The squat and the lower back

[mohiz]

I've been encountering some lower back pain after squats lately. It's not severe and it subsides quickly after the workout, but it still leads me to wonder if I'm doing something wrong. It's like an unlocalised ache in my low back/upper glute region.

I'm shoving my knees out, and I'm trying to keep my back in extension. It actually feels like I'm hyperextending my lower back when I'm squatting, but according to the mirror my back is just in a slight arch (at least without weight). If I just try to keep my back straight, it feels better but according to the mirror my back is then slightly rounded. I have a very straight back when I'm standing upright normally. No lordosis or kyphosis. My torso is also long compared to my legs. Thus, I'm beginning to suspect that what I'm doing is hyperextending my back instead of just extending it normally. Does individual anthropometry affect the way the back looks when it's extended?

The bottom line is this: it feels uncomfortable to put my lower back into extension. I'm gonna start stretching my hamstrings in case it's a flexibility issue. Besides that, any other advice? Also, am I supposed to brace my abs by pushing them out or by just keeping them tight? Is it the same with a belt?

[mohiz]

Basically, to make it more clear, I think I'm having the same problem as this guy:

http://startingstrength.com/resource...ad.php?t=11900

I used to squat 300lbs for my working sets before I quit training for a while. After coming back to training, I'm having trouble with 240 pounds right now.

When I was squatting 300 pounds, I didn't consciously try to focus on hard back extension, just keeping the whole body tight. Also, my back was never sore then. How can I know when I'm extending my back too much and when too little?

[Carlos Daniel]

Film it and post it here, or have a knowledgeable person watch you while you squat.

[Chode]

If you suspect that you are hyper-extending your lower back then you may need to tighten your abs up.

[MikeC1]

I have a very straight back when I'm standing upright normally. No lordosis or kyphosis.

There is clearly something wrong with you - A normal spine has an S shape. As long as you keep your spine in a normal position and don't let it shift out of that position while you squat, you're probably safe. The pain you feel is because squats are very hard on the lower back, and if it goes away quickly, it just means your lower back is relatively weak compared to your legs, hips, etc. If you find later that it gets worse, I would recommend, from personal experience, adding high volume goodmornings to your routine.

Regarding abs, you don't try to push them out. You suck in a big gulp of air, use the Valsalva, and squeeze the abs tight, and they will appear to be pushing out. When using a belt, suck in your gut and get the belt on tight. When you let your gut relax and then suck in air and squeeze the abs, they will press against the belt.

[mohiz]

Well, okay, maybe I exaggerated it a bit. My spine is not totally straight, of course, but the S shape is very slight.

Today at the gym... this time the pain was so bad that I couldn't squat even my last warmup at all with my previous bad technique, so I was kind of forced to figure out how to do it correctly. Anyway, I figured out that I was indeed not keeping my back in extension, and in addition to that I was going so low that my lower back was rounding. Even with focusing on these things, I still felt some pain in the back, but at least I was able to squat. I'm sure the back is actually slightly injured. I've had one back injury before, but it was a lot worse than this. Interestingly, deadlifts don't hurt the back at all and they actually feel very good and strong right now.

I think I'm going to have to reduce squatting for a while to let the back heal completely. I don't think it'll heal just by squatting with proper form from now on. Should I try doing a reset?

[Regin Smidur]

I had the same problem with my pelvis tucking under at the bottom of a squat. I reduced the depth, started wearing a belt, and reset so that I had 3 easy light workouts before resuming linear progression from there. I continued squatting 3 times a week, and In 3 weeks I was setting PR's again, pain free.

[MikeC1]

Of course doing your squats incorrectly will introduce complications and possible injuries, but even when doing them correctly, squats somehow murder the lower back like nothing else, not even deadlifts. Here's my advice, and this is actually mostly Bill's advice, do a big reset, fix your form, and add good mornings after you squat, once a week on the day you don't deadlift, until you work up to 5 ramping sets of 8 good mornings at 50% of your squat weight. If you time it right, then your deload will have returned to original numbers at the same time that the good mornings get caught up.

[mohiz]

Thanks for the advice. For some reason I've never been able to figure out how to do good mornings. They always hurt my lower back. Maybe if I learn how to do them properly, it'll help the squat massively.

[MikeC1]

Bill can explain it much better than me:
http://www.ironmanmagazine.com/site/...of-lower-back/
http://www.ironmanmagazine.com/site/...back-part-2-2/