WOW! A Disc Bulge Friendly Leg Workout That Won't Make Your Pain Worse!
The leg exercises you choose can make or break your pain relief strategy post-fusion, with a disc herniation, or disc bulge.
What I want to do today is take you along on a recent lower-body training session here at my home studio of the exact lower body workout I would take someone just like you through.
Everything from the strategic warm-up (why I do the things I do and why you should too) to the core exercises and lower body exercises that are the best fit for you.
In this follow-along workout, you will discover:
The two critical elements to a back–friendly warm-up (especially when you’re crunched on time)
When the best time to train your core is during a workout along with back-friendly options
An entire lower body workout with exercises hand-picked for those with Disc bulges, herniations, or Post-Fusion.
Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post to download the Pre-Filled Workout Log with today’s
- Exercise List
- Reps
- Sets
Remember, these are just my suggestions. I am not a doctor so I can’t give you any medical advice. The information in this post assumes that you have been cleared to exercises and you are capable of making your own decisions with what exercises you should do.
With that being said let’s dive in.
How To Warm-Up Safely With A Bulging Or Herniated Disc
I’ll give you the condensed version of what I use as a safe warm-up metric especially If you’re dealing with a herniated or bulging disc.
- Break A Sweat: This goes without saying but a lot of people don’t really know when they are “warm enough” to jump into their workouts. If you’re over 30 you need to be spending more time prepping the body before you start loading it and a safe way to measure whether or not you’re ready is breaking a sweat. This is a fool-proof way of knowing your core body temp is elevated.
- Stiffen Your Core: The core training you do before you workout and the core stiffening you do during the warm-up are two different things. Pick one exercise that is a low threat high yield exercise that will get the core bracing pattern started. For me. single arm farmers carry does this perfectly.
The Most Important Part Of A Lower Body Workout With Disc Bulges And Herniations
When it comes to training legs with herniated and bulging discs (as well as fusions) you have to train your core first.
One of the best strategies you could incorporate into your workout is building stiffness in the trunk before you start doing any serious heavy lifting. It’s like wrapping one of those blood-pressure cuffs around your spine and pumping it up.
The idea here is to give you some added protection and stability around the spine. Often times with low back pain and post-surgery warriors there is an instability issue in the lower back and these micromovements (when sensitive) become a big deal.
When you have a herniated disc, bulging disc, or looking to incorporate lower body training post-fusion the first thing you need to reach for is the list of core exercises you are going to do BEFORE the lifting starts!
Hint: I give you the exact Exercise List, Set and Rep count for the workout in this video all pre-filled in a downloadable workout log.
How Many Leg Exercises Should I Do WIth A Disc Bulge Or Herniation
When it comes to volume on leg day when dealing with disc herniations and bulges I always suggest starting small.
One set of reverse lunges small.
Then build up from there. That’s the best way to go about it with as little chance of a flare up setting you back as possible.
If you’re a rebel you can always sstart with 2-3 exercises that you think will work and just keep your fingers corssed for the post workout pain wave….or not.
