Hips uneven/ lower back pain; please help.

[David A. Rowe]

This is his description of his back pain:

"When I squat or deadlift, the day after the workout or the next day i usually have tightness and pain in my lower back, specifically the left portion of my lower back."

That is not a diagnosis. It basically tells us nothing specific of why his back hurts. He does not know why, and really - neither do we. Therefore we have to be very careful in making recommendations on how to "fix" it. He could have bone cancer. He could have spondylolisthesis. He could have scoliosis. He could have herniated discs. Granted, all these things are quite unlikely. Now you say:

"When my back hurts like he says his does... and I DON'T stretch and pop my back... I pull muscles in my sacrum (sometimes severely)."

His back is not your back. There is no way from his description that you can confidently say that he has the same issue as you.

"but given it's free and non-invasive... why NOT try it?."

I would disagree with this. In my time as a trainer/coach (7 years) I have seen one trainer get fired for overstretching someone's back in that very same manner because the client ended up rupturing something and needing surgery. I have seen people hurt themselves stretching in yoga classes or before or after workouts. And I have yet to see any evidence (or critical analysis) that stretching the low back in that twisting fashion does any more good than harm. That video you posted is easy for someone to mess up. If they are not used to stretching or are very tight in general and twist too far they could certainly make things worse.

In my time in the Starting Strength community I have never heard any doctor, PT(who is a SSC), or SSC recommend stretching the low back in that fashion, especially for an undiagnosed issue.

I would be interested to see if Brodie weighs in here. I think if the OP were to hurt himself doing that stretch you may even be liable.

" Is it a priority over correct form and DTFP?"

Bingo. Just safer to stick to what we know before delving into gray areas

Understood. I do not hold a credential for this, and I now understand your position more thoroughly on the matter. I did not think of the gravity of the situation you described, and I am also interested in other input.

I like to defend my position, sometimes doggedly, but I do not mind changing my mind when I'm wrong. I also did not take into account the fact that I DID see a chiropractor first who values massage therapy and approaches things more from a sports medicine view point rather than the type of chiro who thinks everything and anything is correctable or curable with adjustments. I have spent a long time working to become more self-sufficient due to prior injuries creating naggin issues, but I understand that it may not be beneficial to or appropriate for everyone.

[Ryan Arnold]

I have spent a long time working to become more self-sufficient due to prior injuries creating naggin issues

This is a good quality to have. We have to take our health into our own hands.

So as you can see recommending someone see a chiro is different than suggesting they perform the work of a chiro on themselves.

Don't get me wrong, I think chiro/massage/trigger point/yoga and some other stuff can be helpful for some. But it has to be approached logically and always supplemental to a good solid strength program.

Again back to the OP - "I've been to Physical Therapy and have been told my hips are uneven/ rotated, however nothing they're doing is really working to fix the issue."

None of this is good. Did they give you a logical reasoning or show you imaging depicting just how your "hips are uneven?" Did the explanation make sense? Is the rehab working? (obviously not). Unfortunately there are a lot of bad PT's out there. We know this.

As I mentioned before, its quite possible there is absolutely nothing wrong with your hips. It could be a form thing. But if there is - its on you to keep asking questions until you find out what's going on. Take pictures of yourself. Get the leg length checked. Take videos and submit them to form checks. Sometimes these things take time. Don't take a PT's word for it. They need to be able to explain it do you so you understand.

[Ryan Arnold]

I actually thought it was the opposite. I felt like my left foot/ knee was tracking more out than my right.

I'm 5'11, 165 lbs, and 19 years old.

I haven't maxed out on deadlift or squat because every time I get passed around 225 my lower back is in pain. And it's specifically the left side of my lower back. At first I thought I was just a bitch and worked through it, but that lead to me pinching a nerve in my back.

At the moment I'm not as worried about progressing as I am just fixing my form so I can progress later safely.

You kind of said it all yourself.

