A neurologist has explained why he regrets lifting weights after learning of the potentially devastating effects on his life.
Dr. Sergej Stjepic, a neurologist from Chicago, Illinois, revealed on TikTok three things he would never do, knowing what he knows now about health.
“It wouldn’t have raised that much power,” he said. “For example, doing squats with very heavy weights.”
Weightlifting describes using a barbell while doing a squat, bench press, or deadlift.
It involves lifting a certain amount of weight at once, rather than repeated exercises.
But it’s harmful because it can “decrease the overall height of the disc in the spine,” he said.
When height is lost in the spinal discs, pinched nerves, inflammation, and bone and joint pain can occur.
Degeneration of the spinal discs can cause a loss of space between the joints, causing sensations similar to the pain of arthritis. In some severe cases, the pain may be constant.
“The decrease in disc height causes friction between bones and, sometimes, can cause what is called narrowing of the neural foramen, as well as narrowing of the central canal,” he explained in the video.
This, he explained, can cause pinching of the nerves that run through the spine, causing extreme pain.
Narrowing of the neural foramen is the narrowing of the small openings between the vertebrae of the spine through which nerve roots pass.
It doesn’t always cause symptoms, but if a nerve gets stuck in the gap, it will be painful.
A neurologist said he regrets lifting weights after learning of the potentially devastating effects on his life.
The Cleveland Clinic compared it to “what happens to an electrical cord when you close a door and it wedges it between the door and the frame.”
It said: ‘Over time, pressure on the wire can damage it and affect the way it conducts electricity.
‘Likewise, (the narrowing of the neural foramina) can put pressure on the affected nerves. Over time, that can affect the signals that travel through the nerve and cause nerve pain and sometimes permanent nerve damage.
“Ultimately, weight lifting is really bad for your spine,” Dr. Stjepic said.
Pinched nerves occur when there is too much pressure on a nerve from surrounding bones or muscles.
According to the Mayo Clinic, pressure can cause pain, tingling, numbness, or weakness.
Dr. Stjepic He said he wouldn’t have played football either.
“I definitely wouldn’t have played football in college. I probably wouldn’t have played football at all. My kids definitely won’t,” he said.
“There’s this thing called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, they’re finding it in 18-year-olds…we don’t know why it happens, other than repeated blows.”
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a brain disorder likely caused by repeated head injuries.
It causes the death of nerve cells in the brain, according to the Mayo Clinic.
“I wouldn’t do any type of alcohol or drugs, especially if I were younger, under 20 years old.
“The frontal lobe continues to develop until the age of 25, but even more important is the great development that the brain undergoes between the ages of 0 and 25.”
He added: “People who would develop schizophrenia later in life, who were genetically more likely to develop it, if they use marijuana, tend to have their schizophrenic flares much earlier than they would have had.”
“It just interferes with your development.”
A large body of research links marijuana use to schizophrenia later in life.
More recently, researchers supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse estimated that 30 percent of schizophrenia cases in American men ages 21 to 30 are related to cannabis addiction.