Scoliosis and Strength Training

Scoliosis, the unnatural curving of the spine.  What images does this bring to mind?  Some sort of a Quasi Modo?  A character like Igor?  Perhaps, a young child with a severely twisted back?  I have known two of these examples.  One was a woman with whom I had worked.  She could not get the surgery necessary as a youth to straighten her spine.  The other, was a vibrant, bright, active young gal whose mother was able to get her into the Shriner’s Hospital for life-changing surgery.  Surgery that straightened her spine and implanted rods in her back to hold her spine straight.  This left her with a somewhat limited list of activities for the rest of her life.

About a month ago, I was asked about lifting weights with scoliosis.  Particularly, if it is safe to lift if one has scoliosis.  The first thing I can say is to ask your doctor.  Talk to your physician about what would be recommended.

The next thing that I can say is that there have been more than a few professional strength and physique competitors who have made a name for themselves with scoliosis.   

Among those athletes we will find Usain Bolt, tennis star James Blake, Olympian Jante Evans, Olympic gymnast Alexandra Marinescu, and Hockey Player Milan Lucic of the Boston Bruins.   These are some highly functional sports athletes.   You would not know, by looking at them, that there was anything off.   With the exception of the swimmers, most athletes are wearing enough to cover their back.   Physique competitors are another story.   Here is a group of competitors who make their bread and butter on how they look.

The blog, kbrocking.com, is written from the perspective of an athlete in the strength, power, and physique perspective.  This gent appears to have scoliosis.  In one piece, he mentions having his back x-rayed to ensure that he did not bend the rod in his back.  When learning that he did not damage the implant.  His confidence in what he was doing increased.   

Lamar Gant is one professional strength athlete who has scoliosis.  He set world records in powerlifting with scoliosis.

Clearly, conditions like scoliosis are limiting, but not dead ends when it comes to strength, physique, and power training.  Any limitations you may have are set by yourself.  Surpassing those limitations must be done carefully, slowly, and with consideration to your physical issues.

It may seem counterintuitive at first blush, but strength and power training actually makes sense for those with scoliosis.  Weightlifting is listed among the top five sports for those with scoliosis.  I have added powerlifting on my own bias as I love the sport and due to the extreme strengthening of the muscles along the spine, the erector spinae.

At no other time than when you are under the weights should you be more aware of your posture.  That is to say, when squatting and deadlifting, focus very closely on the details of your posture.  Mental imaging, keeping a picture in your mind, is going to be paramount.  There is a plethora of case studies on how much good mental imaging can do for you and your body, so begin here. Also, you can read about these positive effects in this piece here.  Focusing on strict posture while lifting is going to help train your mind, your conscious and subconscious awareness, and your body to better maintain its proper posture.

Nothing is going to undo the curvature of scoliosis.  That, sadly, is yours to bare.  A stronger core, which includes the below list, will help keep your body straighter and feeling stronger.  These are the muscle groups to work on for a balanced and stronger core:

Abdominal Core

Abdominal Obliques

Transverse Abdominal

Latissimus Dorsi

Trapezius

To a lesser degree, the muscles around your shoulder blades have an impact on your posture as well. Those muscles are shown in the picture presented here.

A building cannot stand without a strong foundation.  Nor can it stand if the middle floors are poorly constructed.

Aside from cautioning you to talk to your physician first I would also say that you should likely not perform any exercises that twist the core.  Movements like Trunk Twist or Russian Twists, for instance, should be avoided.  Do not twist your spine under tension, pressure, or move it laterally with speed.

Otherwise, there is not any reason why you should not lift weights.  Just be a little cautious, perhaps a touch more so than your slightly less-bent compadres.

Stay safe. Lift strong!

Weightlifting for Winter

      The overarching goal now is to combine, to the extent possible, strength and speed, to increase power. In doing this, we will use a few core compound exercises. A compound exercise is defined as one that uses more than one set of joints to complete the exercise.

