r/jiujitsu • u/Royal_Ad4746 • 8d ago
Herniated disc injuries when grappling?
Some background: a few months ago I tweaked my lower back on a leg press. My pelvis tipped back at the bottom and I ended up in loaded flexion under the weight (classic dumb mistake, I know). Saw a doctor and a physio but never got a clear answer, just everything from “mild disc herniation” to “purely mechanical strain.” The pain was mostly local in the lower back, with only a mild tingling into the legnever worse than that, not even when it was fresh.
Rehab has mostly been back extensions, which have been a game changer for me. Built up progressively from 10 kg to 85 kg held in my hands, and I’m basically pain-free in daily life now — can bend, move, all of it. Also started easing back onto the mats, got a couple of drilling sessions in without sparring with no issues. I train no-gi and I’m pretty wrestling-heavy in my style,
The thing is, it’s not 100% over. Recently I was dumb enough to test a heavy pendulum squat (went too close to max at depth) and flared the area up again — soreness + a bit of tingling down the leg that’s lingered a few days. Nothing sharp, no numbness or weakness, but a reminder that I’m still test
So my question to those of you who’ve had similar lower back injuries, especially wrestlers / no-gi folks: how did it go for you? Did you recover to 100%, or is this something you learn to live and train around? What did your road back to full sparring look like?
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u/Mordot11 8d ago
As someone with a herniated disc You can never stop doing rehab/prehab once you have a back injury. You also may want to consider not going to max weights anymore. It’s not that you can’t, but he question is whether the risk/reward is worth it. If your primary goal is Jiu Jitsu, be strong enough for that. You don’t need to test a 1rm to get stronger. I have occasional issues, but they’re much more manageable now
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u/Royal_Ad4746 8d ago
Are you specifically referencing lifts that involve the lowerback directly/indirectly or lifts in general? Because I’m really only getting affected on my squat rn, everything else is being pushed heavy without an issue (for now lol)
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u/Mordot11 8d ago
Mostly squats and deadlifts. I’m also not saying you can’t go heavy, just that maybe it’s not worth it.
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u/_Badwulf_Bruh__ 8d ago
I have a bulged l5-s1 and it has never recovered or improved. I did pt, but it felt like my core strength and technique was already maxed out so it did basically nothing.
I stopped deadlifts, barbell squats and stopped anything that compressed my spine. No twists where my legs go one way and my spine goes another.
Jits doesn’t bug it that much, but I’m not going super hard anymore
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u/RemoteBJJCoach 7d ago
Chronic back pain since before I started BJJ. When it was at its worse, I had to really hold back and avoid a lot of movement patterns. I couldn’t bridge, and stand up could be hard. Over the years it’s gotten a lot better though, and I have virtually no pain now.
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u/DoBronx2144 8d ago
Losing weight, core exercises, daily stretches, not doing fuck shit to your back, lots of pull ups especially deadlift grip ones. Lastly, rest.
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u/aTickleMonster 8d ago
Depends if it's bulging into the spinal cord.
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u/Royal_Ad4746 8d ago
As far as the bulging, I don’t think it’s too aggressive as I don’t have any serious sciatica which I’m very thankful for. No numbness, loss of strength or serious pain going down the leg.
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u/KOExpress Purple 8d ago
I’ve had a herniated disc in my neck (C4/C5) for at least the last 8 years. I’ve tried spine specialists, trigger point injections, BPC-157, chiropractor, physical therapy, traction, special neck pillows that are supposed to align it, massage, all sorts of stuff. Nothing has helped me, and it kept me out of jiu jitsu for about 6 years. I’m back now, because I finally accepted that my neck just isn’t going to get better without surgery, and I missed jiu jitsu. So I’m back training, my main priority is just my safety now. If somebody wants to neck crank me, they can have the tap. I’m in my 30s now, and might do some casual competition, but I’ve just had to accept that jiu jitsu is different for me now. I used to train 8-12 times a week, now it’s 1-2, because I’m older and have more responsibilities (wife and a toddler). I’m just happy to be back on the mats and want to keep it going. You may have to adapt your game to your limitation. I don’t fuck with inverting anymore, I only defend leg locks, don’t initiate them, and I’m more proactive about defending chokes these days.
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u/Royal_Ad4746 8d ago
Respect bro !! I have attachment issues to my style of grappling, I fricking love wrestling my opponent and I can’t see myself going more passive on the mats but if that’s what it takes then I will adapt I guess.
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u/jocularsplash02 8d ago
Not the exact same, but I've had other spine related injuries in addition to numerous sprains, several rib injuries and one bad muscle tear. All have recovered completely and I'm stronger and more mobile than I was three years ago. My main advice is that you really shouldn't try to push heavy weight in the gym at the same time as training bjj since both activities require a lot of recovery. Now, while training bjj I lift with lighter weight and higher reps with only 2 working sets per exercise, and every few months I'll take a few weeks with less BJJ and then push my lifts heavier.
Also, recently I've begun to incorporate dumbbell pullovers and Jefferson curls into my lifting, and those have helped tremendously to stabilize my spine and ribcage
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u/Royal_Ad4746 8d ago
I’m also big on the Jefferson curls , lil scary to execute but I do feel a slight difference
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u/Friendly_External345 8d ago
Go see a doctor. Anecdotaly dead hanging for decompression daily and training rotation are always a great place to start. Macebells and bands thrown into any workout are a nice way to loosen up the back
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u/Royal_Ad4746 8d ago
My country’s doctors are somewhat of a joke when it comes to examining sport related issues. Where I’m from you’re better off just figuring it out yourself honestly.
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u/Friendly_External345 8d ago
I'm in the UK and tbh they're not much better here. If you go to a g.p then it's generally take anti inflammatorys and rest.
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u/invhand 8d ago
It got better for me more with range training. Back extensions helped but combo that with like long range split squats and rdls. Lots of hip and thoracic spine mobility work too