Hey guys I don’t mean to use this forum for medical advice I know you guys aren’t doctors and I probably need to talk to someone who is qualified but I wanted to know what you guys think. Here is my history
About 2 years ago I started lifting semi-seriously, did the starting strength routine. Fell into the a2g squat trap, was rounding my lower back for awhile(tight hip flexors/hamstrings) until eventually I started feeling it in my lower back and left off. Deadlifted too but again probably not with the best form.
Besides that I’ve always been pretty weak, I am like 6’4 and 190 pounds so pretty wirey and not too well built and also my muscles are tight as fuck, I am pretty inflexible. So I know my back especially lower back is weak. should be noted that I haven’t tried squatting or deadlifting in prob 4-5 months.
anyway it just sucks because I don’t think the pain is always THAT bad and sometimes I don’t even think about it but other times it can really suck. Like bending over to pick something up, or leaning forward when I wash my face for awhile…this can lead to a feeling of strain in my lower back. Because of this I haven’t even tried dlifting, squatting, rowing, anything like that. Could it be that I just need to find ways to strengthen my back to get better, or is the pain/discomfort a “oh shit dude, you need some help” type of thing?
If I was going to try and get some more serious help where would I even start? Broke ass college student…I take it chiropractors or back specialists are probably pretty expensive huh. What do you guys think?
It’s not like I’m not enjoying the shit out of college or that it’s totally ruining my life…but isn’t that a bad sign to have some discomfort if I’m only 21 and plan on living 60 more years???
Thanks for any advice
Eric Cressey lower back savers in the search function or google. I had back pain as well and those articles from Eric Cressey plus some other ones from Mike Robertson have my lower back pain free.
Also another thing I have learned is to drop the ego and accept how weak you really are,then you can do something about it and start getting stronger from there with good form even if one uses very humbling weights or body weight. You can do vertical pulling for your back and there are some body weight leg routines on Scott Abel’s youtube channel that will hold you through until your back is sufficiently healed.
It sounds like you need some improved hip mobility. I think it was on this site, but check out the third world squat. I think that’s what it was. It helped me (I’m 6 foot 2). I had a similar issue with not being able to get all the way down without rounding my back. Spend some time everyday, yes everyday, doing mobility drills especially for the hips and ankles.
Don’t go so deep in your lifts that you round your back, but slowly push that limit lower without rounding it. But really religiously do the mobility stuff and stretching.
-AND/OR-
Work around it… There are some single leg exercises that may help you get around this while you are working on your mobility. For instance: walking lunges, bulgarian split squats, step ups (provided they aren’t too high), and probably there are others. The point is all of these will load your leg really high, but not too much your back.
Do the mobility, stretching, and do some foam rolling (can’t stress that stuff enough).
Disclaimer: I am new to all this, but this stuff has worked for me. Just a note, I am also inflexible (can’t touch my toes), but I can squat all the way down now with a neutral spine, so the above mentioned stuff works as I couldn’t do this 5 months ago.
I think most of the mobility/flexibility stuff mentioned above is probably a good idea even for folks who aren’t squatting/deadlifting.
After building mobiility back up, strengthening your back muscles might also be useful to mitigate the pain (assuming it’s muscle pain and not full blown disc/nerve problems).
There are probably some issues with inactive glutes and tight hip flexors and all the usual crap.
Start squatting and deadlifting but take it easy at first and don’t go pulling max triples your first time back. If it gets worse it is worth seeing somebody about.
Get starting strength or find a good trainer who can teach you the lifts, as this is the most important. Get a little video camera or have a buddy do it on your cell phone to check form. You can even post the vids here for some feedback.
Learning the correct form and performing squats and deadlifts have a way of un-fucking things like this.