Lower back

jbkpg85prf

I am a 51 hr old male. 200 lbs. 5’9”. Would describe my build as athletic with a belly (dad bod I guess). I’ve been consistently going to the gym 4-5 days/week this year and I’m definitely making progress towards my goals.

I do a mix of running, weight lifting, and steam room. I’ve noticed some lower back pain in recent weeks that I can’t attribute to a single moment of injury or anything like that. The pain isn’t terrible, but constant. There is also just stiffness. I did get a massage yesterday and while it hurt a lot when she did it, the reduction in pain and stiffness afterwards was very noticeable.

The only exercise I do that puts pressure on my lower back is seated lat cable pulls. I do 3 sets of 10 with weight of 100lbs, 3 days/week. I am very careful about keeping my spine straight during these. I do some basic stretching (think high school gym class stretches) while I’m in the steam room.

Can anyone recommend additional exercises or stretching techniques that would help strengthen my lower back and reduce the pain there?

tulips_and_tea

What kind of ab work are you doing? Strengthening your core helps a lot with lower back strength. My son was having some lower back pain, and I found out he was doing sit-ups (ugh, child!), so I suggested planks and now he does those, and it has helped tremendously.

Just a suggestion! I'm not a doctor and back pain can be serious, so be careful about what you do.

Retroguy2000

4-5 days weekly at 51yo is maybe quite a lot. When was your last deload? Could be fatigue catching up.

You probably want something light right now like bird dog yoga pose. When you're feeling better, add back extensions. You can do those at home with a weights bench if no gym access.

Also consider if your mattress or sleeping position is contributing to this. Losing more weight will probably help too.

I'm a bit older than you and I do barbell row and RDL, sets of 12. Plus the back extensions I mentioned. You (and I tbh) should also consider the Pallof press.

briscogun

As someone with lower back issues, I find that doing a dynamic warmup before I exercise AND static stretching afterwards really helps my back. In addition, doing core work that does not tweak my spine but helps strengthen and support it does wonders (planks, bird dogs, v-ups, leg raises, etc).

AnnPT77

This isn't mostly stretches, it's mostly other possibilities.

First, a couple of things about stretches or remedial exercises:

1. Did you ask the massage therapist for advice? It depends on the specific person's experience and credentials, but I've gotten very helpful advice in similar scenarios from the massage therapist.
2. Bob & Brad's YouTube channel has self-diagnostic and remedial videos about a huge range of musculo-skeletal issues. I'd bet they have some about low back pain. They're actual credentialed physical therapists, and I've found some good stuff on their channel. (Don't take their side-comment advice about diet. It's outside their scope of practice, and some of it is IMO dumb. But their PT advice has been solid for me.)

Next, non-stretching advice even though you didn't ask for it.

If massage worked, maybe self massage techniques would be another potential to explore. There are affordable tools, and non-tool techniques. Foam rollers are well known. Work with tennis balls or lacrosse balls is less well known, as well as some things using a bigger inflated ball (yoga ball is one name - a little smaller than a basketball). It's more of a trigger point thing, and you don't mention trigger point or knot issues, but massage canes are good for self-treatment for that kind of thing. (Thera Cane is one brand.)

There are useful back stretches using a big exercise ball - stability ball is a common name, but those are still stretches, not self massage. (Great for certain core exercises, too.)

Background context for another couple of comments: For years, I've gone to an osteopathic manipulation medicine clinic at my local major research university. Osteopaths are real doctors: In the US, their D.O. is equivalent to an M.D. in education and post-graduate residencies and such. My doc is a professor in the College of Osteopathy as well as a practicing physician specializing in musculo-skeletal stuff.

Two things about that:

• I'd recommend specialist osteopathic treatment as a possible intervention for low back pain. They can prescribe meds if helpful, though musculo-skeletal work, recommended exercises, and even physical therapy referrals are the more common techniques. I have several friends who've seen different D.O.s at this clinic, and positive outcomes have been universal so far.
• Have you lost weight already? One of the problems I had was a spike in back problems alongside weight loss. A trigger was the change in posture that "just happened" when I didn't have a blob of fat in some area. The change in body shape changed my posture and stresses on my muscles/bones/connective tissue in ways my body wasn't accustomed to. Treatment, some recommended exercise, changes in sleeping position or strategically-located pillows during sleep, and simply some time to adjust to the new body configuration eventually resolved the issues.

I'd also suspect that if you're relatively new to strength training, or to your current routine, imbalances in that training could also create some similar effects, i.e., not just a particular exercise, but an imbalance where some muscle groups are strengthening more than their opposing groups. (I have some analogous problems now, just causing leg pain rather than back pain, from unbalanced development of leg muscles . . . because sometimes I'm an idiot. 🙄😆)

Good luck!

avatiach

For me, PT and Pilates have both been helpful for strengthening my core and reducing back pain.