Help with Lower Back Rounding

Training Injuries
1

Lately i have been struggling to keep a natural arch when i bend over. As soon as i bend over and exceed maybe 15 degrees my lower back gets a hump no matter how hard i try to keep my chest up and try to arch. The area i am speaking of are the last 3 or 4 vertebrae in the spine, the rest of my back is perfectly straight or even a little arched.

Naturally i got really stiff hamstrings but i have been stretching them and the glutes but havent been able to improve my form one bit. I have not yet tried to stretch my lower back but i thought that would maybe be a bit counter productive.

If its any relevant i can add that i injured the discs between l4-l5-s1 3 years ago, had one bulging and one ruptured. I have no pain anymore even though i sometimes have to pop em back into place when i sit for a long amount of time.

Please help

2

Hamstring flexibility…

…without it, you’ll have rounded back and pelvic tuck.

3

You really should be assessed by a functional movement specialist. It could be tight hamstrings…or it could be overly lengthened and stiff hamstrings due to tight hip flexors and an ATP. There may be inhibited glutes as well. You could be lacking in thoracic ROM, which is influencing your lumbar spine. You could also have tight lats attributing to an ATP that feeds into all of the thing I listed prior.

There is no way to tell without being able to be physically assessed. So my recommendation is to find a qualified practitioner who can assess your movements functionally and address your limitations with corrective exercises.

4

My pelvis is not tucking in i am 100% sure of that. Could be that its stiff as hell and not following through any kind of motion i.e. always being in “standing” position
I used to go to a physiotherapist and she told me that “this is how i was built and nothing can change genetics” lol

5

It’s probably the way your back is built as you said. Some people can never get a very arched lower back when doing squats & pulls while others have very mobile backs and can keep them arched for the entire rep of a squat. Either extreme can predispose you to back injury.
I’m like you, maybe a little more mobile but the best I can achieve is a neutral back and I’ve never had any back pain.

Check out these videos of lifters. Both are world class and have very different back mobility.

Poor/average back mobility:

Good back mobility:

6

Yea thats what i figured. Problem is that my ruptures are pointing outwards, so if i dont get a straight back, or even better, an slightly arched back i risk pressing the juice out of my discs and get nerve pain again.
I wont give up on back mobility though until i can atleast touch my toes with straight legs.

7

[quote]JPCleary wrote:
Hamstring flexibility…

…without it, you’ll have rounded back and pelvic tuck.[/quote]

Occam’s razor FTW.

The best way to keep your back loose and pain free is to make sure your lower body and legs are loose and well stretched.

I herniated 2 discs in college sports, but I don’t even think about it anymore because stretching and staying flexible (paired with core strength) has eliminated any pain that used to come as a result.

8

[quote]Nidhogg wrote:
Lately i have been struggling to keep a natural arch when i bend over.
[/quote]
So is it safe to assume that by you saying “lately I have been struggling…”, that this problem has just recently started? How long have you been lifting for? How old are you? Has this lumbar flexion just started recently or been present your whole life?

Unless you have some sort of fibromyalgia or similar genetic disease/myopathy, you don’t naturally have stiff hamstrings. What you do on a daily basis and what types of activities you involve yourself in will determine the length and tissue quality of your hamstrings and all of your muscles. If the approach you have taken (stretching hamstrings and glutes) is not working, then your probably need to take another approach. In my previous response, I listed other situations that may be the issue (shortened/stiff hip flexors, etc). It may not even be a muscular issue; it may be a neurological issue that is guarding the hamstrings. It would help to be evaluated and assess by a movement specialist to determine your exact weak points and areas that should be addressed.

[quote]
If its any relevant i can add that i injured the discs between l4-l5-s1 3 years ago, had one bulging and one ruptured. I have no pain anymore even though i sometimes have to pop em back into place when i sit for a long amount of time.

Please help[/quote]
The “pop” you are referring to is likely you performing a self manipulation to your vertebrae and/or SI joint, not the discs popping back into place. This statement leads me to believe that a big part of your problem is poor lumbar stability and poor muscle activity of the core muscles and glutes. Those things will lead to lumbar flexion during squats, excessive torque on your lumbar spine, and can attribute to poor hamstring flexibility; for example, poor lumbar stability/weak core will cause the body to compensate elsewhere and limit hip mobility/hamstring flexibility to guard the area. Not saying that is your case for sure, but it could be. Again, get checked by a qualified movement specialist and it will be worth your time.

