Working legs, shoulders after slipped disk

Hi guys. New on here but vegan for 18 years and always trained.
Few years ago I had a slipped disk but got over that. A few months ago I had some lower back problems but getting over them again.
I can work back and shoulders ok but can't take a big vertical load on the spine.

My question is, If I can't do deadlifts, squats, overhead presses etc, what sort of leg exercises could I do? I tend to get good muscle mass in my legs pretty quick.

Any help most welcome.

ta ta

Belt squat is an obvious one...let's see if I can find a video....
Here's a few:


With a dip belt


With a loading pin


Using an ironmind hipsquat belt (form not so good on this one)


With bands

I haven't got a picture but you can also add bands to a hip squat belt & a jump stretch platform & do that as well - fantastic for increasing power if you go medium heavy & work on speed.

Also the old leg press machine might be useful if you can use it without issue

For the upper body pushing & pulling you might want to consider some strand work (the good old chest expander) you can work out to maximum intensity on your shoulders & triceps without any downward pressure on your spine. This will depend which disc you've damaged, if you've done a high one it might not be suitable, use common sense & ANY issues back off or drop an exercise. (some people call them 'cables' but that's confusing as you have cable machines in most gyms, strands is both the traditional name & won't be confused with a machine), Here's a couple of clips:


Talking about strands


A guy using strands

I would consider this book:




It's by John Brookfield & covers most moves (see amazon link here ). You can also check out some strand links here (first bit is general exercise forms links, below that is the selection of strand pulling sites).


I'd also take a look at how you train your mid-section, anyone with back issues might want to do less flexion work (crunches, sit-ups etc) more stuff like planks, side planks & roll-outs - start with stability ball roll-outs & slowly work up in intensity to barbell roll-outs.

Here's a stability ball roll-out



If you get more advanced move onto a barbell (you don't need to move on if you don't want to always think of your health ANY risk to your back & don't go there)



I've done a bit about training someone with a bad back on the blog here

Thanks a lot Pete. That's great. It's the old lower back problems so some of these exercises look good.

Does anyone know where I can get those power cables in the UK without being robbed?

Thanks again.

I wonder if riding a bike up a real steep hill constitutes a good leg exercise. We have a hill that is a real killer and I use to ride up a few repeated times just to exercise the legs.

Yes it can - just for you here's a picture of Don Dorans the mid-20th century bodybuilder & cyclist - obviously cycle sprints are most effective for leg building purposes, or steep hill climbing (but you have to push the pace, not just go down to a really easy gear!)


(not massive legs by 21st century bodybuilding standards, but pretty balanced development for the era)

I slipped a disc a few years ago and found that a lot of very slow jogging and now slowly increasing the speed has helped strengthen up my back such that I'm able to handle a few exercises that a couple of years ago I couldn't. Such as doing power cleans here recently. Haven't dared squats and deadlifts though! For strengthening my legs I've been doing some cycling, lunges and power cleans. (Which have a decreased range of motion. Only bringing the bar down to 3 inches above my knees.)

Thanks Jay

I've been doing the lunges so will have a go at the other stuff. I liked the video with the squats using bands

Ta Bas

Hi Bas,
Yeah back injuries are a bear!
They take you out of the game because the affect everything else you do.
Jay and Pete's advice sounds particularly good, as does PhysCultureFan;s

Are flat-bench routines still within your reach? Flys, Skull Crusher, and so forth? Maybe this is a good time to work on upper body, other-than-mainstream stuff...?

Oh, and fore-arms... Pete told me about the Captains of Crunch hand-exercise devices http://ironmind-store.com/products.asp?dept=8 , these might be of interest to you, they contribute to a lot of other conventional exercises but don't put any strain on the back.

Keep us informed about how it's going for you.

Hi Grayfox

Well, back is still bad but I've taken the good advice of you and the good guys on here. I got the book by Rob Remedios so doing a bit of everything. My gym is good but limited on the old weight front. I've been doing jumps, hip core exercises and mainly cable work. Yep, the bench press is back too Sadly the squats are out but lunges and one legged squats are doing fine.
Example back/chest day routine is:-

Warm up 10 minutes
Squat jump squats 4 x 10
Back extension 4 x 10
One legged squats 4 x 10
Bench press 4 x 10
Assisted dips 4 x 10
Assisted pullups 4 x 10
Standing cable rows, high, medium, low height 12 x 10
Plank 3 x 60 seconds

This and shoulder days four times a week. Of course I vary the exercises and the hip dominant exercises.
I feel a lot better for it than doing pure isolation exercises. Of course if I cut the lager oout completely I'd lose even more weight than I have already

Funny thing is that I don't sleep well anymore becuase the back pain wakes me up but when I get walking and in the gym it's gone