Worried About Deadlift and Squat Pain.

My last couple of workouts I have had some pain on the left side of my lower back just above my but. It only bothers me when I squat and dealift. Dose anyone know what it might be and if there is a way to fix it. Should I take some time off or just try and lift through it?

I don’t think its my technique because I haven’t changed anything recentley and I have always strived for proper form. I have been deadlifting and squating fairly heavy three times a week for the past few weeks, so should I mabye just go a bit lighter for a while? Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks.

It’s likely to be nerve pain. Stretch and keep your whole body flexible.

its very common, stretch, ice, rest and repeat. Take it easy till you feel a little more comfortable then get back to work.

Thanks for the help. I will make sure that I continue to stretch daily.

Especially stretch the hell out of your hip flexors. Do some glute activation work right before lifting, too. This takes care of 99.9% of my issues.

Some good suggestions thus far. One I’d like to add to the list, if you can’t find relief, is it possibly being muscular trigger point related. Some coaches around here have spoken about “muscle knots” and things such as that, particularly Jimmy Smith/Tony G. In fact they recommend a really comprehensive book about massaging your own ‘muscle knots’ called “The Trigger Point Therapy Work Book” by Claire Davies (a male author, btw.)

Not sure how much you know about this, but it’s basically just sick patches of muscle fibers which don’t fire correctly, don’t stretch correctly, and can cause pain at their origin site or at referred areas (i.e. a trigger point in one of your ass muscles causing low back pain that mimics a ‘herniated disc’.) Not saying trigger points trump everything else, but they’re ultra-ultra common, and totally scientifically validated. Check out Dr.Janet Travell’s work if you’re curious about that.

Sorry to be long winded. Basically, there is a really notorious muscle in your ass / hip region called - gluteus medius - known for causing a lot of low back pain. I’ve had this myself recently during pulling and squatting. I can’t coach you specifically how to find this muscle, but what I suggest is you buy a tennis ball, or a lacrosse ball, and go stand against a wall in your underwear one night. Make sure all your neighbors can see you. … Anyways, you can do this against a wall or against the floor, where ever. Press the ball into the muscle bellies in the side of your ass, your hip, the area where your ass turns into your low back, etc. Avoid direct pressure on the spine itself. What you’re looking for are painful, tender spots in your muscles. If you’ve ever foam rolled your quads, you know what I’m talking about. When you find a spot, rub over it 10-12 times in the same direction at a 7 on the 1-10 pain scale. You might be surprised what kind of relief this brings.

I also suggest exploring your quadratus laborum (think I spelled that right) which are the big muscle bellies to the left and right of your spine. Sometimes you can find some incredibly tender stuff in there. As long as you’re not fucking around with the actual bone and joints of your spine, you’re not doing any damage.

If you want much much more of this, peep that book I mentioned.

[quote]Hockeylife6 wrote:
My last couple of workouts I have had some pain on the left side of my lower back just above my but. It only bothers me when I squat and dealift. Dose anyone know what it might be and if there is a way to fix it. Should I take some time off or just try and lift through it?

I don’t think its my technique because I haven’t changed anything recentley and I have always strived for proper form. I have been deadlifting and squating fairly heavy three times a week for the past few weeks, so should I mabye just go a bit lighter for a while? Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks.[/quote]

If you stand straight up and lift one leg up keeping the knee straight, does it cause pain with one of the leg lifts?

[quote]dhickey wrote:
If you stand straight up and lift one leg up keeping the knee straight, does it cause pain with one of the leg lifts?[/quote]

There is no pain when I do that.

[quote]Donut62 wrote:
Especially stretch the hell out of your hip flexors. Do some glute activation work right before lifting, too. This takes care of 99.9% of my issues.[/quote]

What do you mean by glute activation work?

[quote]Hockeylife6 wrote:
Donut62 wrote:
Especially stretch the hell out of your hip flexors. Do some glute activation work right before lifting, too. This takes care of 99.9% of my issues.

What do you mean by glute activation work?[/quote]

I would assume he means some exercises that activate your glutes. Glute bridges, x-band walk, over-unders, etc. Check out Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson articles to learn more about that. Pretty sure the articles “get your butt in gear” and something like “fix your force couples” include many of those activation exercises.

Okay, Thanks

Its sciatica… I have the same problem…what works for me is stretching the hamstrings and hips… I have had this for over 20 years and can still squat and deadlift heavy… If you don’t get into a daily stretching routine or get lazy with your stretching it will become a problem…however stretching and icing the area should enable you to train and compete with no problems…