      For instance, the squat engages the hips, knees, and ankles to perform. The muscles involved include the glutes, quads, hamstrings, and calves. For those who are not so clear on the anatomy of our legs, that translates to our butt, thighs, the back of our legs, and calves.

      The beauty of compound movements is that we are exercising the maximum amount of muscles in the minimum amount of time. While the muscles are extending (the negative portion) we should go slowly. This range of movement we are strongest and can handle greater amounts of weight. As such, moving the weight slower gives our muscles more time under stress, which is exactly what we want.

      When at the pinnacle of the negative, pause for a moment. Stop, take total control of the weight. If under the bench press, you should have complete control. The bar should be ½” from your chest. If you are at the bottom of your squat, your hips should be just beneath your knees. Each of the muscles in your legs are holding that weight and none of it is resting on your knees. Yes, this is the Pause Principle created and taught by Joe “Master Blaster” Weider. Hold the pause for 1 or 2 seconds, then contract.

      The contraction of the muscles is the positive movement. It’s standing up under the squat, the press of the bench press, and the pull of the bent row. This motion should be faster than the negative range. It should be a fast snap, an explosion of movement. It is a blast of force, but with control. You do not want the bar to fly out of your hands, off your shoulders, or slam into your chest at the top of the rep.
Sets and Reps

      Simple is the best way. Three sets are about all we need.

      Let's take a fast course in muscle construction. There two types of muscle fiber, the slow twitch and the fast twitch. Slow twitch muscles are for endurance like long distance running, while the fast are explosive and used in powerful movements.

      Repetitions for endurance go 15 and up while for strength are capped at 10. Reps for power are 3 to 5.

      Form first, strength will follow. From the strength we build, endurance will be a natural growth.
Bench
      Once the weights have been secured on the bar with proper collars:

• Lie down with your eyes under the bar
• Grip the bar with your pinkies on the thin smooth ring
• Squeeze your shoulder blades together, arch your back slightly, keep your hips and butt on the bench
• Lift the bar from the rack by straightening your arms
• Lower the weight with control, keep your elbows at a 70-degree angle to your body, and forearms perpendicular to the bar and floor

Bent Row
      Proper form:

• At the bar, squat down and grip the bar overhand, that is with your palms facing you and slightly wider than shoulders width; A wider grip will put more emphasis on the rhomboid muscles over our shoulder blades, while a narrow grip will engage the thicker latissimus dorsa
• Keep your knees bent and your upper body level with the floor
• Your back should be straight to slightly arched down. By this, Picture yourself standing at attention from the hips to shoulders, only you have that portion of your body over the floor. You do not want to have your spine arched upwards like a cat while moving weight.
• Pinch your shoulder blades together when pulling the weight up
• Hold the bar so that it touches your abdomen, then lower it with control until your arms are extended
• An underhand grip will ensure that you are working your lats as the primary mover in this exerciser.

Squats
      As a former powerlifter, squats are nothing to be afraid of. Let me say that again, do not be afraid of or nervous about squats.

      Use a lighter weight than you think you should use. We are doing pause reps and explosive movement from the bottom of the squat.

Proper form:

• Shrug your shoulders up and back, hands palm-forward around the bar, your head up and back. This presses the bar into that slot and keeps your back arched. Always keep your head up when squatting. From the bottom of the squat, there is only one direction we want to go, up. Pick a spot on the ceiling and get there.
• Do not stop with your hips above your knees. This is cheating yourself out of all the benefits of squatting. Get those hips below the plane of your knees.
• Once those hips pass the knees, do not bottom out ass on ankles. Doing so will tear your knees apart. Keep your legs flexed. The ideal position is about half-way between the ankles and the plane of the knees.

Deadlift
      Squat and Deadlift work much of the same muscle groups. Doing them both on the same day at three sets to failure is over-doing it and looking for an injury. So, don’t do them on the same day. Period.

