I’m feeling lower back pain the next day every time after i stretch my hips and hamstring. Even when I try doing Dl’s with the minimal load my back hurts the next day. When I sit for a long time the pain starts to go trough my quads. When i stop stretching after some while the pain goes away, but not completely. It comes back every time when i stretch my hips or do some exercise that involve some lower back work. because of that i can’t do any lower body work except hack SQ’s and some leg ext and flex. I went to my doctor and after some examination she told me that i don’t have a sprained disc and that i have a normal back but very stiff erectors. She told me that i should do some soft tissues therapy. I’m doing some tennis ball massages and some work with my self made foam roller but that also gives very little relief. I one took a 2 month break from any lower body work and stretching and felt fine but when i tried doing Dl’s with the empty bar the pain started again the next day. This cycle has been going for the last 6-7 months and i see no improving.
Thanks for the help, I’ve read almost everything on T-Nation about lower back and postural problems, but still can’t find the answer why my back hurts after stretching. I’m now taking a 4 month break with a lot of swimming during the whole summer. Should i continue to do the usual side bridge, glute bridge and ab work, or just hope that time itself will cure my back? I have the opportunity to go to a excellent chiropractor, could that help in any way?
The last time i did DL’s i was warming up with some mobility work, hypers and leg curls and then i went to do 5x5 with only 30kg because thats the lowest weight that i can put on the bar. My form is good and my back is tight and not arched.
After the second set i was feeling slight pain in the middle of my right erector that went worse with every rep i did. It happens right when i DL the bar of the floor while still leaning a bit forward. This was done in a slow pace and good form.
I also did the classic crunches in the same workout and they also proved themselves to make a feeling of lower back tightness.
My posture is fine, I had an anterior pelvic tilt before but i corrected that before i started doing any serious SQ and DL.
I am sitting a big part of the day in school and at home but i can’t change that. And when sitting when i bend my back forward and relax it i have a feeling of tightness above the hip.
My bed is really firm and i have been using it for like 4 or more years so that shouldn’t be the cause of the problem.
The pain, do you feel its local radiating from you lower back as the source or total muscle stiffness. Do you notice the pain when your spine is in flexion or extension, as said in eric cressy’s article people who get pain in flexion or extension usually spend their day in the position that causes them pain and for me that was flexion accompanied with posterior pelvic tilt.
Which means for me that when I dead lift or squat I have to keep my whole back tight and arch my lower back to keep a neutral spine throughout the movement. You should see if you get pain in flexion which it sounds like it does and keep your back arched in squat and deadlift. If you get pain in extension you should refer back to those articles again.
You are right about the pain coming from flexion of the back. And I think but I am not sure that i might also have a posterior pelvic tilt.
I did some piriformis stretches, and felt some kind of a relief in the sitting flexion position.
Should i try for a week or two to do the posterior pelvic tilt routine from this article Strength Training, Bodybuilding & Online Supplement Store - T NATION, without the DL & SQs?
Sure but that article requires you to strengthen your quads and spinal erectors so you can do body weight leg routines, dumbbell lunges with minimal load and neutral spine and back extensions keeping your lower back arched throughout the movement and vertical pulling or chest supported horizontal pulling for you back. When your back is healthy enough for squatting I would recommend learning the front squat and for both squats and dead lifts to keep your lower back arch. There are some effective body weight leg routines on Scott Abel’s youtube channel.
I am now 40 years old and have lifted through a very painful back for 10 years now… I have the joy of degenerative disks that are genetically passed down. Until I have the opportunity for stem cell injections to replace the disks ( my sister works for Dr. that is doing them now in trials with GREAT success… will keep you posted ) … here is what I do to stay sane and halfway out of pain. PS… yes it never goes away 100%.
STRETCH … this usually comes after my 45 minutes on the elliptical at the house 5 days per week. I go from barely being able to put on my socks to 80-90% no pain. Let me say that again … STRETCH… and not the sissy stretching … you have to spend at least 20 minutes really digging in deep. BTW… you will make yourself sore for weeks stretching this deep. But it will pay off after about a solid month of it. If you spend the time on the elliptical you will also benefit from good blood circulation in the legs and glutes and hell you may lose a couple pounds of fat in the process.
Minimize spinal compression exercises… no more 100 lb dumbell shoulder presses. Do more lateral work and lighter dumbell work and do lighter higher rep. shoulder presses for your very last sets so you have exhausted your shoulders.
Have a massage a few days a week.
I have been x-rayed MRI’ed - Chiropracticed on …and gone through the vicoden … muscle relaxers route ( had to quit them as they quit working and didn’t want the addiction) I have been through Shots in the lower back in the spine area under sedation … worked great for 2 weeks then pain came back slowly over next few weeks.( then I got my $4,000 Dr Bills…
NOTHING in the world works better for day and and day out relief over stretching after a hard aerobics session… at least that is for me. It is the cheapest… drug free … feel good way to elliviate most of your back pain and burn some fat in the process.
Ok here is a quick update on my lower back pain, i was doing some corrective exercises and stretches and that didn’t help me much so i went to a chiropractor and after doing some flexibility and posture checks he just quickly adjusted my right sacroiliac joint which was completely blocked all the time. That explains why i felt pain in my lower back after stretching my hip flexors. And I’m pain free when sitting or bending over now.
One more treatment and I will be doing deads ans squats in no time.