Recently i injured my lower back during ATG squats. There was no immediate pain after but excruciating pain about 2-3 hours after. I went and saw my physiotherapist and he informed me i pinched a disc in my back. I stopped any back and leg training for about 9 weeks until all my pain was gone. Beginning training for me consisted of stretching hips, hamstrings etc. its been over a month of stretching and i am experiencing posterior pelvic tilt when i ht parallel on squats and it is muchh lower than what i was at before… Any advice? should i be doing lower back strengthening exercises? should i continue with doing front squats and trying to stretch all hip muscles? its frustrating for a relatively new lifter (1.5 years of good weight training) to experience an injury and have to set all weights back to what i was doing when i started… any advice would be appreciated.
Just remember that the few hours after heavy exercise are the most dangerous. Many people, runners, lifters, footballers etc all learn perfect technique and use of strength to keep the core tight. It is 30 minutes or sometimes longer after exercise that the most injuries occur, and this is because when their muscles are in a fatigued state they let them relax, and subsequently uptake bad posture. The fatigue causes a lack of muscular tone, and their body distorts in an abnormal way, causing injury long after the exercise.
This leads many athletes to blame the exercise they last did in their training, when really they have suffered no acute trauma at all! This is a bad self-assessment, and all they need to do is concentrate on upholding good posture (natural lordosis, curvature of the back with a ‘high’ chest, and keeping core a ‘muscle tone’ to uphold the spine) for the next few hours after exercise.
Pinching a disk can cause a flare up in the glutes and surrounding muscles because of the sciatic nerve runnning so closely trough them. This can cause tightening of those muscles, so just work on your hip mobility (regaining the ability to drive your knees outward when squatting), and keep your back in a natural lordosis the whole time.
Have a look through this, though you might be a bit more advanced than the exercises suggested it is still good to learn about your own injuries.
Are you doing reverse hypers and GHR’s? Step ups?
thanks for the posts! I have recently started incorporating GHR’s and goodmornings with very low weight since after the long rest it was difficult for me to activate my lower back muscles to keep my spine in neutral position, and it looks like i’ll have to do more core training like stated… i’ve been following mobility exercises of Eric Cresseys and they seem to be working slowly but surely, but i am finding my hamstrings are tight as hell despite all the stretching i have been doing.
thanks for the posts! I have recently started incorporating GHR’s and goodmornings with very low weight since after the long rest it was difficult for me to activate my lower back muscles to keep my spine in neutral position, and it looks like i’ll have to do more core training like stated… i’ve been following mobility exercises of Eric Cresseys and they seem to be working slowly but surely, but i am finding my hamstrings are tight as hell despite all the stretching i have been doing.