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Christian's doctor told him that the condition of his back meant that surgery would be inevitable at some point. His MRI showed damaged, bulging discs and his spine was described in his radiologist's report as having 'degenerative disc disease'.
He had already tried physical therapy but the generic exercises he'd been given had aggravated his pain. His doctor told him that given his relatively young age (40) he would be wasting his time trying more conservative treatment.
A second opinion didn't help. Another doctor told him that he should definitely not lift weights any more. That matched his experience: some gym exercises clearly provoked his back pain, and the advice carried medical authority, so he accepted it at first.
But the idea of giving up strength training altogether didn’t sit right with him. He kept digging, came across the work of Stuart McGill, and eventually found me while searching for a certified McGill Method provider to work with online.
What was really going wrong?
During Christian’s initial assessment, it became clear that the problem wasn’t “weight training” in general – it was how he was loading his spine. The way he moved was directing unnecessary, excess stress through his back every time he trained. No-one had ever taught him:
It wasn’t that lifting weights was “bad for his back.” It was that lifting weights with poor technique on an already irritated spine was a bad combination.
Why weight training can be good for your spine
If you have an understanding of:
...then weight training not only can not only be performed safely, it can help make you more resistant to future injury.
When you lift with good technique, appropriate loads, and enough recovery, your spine adapts to the stress. The muscles around your trunk and hips get stronger and build endurance, so they take more of the load instead of your discs, ligaments, and joints.
Bone density in the vertebrae and hips increases, discs benefit from repeated loading and unloading that improves nutrient absorption, and your movement patterns improve: you hinge more from the hips, keep the lumbar spine in a safer neutral range, and brace automatically before you lift.
The result is a spine that tolerates daily life far better. Picking up kids, luggage, or shopping becomes a smaller percentage of what your body can handle, meaning fewer fatigue-related “form collapses” that tend to trigger pain.
Just as importantly, you repeatedly prove to your nervous system that your back can handle load, which reduces fear and oversensitive pain responses. Done properly, and progressively, weight training isn’t a threat to the spine, it’s one of the best ways to make it more resilient.
How we got Christian lifting safely again
First, we wound down Christian’s pain by identifying his specific pain triggers, implementing spine-hygiene practices, and improving the muscular endurance of his spine-stabilising muscles.
Christian was virtually pain-free within about six weeks, despite having suffered with back pain for over two years.
Now he was ready to start a basic strength training program. We began with simple exercises to build strength and coordination in the main movement patterns of the body: lunge, squat, hinge, push, pull, and weighted carries.
We insisted on perfect technique with a neutral spine which allowed him to perform all of the exercises pain-free.
Having a “margin of safety” was critical: it wasn’t just about choosing the right exercise variation, but also about choosing the right dosage (reps × sets × load + recovery). Too many reps, too much load, or too little rest would have pushed him closer to the tipping point back into injury.
Too few reps, too little load, or too much rest wouldn’t have provided enough stimulus for his spine and surrounding muscles to adapt and get stronger. The art was in living in that sweet spot.
Where he is now
Christian still trains with me almost five years later. In that time he’s had one minor low back pain episode (on a day he rushed and skipped his usual warm-up). Otherwise, he’s been able to train hard and make excellent progress. Among his milestones:
10 strict pull-ups
Deadlifting 120 kg for 10 reps
Completing a kettlebell instructor-level test: 200 one-handed swings in 10 minutes with a 32 kg kettlebell
He’s also gained around 8 kg (17 lbs) of muscle. That extra muscle mass, combined with the now-automatic execution of good technique, helps protect him against future injury.
None of this would have happened if he’d followed the original advice to avoid lifting and “wait for surgery.” His doctors were well-meaning, but they had limited experience with how properly coached strength training can restore and protect a damaged spine.
The key takeaway is that if you respect your pain triggers, learn to move well, and progress gradually, lifting weights is not only safe for your spine, it's one of the best tools you have to protect it.