      There are several stance widths for this, but we are going to keep this simple. Feet shoulders width, maybe just a little more or less for comfort

Proper form:

• Squat down all the way so that we are almost sitting on our heels
• Grab the bar just outside of our legs, the grip can be alternated with one palm forward and one backward or both palms facing the same way
• Head up and back
• Flexing firmly against the weight and the bar, pull steadily until standing upright, but do not lock the knees, keeping them slightly flexed
• Bending the knees and thrusting the hips back, lower the weight until it touches the ground, then pull it back up again

      This would be the time to tell you do not bounce the weight on the floor. This is begging for an injury that you will get. Believe me, I have learned that first hand. Several times.

      You will know that you are leaning back and lifting your head up enough because the bar is rubbing up your shins. Yes, it will scrape up your shins if you do this lift in shorts.
Shoulder Press
      Shoulder press will be done on the scheduled push days, an example will be given at the end. The upright row, which follows, will be done on the pull days.

     This can be done sitting or standing, but for our purposes it will be done sitting. This offers better control of the movement.

Proper form:

• Grip the bar slightly more narrow than the we did for the bench press
• Lift the bar overhead, do not lock the elbows
• Lower the bar in front with control until it nearly touches our collar bone
• Pause in the lower position and hold it here for one or two seconds
• Smoothly and quickly press the bar back into the starting position

Upright Row
      This exercise will be used on alternating workouts with the shoulder press.
Proper form:

• Grip the bar slightly less than shoulders width
• Stand upright
• Pull the bar upwards until it reaches our trachea at the top of our breastbone
• Hold it for one or two seconds, then lower the weight with control

Push or Pull Days
      Using both squat and deadlift we have more variety. We can alternate our lifting schedule in push and pull days. This could look like:
      In this two week cycle, we are alternating the push and pull routines. This rotation assures an equal amount of both push and pull exertion over the two week cycle.

      As noted in an earlier article, physical changes will take 3 to 4 weeks for you to see results. Your friends and coworkers are liable to notice results sooner.

When Will the Results be Visible?

As the third week of the 2017 Tabata Challenge has started, some might be asking how long before results are visible. At this point you are certainly seeing an increase in repetitions. You feel stronger because you are stronger. Pull-ups may still be a bit rough, but you are doing more than at the first of the month. Push-ups and squats are being cranked out at a faster pace and with better form. Of course, you have dropped a few pounds. But, when will they start to see how hard you are working?

                Meanwhile you’ve been watching commercials and ads about quick weight loss and dropping sizes and shrinking this and that … stay strong! You are making progress. Things take time. Your discipline and grit will pay off.

                You have to keep several variables in mind. While you’re losing body fat you are also gaining muscle. Muscle is heavier than fat, so your fat loss is going to clearly be offset by muscle gains. Both of which are happening at the same time.

                That being said, most people who are exercising regularly and eating a healthy, not hefty, but healthy diet can expect to lose an average of 2 pounds each week. This puts me right in line with what we are talking about. Coming into the third week I am down six pounds. Just on the far side of the bell curve, but not unexpected.

                The question still remains is when our friends, coworkers, classmates, and others will do a double take. At four weeks you will certainly see changes when you look in the mirror. You already see changes in your physical performance when doing your workout. In week four you will certainly see the difference in your reflection.

                At around week eight your friends should be taking note of your new physique. It is far more noticeable now. Not just in your posture, your walk, or your confidence, although those features will absolutely benefit. Friends are going to see that your shirts fit differently and your pants are filling out with firmer flesh. The reality is that you may have to start buying new clothes to fit your new body.

                Keep training and eating smart and, from 12 weeks on, the rest of the world will notice. The barista who sells you your coffee will see you’ve changed. The rest of your office will see.The infographic below I found will summarize this nicely.

                All of this attention is really great. The truly important thing to recognize is that, from day one, you are worth every bit of what you are investing in yourself. You are making the greatest investment in the most important person, yourself.

                From the No-Cost-No-Frills-No-Excuses Basement Gym, Train hard. Train safe. Train smart.