Exercising with Low Back Pain: How I Broke the 6-Year Cycle of Sciatica
My first experience with low back pain and sciatica started, unfortunately, when I was only 16 years old. I remember the day like it was yesterday.
At the time, I was training every day after school at a small boutique gym in Townsville. The style was very similar to what we know today as CrossFit or Hyrox. High-intensity sessions blending running, bodyweight movements, and free weights. One evening, the head trainer was away, and a backup coach stepped in. The workout looked standard, with one distinct difference: conventional deadlifts were programmed into the circuit.
The bar was 60kg, and the goal was "AMRAP" (as many reps as possible) in 60 seconds. I finished the circuit without feeling any immediate issues. However, the next morning, everything changed. I woke up to use the bathroom, and the moment I sat down, excruciating pain shot down my left leg. I knew right then that something was seriously wrong. I soon was diagnosed with a lateral left sided disc bulge at the L5-S1 segment.
The Cycle of Frustration
From that day on, my life became a cycle. I would have periods of relief where I felt fine, followed by sudden "flare-ups" triggered by something in the gym. These episodes would derail my progress for 6 to 12 months at a time. It was incredibly frustrating. I didn't know what was triggering the pain, which led to stalled gains and a constant, underlying fear of re-injury.
Why the "Standard" Advice Failed Me
I tried almost everything to fix it. I saw a self-proclaimed "back pain specialist" who insisted I had a stiff spinal segment and tried to "mobilize" it using the heel of her foot. I followed the generic advice of pilates and stretching where I had to "suck in the belly button" to activate the transverse abdominis. None of it worked. In fact, some of these approaches actually made my symptoms worse.
I remember one night pulling over to the side of the road and making a deal with whoever was up there; if they just would remove my pain, I would dedicate the rest of my life to helping others get out of theirs.
Not long after, I finally found the answer I had been looking for. I came across the work of Dr. Stuart McGill, a world leader in spinal biomechanics. His research was the first to show me how to actually assess which specific postures and loads were triggering my pain. It taught me how to remove those triggers to give my tissues the environment they needed to heal and eventually improve their loading capacity.
What I Learned (and What I Use Today)
The reality is that almost every spine has a specific pain trigger. It might be:
Flexion/Extension/Rotation: Movement-based triggers.
Compressive Forces: Vertical loading on the spine.
Shear Forces: Forces acting in an anterior-posterior or lateral direction.
Once you identify the trigger, my job as an Exercise Physiologist is to build a program that bypasses those triggers while choosing exercises that rebuild your physical capacity.
For me, I discovered my disc injury was intolerant to flexion and compression. I made simple but pivotal shifts:
I removed sit-ups entirely.
I swapped conventional deadlifts for rack pulls and trap bar deadlifts from blocks to reduce the range of flexion and the total compressive load.
Light at the End of the Tunnel
These changes have allowed me to train pain-free for nearly six years now. Beyond the physical relief, it was psychologically liberating. Understanding the "why" took away the fear. I no longer walk into the gym wondering if today is the day I'll blow my back out; I simply respect my limitations and train within a safe threshold.
If you are struggling with back pain and it’s stalling your fitness goals, please know there is a path forward. The key isn't a "magic stretch"—it’s identifying the cause, removing the trigger, and systematically building your capacity back up.
If you need help identifying your triggers and designing a rehab program that actually sticks, reach out to me today.
Yours in health,
Jonathan