Judging by your stats you need to eat more to improve recovery.
Going by what you said about lifting it seems you were lifting heavy and pushing through pain, which caused a pinched nerve (which still may be causing issues now).
Start light and get form checked

[rstexas]

When I get under the bar to squat, something feels off before I even begin. I've been to Physical Therapy and have been told my hips are uneven/ rotated, however nothing they're doing is really working to fix the issue.

When I squat or deadlift, the day after the workout or the next day i usually have tightness and pain in my lower back, specifically the left portion of my lower back. I feel like my left leg/ hip is functioning correctly and that I can't seem to fix the right portion of my hip to track in the way I need it to.

Here's a video of my squat form. Any advice would be awesome, thanks.

form sucks x2 - YouTube

FWIW your hip issue as you stated from your PT sounds similar to a condition one of my kids gets from soccer. Possibly the condition was caused by another sport? My kid sees a chiro a couple of times a year to "reset her hip". When she has the hip condition and is on the chiro table, one of her legs does hang longer than the other. After the adjustment she feels immediate relief. I did some research which led me to her getting stronger and the SS book and she (and I) are now on the SS program. Ultimately she has to get stronger to help alleviate the issue, but until then the chiro adjustment works. Not saying that is your issue but a chiro visit is fairly inexpensive and in our case they recognized the issue immediately and were able to correct it in just a few minutes.

[Satch12879]

Ryan, et al., bad form notwithstanding, how often is a complaint of "pain," actually simple soreness due to the fact that certain muscle groups are weak and/or not commonly used? The low back and novices seem to often go together.

[Ryan Arnold]

Ryan, et al., bad form notwithstanding, how often is a complaint of "pain," actually simple soreness due to the fact that certain muscle groups are weak and/or not commonly used? The low back and novices seem to often go together.

I think that's actually pretty rare. Even novices know when their back hurts more than it should. If they are complaining of pain, they probably tweaked it as a result of bad form, using too much weight, not being recovered, lack of tightness, or any of the many reasons people tweak their back. What is unfortunate is that people will hurt their back deadlifting or squatting and then determine that deadlifts and squats are bad for your back. Its just part of the process - it happens. If you tweaked your ankle playing basketball would you determine that basketball is bad for your ankles? Of course having had a pretty serious back injury myself, I know that back injuries can be really painful and disruptive to life (especially if you are weak - like I was) and that people tend to freak out about them and be a little traumatized after the first time it happens

[benmilano]

What is unfortunate is that people will hurt their back deadlifting or squatting and then determine that deadlifts and squats are bad for your back. Its just part of the process - it happens. If you tweaked your ankle playing basketball would you determine that basketball is bad for your ankles?

So what should I do? Do i stay away from Squats and Deadlifts and recover or just keep pushing?

[Ryan Arnold]

So what should I do? Do i stay away from Squats and Deadlifts and recover or just keep pushing?

Neither of those things. If you take 3 minutes to re-read the thread, I've given my thoughts quite clearly I think

[MattBraunstein]

I think that's actually pretty rare. Even novices know when their back hurts more than it should. If they are complaining of pain, they probably tweaked it as a result of bad form, using too much weight, not being recovered, lack of tightness, or any of the many reasons people tweak their back. What is unfortunate is that people will hurt their back deadlifting or squatting and then determine that deadlifts and squats are bad for your back. Its just part of the process - it happens. If you tweaked your ankle playing basketball would you determine that basketball is bad for your ankles? Of course having had a pretty serious back injury myself, I know that back injuries can be really painful and disruptive to life (especially if you are weak - like I was) and that people tend to freak out about them and be a little traumatized after the first time it happens

I'd agree with being traumatized the first time it happens. I tweaked my back on my second week of LP. It freaked me out. After listening to Rip's podcast, it made me realize it was just a muscle tweak and not a disc issue, which was my biggest concern. After taking a workout off, I deloaded quite significantly and worked back up.