Do you do much glute or core work? Quite often lower back pain is a symptom of something else. I suffered with mine for a couple of years but doing daily glute, IT band, hip and core activation and mobility work has pretty much cleared it up. I tend to be a bit stiff some days upon waking but as soon as I’ve done my mobility work it’s fixed.
How long had you been gaining for?
What was/ is your daily routine? I do core once a week and have done glute work before when doing rehab but guess i’ve let it lapse as i assumed things were better.
Been gaining for around 10 weeks and kind off in maintenance now. I’ve also had a heavy drinking last 10 weeks but overall havent gained too much fat. I’m tempted for a 3 week harsh cut and then more gaining but i need to find three weeks where i’ve not got a big social planned which is getting hard this time of year.
My routine is pretty simple and rarely changes from day to day
I start with 8-12 of these:
Cat And Cow Stretch - Best Stretch For Your Back Pain (youtube.com)
I then foam roll my hips, groin, glutes and IT band in that order doing 15-30 secs for each area. Again I tend to play it by feel of each area and may spend a bit more time on a specific area if I’ve got any residual soreness. The way I hit my glutes is pretty much summed up here
How To Foam Roll Glutes with TriggerPoint RUSH (youtube.com)
I’ll then do 15 clam shells on one side then 10-15 pelvic tilts, from the pelvic tilt I then go into 15-20 glute bridges using the top of the pelvic tilt position. From there I go into a 15 second hollow body hold, once that’s done I do 15 clam shells on the other side.
I’ve been doing this pretty much daily for about 18 months although sometimes if I’m really pushed for time I might bastardise it or if I’m feeling good and it’s an upper body focus day I may skip altogether but that’s a rarity. Honestly I was experiencing chronic lower back pain for a while before I started doing this and it’s completely alleviated it, yes I still get a bit stiff first thing in the morning but at 35 I suspect that’s not uncommon.
15th April 2024 Week 12 - upper body
BB Incline Press
75kg x 8
67.5kg x 10
60kg x 10
Chins
24 reps completed, trying to do it in 8 sets of 3 reps, started at 20 seconds rest and moved to a maximum of 1m rest
HS OH Press
47kg each side x 8
42kg each side x 10
37kg each side x 12
Seated Cable Row
84kg x 8
77kg x 10
70kg x 12
PEC dec
54kg
x 15
x 10
DB Skull Crushers
16kg DBs
x 12
x 10
Really struggled after such a big weekend on tour. Smashed at least 30 plus pints on Friday, then again a really heavy day drinking and playing some rugby Saturday (while heavily hungover).
Had a brilliant weekend though, is there anything better than a rugby tour? Body is in bits this morning though.
Thanks for posting this by the way. This morning i tried some of this and realised firstly how stiff my lower and upper back are and i can’t do 15 clam shells with my left side (but can with my right). Its given me something to work on in the interim and something to improve so thank you.
Fucking hell.
I’ve not been on one for years, at this point of my life I wouldn’t cope so probably won’t go on one again. Where did you go? Funnily enough I was walking through Broad Street and Brindley Place on Saturday evening after my daughter had been to a theatre performance and it was rammed and there was not a single part of my being that was envious.
No problem, there are a few other things that you could work in and try like supermans and certain types of dynamic stretches, I can only talk for myself and say it’s worked for me hugely but took me a bit of trial and error to find something that works for me
We went to Doncaster, i couldn’t believe how much i drank until i checked my bank statement to count the rounds. Really couldn’t believe it myself.
To be fair i’ve not done anything like that in a while and big city drinking (especially in busy brum) doesn’t really entice me any more but being with the lads and the stupid fun you have really made me feel more alive and more human again. Its a nice break from the daily routine.
15th April 2024 Week 12 - Lower Body and Biceps
RDL
100kg x 8
90kg x 10
80kg x 12
Squats - Took these really steady today to ease my back into things, stayed at 60kgs
60kg x 10 x 10 x 10
Hammer Curls
20kg DBs x 8
18kg DBs x 10
16kg DBs x 12
Abs - V Ups
x 13 x 13 x 10
Cable Curls
5 on weight rack x 10 reps
4 on weight rack x 12 reps
3 on weight rack x 12 reps
Calf physio
Did a good warm up for back and what not and felt a bit better movement wise. Also happy to keep this random programme up.
Also i’ve starting cutting (boooo).
18th April 2024 Week 12 - Upper Body
DB Slight incline Press
42kg DBs x 8
38kg DBs x 7
32kg DBs x 12
Chins - palms facing each other
8m 15seconds to get all 24 reps done (kept rest to 20-25 seconds)
x 4 x 3 x 3 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2
Weighted Dips
10kg x 8
7.5kg x 9
5kg x 7
HS Seated Row
47kg Each side x 8
47kg Each side x 10
47kg Each side x 9
Lat Raises
12kg DBs x 8
10kg DBs x 10
8kg DBs x 12
Seated French Press
15kg DBs
x 10 x 10 x 8
My triceps still felt fried from Mondays session and every rep on my DB press was pretty poor. Hopefully that’s a one off as i am still recovering from a very large weekend.
