Squat form check plus lingering lower back pain issues

[pcestrada]

Stats: Height 5'7", Weight 183lbs, Age 38

Been doing SS since January, with some breaks in training due to work related travel and a nasty cold.

Overall happy with progress but now that I'm hitting BW squats, I end up with a very tight lower back with some pain usually the day after, sometimes a few hours after squatting. No spine or leg pain or things like that so I'm pretty sure it's just muscular. It takes a couple of days of ibuprofen for things to feel better but then I squat and start the cycle of pain again. I've added back extensions and reset form a couple of times but keep bumping up against this pain.

It's not clear if I need to let my back rest longer, work on my form some more, or try something else. Would Starr rehab be appropriate? I really don't want to give up squatting but I'm afraid I'm going to really mess up my back if I don't fix the problem.

I've posted a couple of videos, one side view one angled to get some feedback on my form (5x185lbs)

[Greg C]

1) knees look a little forward to me.
2) Depth gets successively shallower during set.
3) I'd like to see a vid at work weight.

How long have you been having LB pain? Where (exactly) is it?

Starr rehab is NOT appropriate for anything other than muscle belly tears, which this is not by the sound of it (and you should know that if you have done any kind of searching of the forum btw, as it has been covered more times than I can count).

[pcestrada]

Greg,

1. Will focus on knees
2. Hitting correct depth has been something I've had to work on
3. These vids are at my current work weight

Looking at some back anatomy images, I would guess the pain is part of the thoracolumbar fascia, located at the deepest part of the lumbar curve. I started noticing discomfort about 3 weeks ago. I would notice a tightness in that area after working out and some pain the next morning. After a couple days's rest it felt fine and then come back during the next work out.

I posted the same videos to reddit.com/fitness and one commentator said my back position was too high, much more of a high back squat than an SS squat. Does any else agree?

I did read several posts about Starr rehab but I'm willing to try something different, hoping that it would strengthen my back via low weight/high reps.

[Corrie]

Do a search on the term "thoracolumbar fascia" in the forum, there should be a thread with it in the title from a few weeks back where we discussed this one.

I have been able to get rid of the pain by working on keeping my lower back tight at the bottom of the squat. Yours looks just like mine did, with that little "butt wink" at the bottom.

Try standing up a little bit taller before your rep. Remember to put your back in extension (drop your dick between your legs) but don't let that get you hunched over. Think tight, hard lower back and chest up and when you get down in the hole, if you feel anything losening up then that's your depth and go back up.

Ps.- to hit depth with the tight lower back you may need to actively shove your knees out even more.