Lumbar pain after squatting

[valan]

Not sure if this should be in Training, so I'll try it here.

My squat was doing OK, then I watched the DVD and read some stuff on this board and "thought" that maybe my back angle was not quite right. So last night I tried to focus on keep my back more rigid, setting the angle at about 1/3 the way down and keeping it. I felt that I lost hip drive (probably chest up too much) and felt a LOT of strain in my lower back. Last night and today my lumbar back is in excruciating pain (getting out of a chain is LOADS of fun, but still doable). I can touch my toes and stuff no problem, just very twitchy. I've had no low-back issues until now, so this makes me wonder if my back angle was just fine.

My next workout is scheduled for tomorrow.
1) Stop messing with my back angle, workout anyway and proceed with my usual 5lb
increase?
2) Workout anyway, increase anyway and try to mess with my angle again?
3) Workout anyway, don't mess with angle and repeat my last workout (to be sure I got my form under control)?

I'll post vids next time. Just need some advice on dealing with the pain and direction on my next workout.

(sorry for cross-posting, just hoping to get some advice).

[dewasiuk]

Are you breathing properly?(i.e hold breath during the rep, and breathe after completing the rep). That can surprisingly make a difference.

[valan]

Just want to follow up on this. The problem got resolved once I started fully extending my lower back. At some point, I seemed to have stopped doing that. After some coaching I realized that for me, keeping my lower back flexed means sticking my butt out.

Squatting seems to be the only activity that is consistently improved by sticking your ass out. Hope I never end up in prison.

[peacerenity]

Another thing that helps me is to consciously bend at the waist some, instead of going almost straight down.