Lower back pain - anything obvious in my squat?

[Victor Spirin]

I am 29, 6’4”, have been doing LP since March. By August my squat went up from 60kg to 145kg with my weight going from 71 to 86kg; then I injured my piriformis. After a while of doing low weight high rep rehab, I am now able to do 107.5kg squats, feeling my piriformis during it but it not bothering me otherwise.

Problem is, now I am getting lower back pain. It feels rusty - when my back is straight it is fine, but if I move it in a different position, e.g. round it, I have to do it slowly as I feel pain at first. Rounding the back seems to be painful initially. It seems worse after squats. It’s not too bad, but I am just wondering whether increasing the squat weight would make it better or worse.

Is there anything obviously wrong with my squat, particularly with regards to my lower back? Ignore my grip - bad shoulder flexibility: YouTube

[Victor Spirin]

Looking at the video again, I suspect I am losing upper back tightness on the way up. My chest seems to not be up any more going up, and my back on the way up is very different than on the way down. Not sure if that would have an effect on my lower back too, though.

For posterity, here is a video of my 140kg squat from the summer. No pain back then, the squat felt pretty good, but injured my piriformis a few sessions after that. Form looks more solid than now? YouTube

[Satch12879]

Floppy low back is very floppy. Upper back not much better.

Hips are breaking way ahead of the knees and not getting into place fast enough.

Very very long femurs. Nikki Sims is your guide here. Hips are shooting back at the turn around. Back angle is collapsing at the bottom likely because of not staying tight, but because that’s probably where it actually needs to be given your proportions.

Way underweight for 6’-4”.

Very skeptical about doing novice program for 9 months.

[Victor Spirin]

One could say my novice progression ended around end of June, around 3-4 months in, with the piriformis injury. Have been trying to recover to where I was then since.

Putting on more weight but a bit careful with it now as I’d rather be lifting heavy as I do. The only lift that has been unaffected by injuries is the bench press which has been progressing nicely; maybe the press as well, although I suspect it might be aggravating my lower back as well.

So you think the more horizontal back angle on the way up is where my back needs to be on the way down as well?

How do I fix the back tightness and what adjustments do I need to make due to the long femurs? Just brace harder?

[Victor Spirin]

Does the squat in the second post video look better than the first post?

Should my back angle be as horizontal on the way down as I get it on the way up, or should I try to keep it more vertical on the way up?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Learning to Squat | The Starting Strength Method