Top 4 Back Exercises That Are Safe For Lumbar Disc Bulges

One of the scariest things to try and navigate with a lumbar disc bulge is how you’re going to train the back without making the pain or damage worse.

Squats scare you.

Deadlifts scare you.

So what are you supposed to do?

In today’s video, I want to share with you 4 excellent overall back exercises that are safe for those with lumbar disc bulges. I’ll break these four back exercises down so that you know what to look for and what to keep in mind when doing them for yourself.

*Keep in mind these exercises are for those who have been already been cleared to exercise so if you have not been cleared talk to your doctor first.

What Are The Best Exercises For Lumbar Disc Bulges?

The first step in understanding the best exercises that are safe for lumbar disc bulges is to understand that exercise is not dangerous for those with disc bulges. It’s mainly how people perform them and the level of difficulty they are attempting.

You may have “bulged” a disc doing deadlifts therefore deadlifts are apparently bad but we have to dig deeper into that before we count it as fact.

What I prefer to do is break down the exercise you would like to try to make it fit your specific pain levels and training threshold.

This means stepping back from that one exercise that scares you or causes pain like a traditional barbell deadlift and trying something different like a single leg dumbbell deadlift.

So start with the top 4 exercises for now and if there are more consider an easier more simplified version of what you want to try and see how your body responds to it before you throw it out completely and mark it as “bad” or “good”.

Can You Heal A Bulging Disc?

I am not a doctor so I can only speak from my experience and personal research but to my knowledge, there is nothing pointing towards bulging discs being irreversible. In fact, they have research supporting the reversing of disc bulges in patients who underwent focused strength training and rehab protocols.

So armed with that information I say yes. With the right tools, patience, and effort I believe they can.

Again, this comes down to your approach and the lifestyle changes that you make. To reverse this type of thing you really need to be committed to making long-term changes not just following a few stretches you find on YouYube.

Following a smart training program that is geared towards disc injuries and persistent low back pain is critical.

Should I Be Exercising With A Bulging Disc?

If you have been cleared by your doctor and don’t have ANY serious issues or symptoms going on I say it’s always smart to move as much as possible.

Where things get tricky is people try to just go back to the type of exercises they were doing before the bulge was diagnosed.

Who knows why it happened, whether it was from one exercise or something over time but bad habits will not just fix themselves on their own. Nor should you just wait to start exercising until your bulging disc has healed completely.

You need to start building smarter strength around your spine while increasing the body’s resilience to stress.

Thanks for checking this post out!