Lower back pain...

MsMaeFlowers

So I'm on week 3 of 5x5. I started off with dumbells until I could buy myself a bar and some plates. Unfortunately the only bar I could get weighs 10lb, and I have another 15lbs from plates. So I worked up to 25, and found a way to get to 35lb. For some reason, squats are giving me lower back pain. Not like, super bad, but I am definitely aching by the time I'm done my work out. I've checked my form as best I can, even had my mother look at it (she used to lift a lot) and she said it was fine other than I shouldn't be doing ATG because it's bad for your knees. Should I be worried about the back ache, or is it normal when starting out? I keep my back straight and lift with my legs. Squeeze the glutes on the way up. My feet are probably at a 10-15 degree angle and I try to push my knees out a bit. Not having pain anywhere else. Just lower back ache. Help?

canadianlbs

lots of things can causae a lower back thing, and i guess i don't know myself what the 'official' response to it is. me, i'm 51 and a little paranoid, so i back off pretty fast. for what it's worth, any time my lb was bothering me, i don't think it ever just went away by itself. form change always made the difference. a quick list of the form things that have been a factor for me:
- buttwinking. well, duh but then i didn't know i was doing it, literally.
- shoulder impingement. it meant i couldn't square myself up under the bar, which meant my hips were not square under the bar, which meant more torque than is healthy spiralling its way through my pelvic bones every time i completed a rep.
- ankle impingement. same as previous, just from the other direction.
- squat style. this is pretty individual, i guess - it seems like lots of people are completely comfortable with the 'eyes down' cue and a back angle that gets fairly steep. for me i finally had to admit that my trainer had a point about it putting a lot of strain on my lower back.
- i had one period that was making my lb crunchy, that got fixed by the cue of 'drive your back into the bar' as i was starting back up. it was hard to do because i was so used to gettin gto keep my eyes down and just drive back up with my butt/legs. but that did mean that my lower back was getting given the whole job of hinging my upper body back into upright position almost as a separate movement, so i gave in. still work on this all the time. still wish i could just fold over and do it the easy way, sometimes

just some thoughts. if you're at all able to film clips of yourself they can be incredibly useful for helping you to correleate physical sensations through a rep to what's actually happening with your body. for myself it sometimes allows me to pinpoint exactly the moment when things begin to go wrong.

you can also upload them to the Form Check thread in the stickies here (or to other threads elsewhere on mfp), if you want feedback from others as well. if you do that here, i'd suggest dropping a note in a well-used thread like the daily workout, just so people know that your clip is there. otherwise those sticky threads can get kind of overlooked.

OtiWanKenobi

Yeah, it'd be hard to tell unless we can see your form. *kitten* to grass is not bad for your knees as long as you are doing proper form where your knees go over and in the same direction of your feet (If your knees go in, that's a problem and you're lifting too much weight...work on your abductors). Some things to think about when doing squat that might cause back ache is that you might be looking up instead on down toward a distance, you're using your back to lift rather than your legs/hams/glutes to drive up, or your not tightening up your core and legs on each rep. But again, this is all a guess since I can't see your form.

OtiWanKenobi

LOL! MFP changed *kitten* to kittens.

MsMaeFlowers

OtiWanKenobi wrote: »

LOL! MFP changed *kitten* to kittens.

It changes all the swears to kittens now. Makes me laugh trying to figure out what word it should have been.

fanncy0626

I agree with canadianlbs. You shouldn't experience back pain unless form is off or weight is too heavy and again form is usually off. Get a mirror if at home or have someone video you. I would suggest a trainer evaluation and maybe a few sessions would be very beneficial.

canadianlbs

video is really the best. for me anyway. i dug out my web cam about a year ago, and it turned out i had no idea how to judge what i'm doing from the side just by looking at a mirror. your eyes move with the rest of you so your perspective changes as you go through the rep.

Kirstie155

Video yourself! Im with @canadianlbs Im super careful about back pain. I was rounding my back and it didnt feel right while lifting-dropped the weights and video taped myself. Sure enough, it was bad!

I just put my phone on a wine holder and a sock, lol!

MsMaeFlowers

We just moved into our new place tonight so I'm going to try and figure out some way to video myself if I can in the next few days. Should have been a SL night tonight, but I counted moving as my workout instead. I'll do my SL tomorrow.

Julieboolieaz

I have a compressed disc in my low back and it will plague me as the weights get heavier. I've deloaded a few times to work on form, and even with good form at about 125lbs my lower back will be very sore after squats and deads. I added a weight belt and am hoping that'll help this time as I'm adding weight again.

There are loads of issues that could be causing this, but like the others have said, likely form. Stretching hips, calves, etc before has helped me, as well as really bracing my abs and low back while doing the lift.

Good luck! Hope you can figure it out .