Lower back ache the day after squatting

[Geezer]

I don't feel any pain or ache while squatting and i've only worked my way up to squatting 45kgs, but damn the day after squatting if i stay seated for any length of time i get some killer back ache.

I'm fairly certain it's down to flexibility issues leading to me rounding my back at the bottom so i'm taking steps to try to improve that, firstly stretching and secondly I decided to drop the weight back down to 20kgs while doing higher reps to concentrate more on my form and it seems to be reducing the ache.

Just wanted to know if this sounds normal and that i'm going about it the right way.

cheers

P.S. I'm working out in an outside gym that use iron rods with concrete blocks on the end, they only go up in 5kg jumps and after 50kg in 10kg jumps :/ so far i've handled that by upping reps for 3-4 sessions and then making a 5kg jump. The weights are more than likely uneven too. I also wear flip flops :S jeez Mark would personally crucify me if he got the chance

[Geezer]

Umm just to add, I am serious, I´m in brazil, so thats why i´m in flip flops and using this flintstone´s style gym. I´m in the process of finding a half decent gym, but it´s not so easy. The last gym i visited they have banned squatting outside of the smith mc.

[Ian Kovtunovich]

I was going to reply when you posted this, but I wasn't sure if this was for real, with the concrete blocks and whatnot.

Anyway, I find when I've got bad soreness going on, I do well when I stretch a lot. Ideally, first thing in the morning, sometime during the day, and right before bed. Hamstrings especially; sometimes I just bend over with straight legs and hang there for a minute or so, trying to relax lower and lower into the stretch. If you have a pullup bar to hang from and try to relax your back as much as you can, that feels good sometimes, too.

Good luck finding a better facility. But good for you for getting after it!

[Geezer]

Yeah i´m serious, thanks for the reply. This is a free gym in one of the local parks here. I guess the cheapest way they can provide weights that no one will steal is to mould concrete blocks on to the end of iron bars. Theres a few fairly big guys that train there. I´ll have to see if i can get a picture of it up here somehow.
I just re-read my first post, sorry it´s terribly written!

[DaveSev]

Hamstring + hip flexor stretches helped me...most back pain is related to inflexibilities in your hammies and hips.

And remember chest up on your squats.

And some of the pain might just be the feeling of muscle pump...I know when I started squats and DL's, I had never worked those muscles in my lower back, so I was feeling them for the first time and it was awkward. Granted it wasn't painful, just a kind of tightness.

[gamedog]

I haven't had ANY lower-back pain since I started doing Rip's "low bar" squats versus keeping the bar higher up. What's more, my back, as a whole, feels a lot tighter/stronger when I do them that way.

I've also been PNF stretching my hamstrings every day, as well. Either after I lift, or after I've walked my dog. That seems to help me too.

[Ian Kovtunovich]

I've also been PNF stretching my hamstrings every day, as well. Either after I lift, or after I've walked my dog. That seems to help me too.

WTF is PNF, please?

[strengthstarter]

I don't feel any pain or ache while squatting and i've only worked my way up to squatting 45kgs, but damn the day after squatting if i stay seated for any length of time i get some killer back ache.

I don't know if you have chiropractors down there, but you may want to get your back checked out. I've had problems with sitting and it ended up being one of my L2 vertebrae out of alignment.

[Geezer]

I was going to reply when you posted this, but I wasn't sure if this was for real, with the concrete blocks and whatnot.

Anyway, I find when I've got bad soreness going on, I do well when I stretch a lot. Ideally, first thing in the morning, sometime during the day, and right before bed. Hamstrings especially; sometimes I just bend over with straight legs and hang there for a minute or so, trying to relax lower and lower into the stretch. If you have a pullup bar to hang from and try to relax your back as much as you can, that feels good sometimes, too.

Good luck finding a better facility. But good for you for getting after it!

You stretch after warming up right?

[Geezer]

OK guys, so for now i´m going to continue focusing on stretching and hope that sorts me out, My backs feeling better but i´ve keep my squat at 20kg 3x12 with the focus on form for the last 2 weeks and for another week or two i expect.

I´ll look into seeing a chiropractor if things don´t improve soon.

[Mr.City]

For me, it's been letting my chest collapse on the final reps of a set and loosing my grip on the bar, letting my elbows drop.

[StickFigure]

WTF is PNF, please?

PNF=Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation

How to do it: Stretch a muscle for 15 seconds against an unmovable object (wall, post, etc..)...then while stretching flex that muscle for 10 seconds, as if trying to move that bodypart through it's ROM against the immovable object.....as soon as you relax the muscle, stretch just a little deeper and further and hold for another 15 seconds.

How it works: You go down to max stretch then you flex the muscle that your stretching, this causes your muscle to focus on the flex more than the stretch-reflex response. As soon as you stop flexing you have a 2-3 second window where you body still has its guard down in reference to the stretch-reflex response, this allows you to go into a deeper stretch that you initially could.

[Geezer]

I have just finished watching the SS video, It´s got me thinking that I may have been so concerned about rounding my back that I was overcompensating and therefore over-extending(???I think thats the term, the opposite of rounding).

Does that sound like the likely culprit? I gave my back a rest from squats for a week and ache has completely gone away.

Stickfigure: interesting stretching info, thanks.