On Dips i always seem to hit a brick wall with my triceps, once they go they are just gone!
19th April 2024 Week 12 - Lower body and biceps
Too light overall, need to rethink these.
Can increase the weight on these now.
Squats - Wanted to increase power so did all reps in a power (slow descent and fast assent)
80kg x 6
90kg x 6
100kg x 4
Cable ab curls
10 weight x 17
12 weight x 15
14 weight x 8
Cable bicep curls
6 weight
x 20 x 20 x 20
Feel knackered this week and my lower back/ hip still isn’t’ happy. Looking forward to the weekend break to be honest.
22nd April 2024 Week 13 - Upper Body
BB Incline
75kg x 8
67kg x 10
60kg x 10
Chins Palms away 24 reps with only 20 seconds rest today
x 3 x 3 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 2 x 1 x 1 x 2 x 1
HS Shoulder Press
50kg Each side x 8
45kg each side x 10
40kg each side x 12
Cable Seated Row
89kg x 8
82kg x 10
75kg x 9
Pec Dec
54kg
x 15
x 12
Skull Crushers
16kg DBs
x 12 x 12
Been shattered this weekend with house decorating and other stuff. Diet was been poor, probably around maintenance or a slight surplus but felt faint a few times this weekend so just not 100% at the moment.
Decorating! That sounds good.
Does that mean renovations and painting are finished?
Decorating in England means the shitty painting bit 
Renovations are finished but gone £15k over my budget (inc contingency) so not slept the last two nights as i’m worried about money.
Need to take out another loan to pay the builder but its going to make things tight.
24th April 2024 Week 13 - Lower Body and Biceps
BB RDL
102kg x 8
92kg x 10
82kg x 12
BB Squats
90kg x 6
80kg x 8
70kg x 10
DB Hammer curls
18kg DBs
x 10 x 10 x 10
Abs V Ups
x 15 x 12 x 10
Cable Curls
4 weight
x 20 x 15 x 13
6.Ankle rehab
3 sets of ankle rehab for ligament damage
Feeling stressed, tired and got a bad cold all of a sudden. Missed Tuesdays workout as felt rubbish and then will miss Thursdays workout as i’m in Bath with work for a couple of days.
Well that sucks. Don’t stress over missing a couple of days. Get better and come back hard next week.
29th April 2024 Week 14 - Upper Body
Incline BB Press
75kg x 8
67.5kg x 10
60kg x 10 (been stuck on 10 reps for quite a few weeks now)
Chins - 24 reps in as many sets as needed with only 25 seconds rest
2 sets of 3 reps
9 sets of 2 reps
No sets of 1 needed so happy with my progress but i feel a big lump to be lifting up 
Shoulder Press
50kg each side x 8
45kg each side x 10
40kg each side x 12
Seated cable Row
89kg x 8
81kg x 10
74kg x 11
Pec Dec
54kg
x 15
x 10
Skull Crushers
16kg DBs
x 12
x
Feeling a bit more myself now, less stressed as gone through all my finances with the wife and made a few changes but also got enough money to pay the builder (via a loan) so don’t feel that weight hanging over me.
Gone stagnant on my incline BB press so might drop the weight and see if i can get my three rep targets,
1st set 6-8 reps
2nd set 8-10 reps
3rd set 10-12 reps
(dropping the weight by 10% each time).
30th April 2024 Week 14 - Lower body and biceps
BB RDL
105kg x 8
95kg x 10
85kg x 12
BB Squats
90kg x 7
80kg x 9
70kg x 11
Hammer Curls
20kg DBs x 8
18kg DBs x 10
16kg DBs x 12
V Ups
x 15 x 12 x 12 x 12
Cable curls
5 on rack
x 25 x 20 x 16
Ankle mobility work
3 sets of 15 reps
Good session today, happy to be back adding reps to squats and weight to RDLs. Back still a bit twitchy and i’ve not been doing my hip mobility every day as i should do.
2nd May 2024 Week 14 - Upper body
Slight incline DB Press
42kg DBs x 8
38kg DBs x 10
32kg DBs x 11
Pull ups palms facing each other - 24 reps (25 seconds rest)
x 5
x 4
x 3
x 2
x 2
x 2
x 2
x 1
Weighted Dips
10kg x 8
7.5kg x 7
5kg x 8
HS Seated Row
47kg Each side x 8
42kg Each side x 10
37kg Each side x 12
Lat Raises
12kg DBs x 8
10kg DBs x 10
8kg DBs x 12
Tricep pushdowns
7 weight x 20
9 weight x 16
11 weight x 11
Still not feeling 100%, really blocked up with a cold still, its been 2 weeks now which is ridiculous. Just want to feel a bit better. Although i’m not resting, still smashing the gym, still working hard and stressful and still painting the house most evenings until late.
Definitely burning both ends of the candle at the moment.
3rd May 2024 Week 14 - Day off
Had a day off again today, still have a massive cold with a headache and body aching all over. Its been two weeks now, really want this cold to go away. I ended up having to move loads of furniture yesterday as well which didn’t help my back.
Need a rest.