The devil for me years ago was ego and T bar rowing. Never again.

I've done a lot of rowing... Pendlay and standard barbell rowing. I've also experimented a lot with T-bar rowing. T-bar rowing puts the most bad stress on the lower back out of all of them. It's the fixed position and movement of the bar that kills the back because it doesn't allow for free movement as you pull the bar up. It's a very unnatural movement.

I did get one minor injury on T-bars once. I certainly would recommend to stay well clear of this. If you need to row, best to use the barbell if you don't have a good machine to use.

Tony's has machines with a cushioned anvil at the chest,

so no stress on lower back.

Eat what you want, BUT remember if you eating fat is your forte then you will expire earlier than you anticipated. When you have eaten what you want you must burn the calories off, simple really. Take a look around you and see the fat farangs, eat and drink and sleep, sooooo, big belly.

Tony's has machines with a cushioned anvil at the chest, so no stress on lower back.

Unfortunately it's not a good solution to stop putting stress on the back because the muscles will get weak and atrophy...and then the back will get worse. It's important to find ways to strengthen the back that don't cause more damage.

DB squats & triceps press are good w/o for lower back, as long as back dont bend

DB squats & triceps press are good w/o for lower back, as long as back dont bend

It's impossible to give specific advice on lower back problems because each injury/problem will be different. This is where you need an expert to look at your back. Certainly you shouldn't do any exercise which hurts.

I saw a pattern in the physicians w/o she taught me to do to cure

my too flexible and inflamed back,

they all had it in common to first lock the back in position,

then put a load on it.

I was invulnerable after a year.

Anyway i think these two exercises work well with minimal risk of losing form

even on heavy loads.

I know we are primarily talking about body building here but you guys would be surprised how strong some of these people who do yoga and pilates are.

They may not be able to lift big weights but they certainly have outstanding core body strength.

Building up back strength through those types of exercises can be beneficial if you are unable to lift weights for a time because of injury.

Thanx for all the advice and links. Will help improve my workout, though I'm battling joint pain, and a fondness for Chang. Dolores pizza, huh?