Lower Back stiffness/tightness

[MattyK829]

Hi Mr. Rippetoe,

I am 29 yrs old. I have been lifting since 15. I started to lift heavy and bulk up about 3 months ago and have gained about 30 pounds. I have been on SS for about the past 5 weeks.

I have noticed that when I do even light cardio my lower back gets so tight I can't continue to run. I'm a gym teacher and have always been active, so I don't think its because I'm out of shape. I feel my lower back is just not recovering from the squats, deadlifts, etc.

This is not painful, its just more of a cramp that keeps me from continuing. Have you experienced this? I would hate to squat less but my cardio is really suffering. I'd like to find a happy medium.

On another note, thanks for SS and teaching me the RIGHT way to do these lifts, I have done them improperly for years.

[thersites]

If you want Rip's answer, you need to post in his dedicated Q&A forum. Of course, Rip will tell you to cut back on the cardio & worry about getting stronger during the valuable linear progression stage.

Have you been stretching? Your hamstrings as well as your glutes and lower back? Have you tried foam rolling?

How often are you deadlifting? If you've been going heavy and hard weekly for three months on SS, you may not be recovering fully from weekly DL. If so, switch to a every other for the alternating DL & PC (DL, back hypers/GHD, PC, back hypers/GHD).

[Carlos Daniel]

It's very likely that Rip moved it here.

Here's what I'm sure Rip would say:

This is caused by the growth of muscle beyond which the surrounding fascia can accommodate. Get yourself a nasty massage on the lower back.

[ColoWayno]

nasty massage

[Carlos Daniel]

No, that is a massage with a happy ending.

[ColoWayno]

I really just wanted to use that clip.

[David_G]

Also the erector spinae muscles are deep(can't ice them effectively) and they grow amazingly fast on SS, I had the same pain as you describe, just see what is interfering with your recovery and cut it off, SS is hard as it is, you don't need tons of extra cardio, believe me, if you PC 5X3 twice a week/once and rest 3 minutes in between sets and bulk up, your cardio would stay great, my cardio was even better(I could run faster and longer) after SS even without running, only thing I noticed was a mild pain for the first 4-5 runs in the lower tibia, which I guess is due to the heavy body weight(I gained 20KG in SS~50 pounds) my bones did not accomodate to just yet

[MattyK829]

Thanks all. Backed off the dl a bit

[IronThug]

If your feeling stiff in the lower back stratch out your hamstrings