Im 20 years old and have recenty found out that I have two herniated discs in my lower back. L4 and L5 to be exact. I have absolutely no backpain what so ever. The only pain I have is right leg pain. Sciatic pain as the doctors call it. The bulge in my L4 disc is pinching the sciatic nerve running down my leg preventing me from even walking correctly.

I can't do any sort of excersize without the help of pain meds and there are alot of things that I just cant do now that I have this condition. I cant bend to touch my toes anymore and I dont believe I have any back or abdominal muscles at all. Im 6 ft tall and weigh 155lbs so im not exactly overweight or anything. Im just out of shape.

Other things I cant do is straighten my legs fully without pain. Is there any way I can still do this program with the condition im in? I know the only way it can happen is if I build muscle in my abdominal areas along with my lower back to remove the pressure the disc bulge has on the nerve. But its just so hard when every sort of excersize I do to build the muscle puts me in a massive amount of pain. What can I do about this problem? Its been 4 months since the trampoline incident that put me in this position and its just painful to watch myself go down this path. I know with this condition, my weight can only get worse because my lack of activity.

Sorry to hear about your injury. My advice - take no advice from anyone on this board about this... ask your doctor/physical therapist. Hopefully you can do it and P90X will strengthen your core and back and will HELP, but someone with a PhD should be monitoring your every move imo.

Big Papa

I agree about caution here. But the individual should have a medical degree (DO or MD) rather than a PhD.

Edible, be careful man! You're a young adult and you want to take care of your back because it needs to last you another 80 years or so!! You might talk to your doctor about swimming. There are exercises in the pool that can be done to help your back and legs and won't put a strain on them. Yep, you'll burn plenty of calories doing them, too. But Papa is right in his advice that you don't want just anybody monkeying around with your back.

Kevin

Thanks guys. Ive just been doing the polymetrics video p90x has provided until I think I have the strength to take on the ab ripper x and other excersizes. Im doing everything in my power to strengthen my lower back so I can do more. After one hour of polymetrics, I woke up this morning in some pretty drastic pain. To be honest, it felt kind of nice because it took my mind off my nerve pain. I plan to do the polymetrics everyday for the next two weeks. Maybe by then Ill be able to take on more challenges.

PLEASE be very careful!! Make sure you do the modified version that Pam demonstrates, as she doesn't even get off the ground all that much. That will spare your back some of the energy transmitted from the legs. Also, be sure you're bending the knees and letting your legs act like shock absorbers.

Afterward, I'd fire up X-Stretch and do the leg stretches with the group. I'd do it every day after Plyo. It'll help with the soreness and improve your flexibility.

Above all, listen to your body and do what it tells you to do!!!

Hope this helps,

Kevin

Plyometrics can be pretty stressful on the back. I'm not sure you should be doing that routine. I have an extremely strong back, and even I have twinges on the day after Plyo.