9

Alright i understand, makes sense.
Is there a medical term for ‘functional movement’? That gives me no relevant google search results.
Is it a physical therapist with specialization in functional movement?

To answer your questions; im 21 years old, i have been lifting for 4 years, injured myself 3 years ago from improper lifting. Since then i have been sticking to machines and very limited free weight exercises. Havent been satisfied with the results so i want to start over and do it properly, but thats never going to happen if i cant deadlift or squat without being afraid of injuring myself all the time with crappy weights. If i remember correctly my hamstrings were short back then aswell, probably what contributed greatly to the herniations. Posture wasnt that great either.

10

What type of lifting program were you on 3-4 years ago when you injured yourself? Do you remember specifically what you do that caused the injury? Were you just lifting on your own or were you working with a coach/trainer?

You still didn’t answer the question regarding the lumbar flexion/lower back rounding. Has this been going on your whole life since adolescence? Or did it come on right around the time of initial injury?

Although it is impossible to say this with any certainty without physically assessing you, from the added information that you gave, it doesn’t sound like a lumbar spine malformation where you are always going to have lumbar flexion, but rather sounds like some significant imbalances in your musculoskeletal system (bad posture, etc).

In terms of finding somebody who can address your functional movmement, you can look for somebody with a specific function movement certification or related certification. Those people can include physical therapists, athletic trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, and some physicians have them as well. Z-Health practitioners are a great resource, or you can go here Functional Movement Systems to the FMS website and find a certified functional movement specialist through their website.

I would highly suggest you find a strength coach to properly teach you technique and that can progress you through a proper program in order to prepare your body for the higher demands of squats/deadlifts.

11

Thanks alot for the help, ill get in touch with one tomorrow.
As for the lumbar flexion, im not sure as it wasnt really my concern until i injured myself. I was a newbie and didnt care for a coach so i started off myself. If i was to guess though i’d say that i never had any lumbar flexion problems pre-injury, considering that it took me a long time to herniate the discs with poor posture.

I was 140lbs, being 6 foot tall and i lifted 260 lbs with a shitty technique until my back finally burst. Im thinking that if i had a crappy lumbar flexion back then like i have now, i would never have gotten to 260 lbs

12

I’ll keep this simple and try to save you money, cause I’ve seen this lots and fixed it lots.

Firstly, hamstring function messing up the back and squat form is completely overrated and mechanically makes very little sense at all.

Second, practice your squat doing the following unweighted.

-start to squat, and you should be able to feel where something at your hips wants to pull your back around, probably the part where you’ll feel your back going. What you want to do (unweighted squat) is use your hands and push down into the front part of your hip, into the bit where things are folding over. This will be the muscle in front of your hip joint. You want to give bit of a push in, and imagine using that push to trigger the muscle contraction you want to help move you lower in your squat. It sounds crazy, but for alot of people you get a good squat depth by driving into the depth from the front of your hip (like something pinching and pushing from the front to help drive you down on the angle you want).

This may feel awkward the first time, but you may find yourself at a good depth comfortably.

IF this all happens and I’m actually right, you definitely need hip flexor stretching work. For this, stand with one leg in front of the other. Lean back, then lean to the opposite side of the leg out behind you. This will stretch in those deep hip flexor muscles that are likely causing the issue.

Other muscles tend to show up as other problems in the squat, but this will be a starting point. Till you can do unweighted squats to depth with good form (practicing the push from the front till you can initiate it on your own), don’t bother with loaded squats.

A nice trick to practice (unweighted) is on the descent, when you are getting near your sticky hip point, lift your toes a little bit to help get weight distribution right.

Those videos above show absolutely nothing regarding back form or any issues there, although HIP positioning and overall technique was different. The reality is that top Olympic lifters MUST maintain a relatively neutral lumbar spine or they get injured. Nitpicking anything about those technique videos is nonsense.

That is all.

13

Hey, thanks for the tips.
But as i previously wrote i dont have a problem with my hip tucking in which happens when i squat deeply. Its simply that when i bend forward say 15 degrees which is very very little, my lower back muscles start bulging and i lose my sway which looks like my lower back is rounding. If i was to guess i’d say my hip is immobilized

14

Post videos.