Squatting and back pain....advice needed

sunitar292
sunitar292 Posts: 77 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello everyone and Happy hump day! I love to squat, weight train, etc. But it seems the heavier I go with weights, the more pain I experience in my lower back. I have had multiple people take a look at my form and they have said it was fine. Any advice, pointers, tips would be greatly appreciated! I really want to go heavier with weights! :brokenheart:

Replies

  • jhc7324
    jhc7324 Posts: 200 Member
    Hello everyone and Happy hump day! I love to squat, weight train, etc. But it seems the heavier I go with weights, the more pain I experience in my lower back. I have had multiple people take a look at my form and they have said it was fine. Any advice, pointers, tips would be greatly appreciated! I really want to go heavier with weights! :brokenheart:
    Make a video of yourself squatting and post it here. I have a tough time trusting in person advice on lifting form since I'm only getting an opinion from the one person I'm lifting in front of. On the web you can easily get dozens of people looking at it and if one of them isn't correct in his critique, somoeone will surely correct him.
  • martinel2099
    martinel2099 Posts: 899 Member
    Make sure your form is good and don't tilt your head too forward, your body has a way of following the direction you are looking. You could be leaning too far forward and putting more strain on your lower back.

    Try and look up at a 30 degree angle, find a brick, clock, poster or something to look at.
  • rejectuf
    rejectuf Posts: 487 Member
    Who are the people looking at your form? Are they qualified to diagnose faults in your lift? There are so many things that could be going wrong in your lift to cause lower back pain, there's no real way for strangers on the internet to tell you what's wrong without at least a video.
  • Captain_Wobbles
    Captain_Wobbles Posts: 240 Member
    Common problems : exhaling at the bottom of your lift, not keeping your core tight through the range of motion, forward arching of back, hips slightly rotated off center, lack of flexibility , etc. etc. hard to say without a video these are the things you see a lot.
  • Lofteren
    Lofteren Posts: 960 Member
    This is a pretty common issue with newbs in powerlifting. Most of the time it's just because they have a weak lower back and they get a giant pump when squatting. A big lower back pump can be quite uncomfortable. I had this problem as well when I first started out. For me, the solution was just to get stronger. When the pump was too bad to bare I'd lay on the ground with my feet up in the air until the muscles calmed down and then I'd finish my sets. The problem slowly went away as I got stronger and those muscles caught up.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
    This is a pretty common issue with newbs in powerlifting. Most of the time it's just because they have a weak lower back and they get a giant pump when squatting. A big lower back pump can be quite uncomfortable. I had this problem as well when I first started out. For me, the solution was just to get stronger. When the pump was too bad to bare I'd lay on the ground with my feet up in the air until the muscles calmed down and then I'd finish my sets. The problem slowly went away as I got stronger and those muscles caught up.
    Same for me, and I still experience it once in a while - deadlifts sometimes trigger it too. Looks cool in the mirror, but otherwise it's a PITA.
  • QueenBishOTUniverse
    QueenBishOTUniverse Posts: 14,121 Member
    The Eat Train Progress group has a forum specifically for posting form check videos for critique by people who know what they're doing. I would HIGHLY recommend joining and posting your question and form video there. I'm in the process of having all my lifts checked as I'm moving to heavier weights and my back can also give me issues. We've already identified an issue with my deadlift that should *hopefully* clear up the back twinges I'm getting with that lift.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,040 Member
    Have to see you squat to see. And it'd have to be with the weight amount where you start to feel pain.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • rjmwx81
    rjmwx81 Posts: 259 Member
    These people who checked your form...were they trainers? Or just lifting/workout buddies? If it's the latter, they may have told you your form was fine because they don't know any better.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    The first thing I would check is form.

    tumblr_mv600mwq9n1rmi2ubo1_400.jpg

    One common issue people have as the weights get heavier is that they drop their chest and start using their lower back as a "lever"...so they're pushing out of the squat with their legs but they're still bent over and then they have to "lever" the weight with their lower back to come back to a standing position.

    This make take de-loading and going back to basics and working on form...give this a read.

    http://train4life.ca/?cat=42

    My guess is that you will ultimately find this to be the issue. It also could be a matter of just having a weak lower back in which case you'll probably have to de-load anyway and do some accessory work to help beef up your strength. In my experience, that's pretty rare unless someone has just added on too much weight too fast...and still, there is usually a form issue even at that.
  • withervein
    withervein Posts: 224 Member
    If your form is actually fine, you might try to vary the type of squat. Try a different bar position or do front squats, which put your torso in a more upright position and can prevent lumbar hyperextension.
  • mayfrayy
    mayfrayy Posts: 198 Member
    would have to know what type of squat you are doing at least to tell you what it should be like.

    http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=132962543 explains it all well.

Categories