking about all of the fun things I want to do once I’m cleared. First up: learning how to rock climb (and I’ve already got a fellow newbie rock climbing partner secured! ;))

Have you ever had a serious injury? Have you ever had a back injury?